M1008 require engine oil...who knew?

50shooter · May 28, 2019

My Dad was using the 1008 to haul a load of wood home from the farm. It started to get gutless coming up a hill and then smoked a bit and died on side of road. He called Mom to bring some oil. Turns out my near 80 yo parents deduced that there was no oil appearing on the dipstick. Unfortunately, they determined that AFTER they let the smoke out.

On a scale of 1-10, how screwed are we? Can the stock 6.2 be rebuilt after what I'm assuming was a full seize up from oil starvation?

I've already read lots of posts on 6.2 to 6.5, top turbo, side turbo, gas engine to & 12V conversions and decided the best bet for us is a stock 6.2 swap if we can't fix the one we have.

Any one with some experience in this arena, suggestions most welcome.

Thanks gang.

cucvrus · May 28, 2019

It will start again. It will run again. But it is totally wasted internally. I would not bother rebuilding that one. It sounds like a new engine is in order. If you are lucky it will get you home. I had a few plow trucks bleed out from oil cooler line failure. They ran about 1/2 an hour more after repairs and screeched to a halt. Good Luck. You may be able to salvage the heads if they are NOT cracked. Parts are parts. Save where you can.

nyoffroad · May 28, 2019

Kits are available but whatever you do DO NOT turn the crank shaft down! Polishing is fine but I've seen people selling ground cranks and undersized bearing are available but stock cranks break, why would make one weaker? Rebuilding one isn't hard and it's a good time to learn more about the engine, tear it down and check it out. If it only needs crankshaft and bearings, rings and camshaft/bearings thats easy. Plan on cutting the ridges and honeing the cyl. And while your in there send the heads out for a check and valve job when they get back port and polish them, bing bang boom ya got a 'new' engine. Or you can buy a "good" used one with "low" miles.

Tinstar · May 28, 2019

Add oil and see how bad it is.
I agree it’s toast but am curious to see how it runs and for how long after it starts again.

Good running 6.2L takeouts are plentiful and inexpensive around here.
Up there their probably scarce and expensive.

The Steel Soldiers classified section/Craigslist/eBay are the places to look.
Post your needs in the parts wanted section.
Someone will definitely chime in.

50shooter · May 28, 2019

Thanks for the feedback guys. May triage it this w/e. Tinstar is probably right on the scarce and expensive in these parts.

DeadParrot · May 29, 2019

When I was working at a discount store for college money, a customer brought back a new lawnmower that "Just quit running". Yep, no oil. We gave the customer a replacement for PR purposes, assembled in store with oil.
After soaking with Marvel Mystery Oil and some beating on the blade, the seized one broke loose. It ran fine, just blew a little blue smoke. It became the store mower and gave many years service keeping the weeds in back cut down.

Unless you are really lucky, even if that motor runs, it will likely be like the mower and blow smoke.

Nothing says you can't buy a replacement motor to get the truck going and then take your time on a rebuild of the damaged motor. With the high cost of new 1 ton 4WD PUs, having a spare motor for the M1008 is cheap insurance.

Keith_J · May 29, 2019

All depends on how hard it was run. Oil cools the pistons, that pre combustion chamber means a jet of flame is constantly bearing against the middle of the piston. When the pistons overheat, they drag on the cylinder. Too little oil and the aluminum will smear, the engine is toast. Mains and rod bearing fare better.

If you have a compression tester, this will show the damage level. 400 PSI with no less than 20% variation.

Floridianson · May 29, 2019

Tinstar · May 29, 2019

50shooter said:
Thanks for the feedback guys. May triage it this w/e. Tinstar is probably right on the scarce and expensive in these parts.

Still probably cheaper than a rebuild.

If I were in the same position, I would drop in a replacement 6.2L and rebuild my original.
That’s the reason I have a replacement engine sitting in its container.

Like already mentioned, it would be a good idea since new trucks are so expensive now.

Valley Rock · May 29, 2019

A 454 fits in there great and actually has some power .

Some years ago I had an 84 F250 with the 6.9 diesel, it was freezing in winter, it got some water or something in the oil filter or a passage, froze maybe (still don't really know) and starved the engine of oil on start up, ZERO pressure, since the engine ran and sounded fine I decided to go ahead and use the truck and assumed the mechanical gauge had quit, I was wrong, about a mile down the road it seized up tight and was done .

So I coasted into a guys driveway, contemplated what to do, decided to get a jump start to boost the batteries and see if I could get back home . During this time I figure the ice melted wherever it was blocking the oil from flowing from the engine heat, It eventually started begrudgingly and I drove it back home .

Two weeks later I went out and started it up and it had oil pressure immediately, never made any repairs whatsoever to that engine and continued to drive that truck for another eight years doing everything that I needed it to do (continuously overloaded with firewood and pulling trailers overloaded with tractors etc.) finally the body was so beat I parted it out and got a newer truck, the engine never died, a guy bought it and it is still running around today in a different truck .

The 6.9 IH engine is vastly superior in design to the old GM diesels, but I don't see where you have much to loose, fill it with oil prime it if you can and see if you can get it to spin .

oleblue84 · May 29, 2019

It if aint broke dont fix it! Add oil and send it!!!!

Matt5 · May 29, 2019

Huge bright oil pressure light was ignored?

Where did all the oil go?

lol anyone saying rebuild or use it... I don't even know what to say...

Motor is junk. You are looking at a MIN of all new bearings, pistons, rings, crank work, honing, and then you still have a motor and crank that, took enough heat to quit...

btw... a 454 would be getting around 5mpg rofl

...

Just get a used 6.2 that you could hear run, if you want to be anal about it... take an oil sample and send it out before buying the motor.... if you really want to go crazy rebuild the not seized motor...

BEASTMASTER · May 29, 2019

way back in 1973 my girlfriend took her new cuda to the dealer for its first oil chng. drove back home, about 25 miles, and said the oil light stayed on. yup , the clowns didn't put oil back in.
they came out and put oil in it,and that 318 got the heck beat out of it by me. never had any trouble with it for 5 yrs and we sold it.

ken · May 29, 2019

If I was in your shoes I would cut the oil filter open. Look for metal debris. If you don't see any dip your finger in the oil from the filter and hold it up into the sunlight. Look for metal reflecting like glitter. If it's not much change the oil and filter and see if it runs. Since oil is cheeper than engines, it cant hurt to try. You just never know it might ok long enough to save some money to get a replacement. I drove my 1028 over a year with a broken crank from a bad harmonic balancer. It survived long enough for me to get some cash together to replace it.

50shooter · May 30, 2019

Valley Rock said:
A 454 fits in there great and actually has some power .

Some years ago I had an 84 F250 with the 6.9 diesel, it was freezing in winter, it got some water or something in the oil filter or a passage, froze maybe (still don't really know) and starved the engine of oil on start up, ZERO pressure, since the engine ran and sounded fine I decided to go ahead and use the truck and assumed the mechanical gauge had quit, I was wrong, about a mile down the road it seized up tight and was done .

So I coasted into a guys driveway, contemplated what to do, decided to get a jump start to boost the batteries and see if I could get back home . During this time I figure the ice melted wherever it was blocking the oil from flowing from the engine heat, It eventually started begrudgingly and I drove it back home .

Two weeks later I went out and started it up and it had oil pressure immediately, never made any repairs whatsoever to that engine and continued to drive that truck for another eight years doing everything that I needed it to do (continuously overloaded with firewood and pulling trailers overloaded with tractors etc.) finally the body was so beat I parted it out and got a newer truck, the engine never died, a guy bought it and it is still running around today in a different truck .

The 6.9 IH engine is vastly superior in design to the old GM diesels, but I don't see where you have much to loose, fill it with oil prime it if you can and see if you can get it to spin .

Thanks a lot. My hopes are up now, perhaps a miracle in the making.

50shooter · May 30, 2019

Matt5 - I believe I asked my Dad the same questions in the same order. He felt like a soup sandwich so I had to take a different approach. My conversation would have been much different had it been one of my boys doing something like that.
The lack of oil still remains a mystery. Granted the truck parks in the field and not on a driveway where an oil leak would be obvious. We found some sign of oil spots but nothing that would indicate a massive oil leak.

Thank you all for the recommendations and personal perspective. It all helps tremendously. I should have started out by saying I may be the only MV collector that isn't a mechanic. Boy did I pick the wrong hobby.

DeadParrot · May 30, 2019

One possibility for the oil loss might be a plugged air filter. When I drove my M1008 to a friend's house after purchase(he is about half way to my place and we didn't have time to complete the trip that day) it used about a quart of oil for a 30 mile trip. On the 2nd half of the recovery, about a 35 mile trip, a 2nd quart vanished(yes, I topped it up before starting). Once it was home, replaced the air filter after noticing it looked like it might have been near original. Been through a 1/2 tank of fuel since replacing the air filter and oil level is still at the full mark. No highway miles as it isn't doesn't have the public roads sticker to avoid insurance costs while fixing it up from its former life as a FD brush rig. Oklahoma allows us to do that. Only $10 to swap to the normal tag sticker once you purchase insurance.

MarcusOReallyus · May 30, 2019

ken said:
If I was in your shoes I would cut the oil filter open. Look for metal debris. If you don't see any dip your finger in the oil from the filter and hold it up into the sunlight. Look for metal reflecting like glitter. If it's not much change the oil and filter and see if it runs. Since oil is cheeper than engines, it cant hurt to try.

I have to agree with this. The cost of some oil and a filter is a cheap roll of the dice for a pretty good sized pot.

50shooter · May 31, 2019

- Update -
She might be toast. Trailered it to a friend who is a mechanic, former Navy Mech. even. He pulled the oil pan and there was lots of metal in it. He "put a bar on it and can't get it to turn", referring to the engine. Not sure where one places said bar to try to turn it over but evidently it didn't work.

Plan B
I need to find an engine. Is there any differences in the 6.2 engines out there that I should watch out for? Or is any 6.2 Detroit / GM diesel going to bolt in and work with the 24V military version? Can any of you recommend a REPUTABLE place to purchase a reman. 6.2?
I'm pretty much decided I want to put it back as was. Not interested in a 6.5 turbo or gasoline conversion at this point.

Thanks All.

Tinstar · May 31, 2019

Post your needs in the parts wanted section.
I’m sure someone will have one.

M1008 require engine oil...who knew?

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