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CUCV Snow Plow Trucks and Spreaders

mainah

New member
7
1
3
Location
Saco, Maine
minute mount plow

Thank you.
My plow is currently mounted on a K5 Blazer. I might run the Blazer for the winter and swap the plow onto the M1028 in the spring.
Thanks again.
Your welcome. I'd be tempted to wait. I decided to sell my 2017 GMC 2500HD with a plow four weeks ago, giant payment/excise tax and insurance just stopped making sense, then we got our first plowable storm, and another a few days later. These happened while I was finding my M1028 and ordering the plow hardware, Thankfully we didn't have any snow but now I'm anxious to plow with this beast!
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
8 hours plowing in a CUCV is like 40 hours plowing in the 2015 GMC 2500. I did break a few things on both trucks but I still like the newer trucks on my older body. That and the climate control and entertainment system works out better when plowing 24 hours straight. I lost Big Red over the summer and have not replaced it yet. Still looking. Down to 2 CUCV's at this time and they are good at best. Time has taken its toll. Happy Holidays.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5745.jpgDSCF5746.jpgIts a beautiful day in the neighborhood. This is a prime example of how a small fix turns into a hack job. This truck was with another division within the company. They had some issues with the heater switch and decided to install a radio in it. The wiring was hacked into at several places. I am not sure where they were going or trying to resolve. The master mind is not employed here anymore. The whole thing came to my attention when the truck was constantly having a dead battery. I discovered the voltage meter was in the yellow. I turned the switch on and no Gen 2 light. I reached up under the dash and the light was gone. I thought easy. I grabbed another light from the Big Red wreckage pile and the light lit. Turned the key started it and the light still stayed lit. It charged now hard because the belt squealed a bit. But the light still stayed on. Also the light was very bright and got hot quickly. I had this truck apart about 10 years ago and replaced the printed circuit board with an LMC one. That still seems to be working great. The pictures above are what I found when I started digging deeper. I went back out to the scrap pile of Big Red and returned with the entire unhacked under dash harness. Today is the day. I hope it works out. A little late in the snow season to ground my plow salt spreader truck. DSCF5744.jpgHappy Holidays. I will report back later. Thank you to ADM AC for some help in this matter. This is why I hate cutting wires and hacking an electrical system.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5747.jpgDSCF5748.jpgDSCF5749.jpgI have the hacked up harness removed and on the cargo bed. The replacement one is re-taped at a few places and about ready to install. Dropping the steering column is an easy task to access everything on the upper column. Moving right along. I am hoping this resolves the light issue. Not sure where else to go. But when I see spliced melted wiring I think I am onto something. Everyone has their own idea of who things are done correctly. Or some just don't know or care. Just as long as it works for them. Removing the Gen light was genius. But that did not resolve the charging issue. For the record I did swap out 2 alternators and a few relays. Still stayed on. Happy Holidays.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
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9,552
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
No Joy here. I continue to find wiring that has been pulled out and spliced under the hood. I now have the under dash wiring in place but no ground to the Gen 2 light socket terminal. This is when my love of newer vehicles grows. I never had the cluster out of any other plow vehicle looking for such issues. I have the 1987 CUCV M1028 to use as a pattern but I do not wish to tear it apart. It works perfect and from what I see has never been apart since it left Flint. I will continue my quest. Happy Holidays.
 
360
3
18
Location
southern ca
You know we have a few newer trucks, a ford and a dodge and I still enjoy the m1009 th emost for plowing. It turns on a dime and with some ballast in the rear storage area really makes is hard to beat on the mountain. We have v-bar chains and its hard to get it stuck.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
You know we have a few newer trucks, a ford and a dodge and I still enjoy the m1009 th emost for plowing. It turns on a dime and with some ballast in the rear storage area really makes is hard to beat on the mountain. We have v-bar chains and its hard to get it stuck.
I agree. Comparing a Dodge and a Ford to a Chevrolet/GMC plow truck is just wrong. I agree the M1009 is quick to respond in tight places and it has served well for the past 20 years. But like I said the comfort level for long term plowing is gone in the older trucks. I hope it don't snow. I am unable to resolve the charging issue. I reached out to cooperate and ask for a replacement. I also have a local electrical shop involved. Electrical hack jobs are a very weak area of my skills. That why I never do it. I may go in next week and change the engine harness also. On the plug in the back of the cluster I can get the gen 2 to have 12 volt and 24 volt on the terminal. But I can get no ground from the ground terminal even with the brown wire grounded out on the alternator. Didn't tap out yet. Happy Holidays.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
That's it. I am done with this hacked up truck. I am sending it out to the electrical shop for repairs. I have more important things to address. After I looked under the hood I seen things I don't even know where to start. It runs and drives that part is good. I have it hot wired and in gear. Off to the electrical shop. Happy Holidays. I have 12 hours in it this far and called it quits.
 

cucvrus

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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
Strange thing was I drove it about 20 miles to the repair shop and the stock voltmeter showed it was charging perfect. That was with no cluster plugged in and the main cluster plug just there empty. I am getting them to fix that dim Gen 2 light with the fan on hi also. He done a few other CUCV plow trucks for me and it worked out great in the big snow storms where I had the fan on high and was plowing 24 hours straight thru. I will report back. I had it hot wired and it fired right up. Something just don't jive. And getting called on and off the job the last 3 days makes it hard to stay focused. Sometimes money is the correct tool. He sent me a wiring schematic I never seen before. Looked easy and great but way past my allowed time to do this repair. Sometimes you just need to close the book and walk away. I had several trucks to pull from the mud today. Happy Holidays.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5753.jpgAnyone ever see a glow plug relay like this? It is on a plow truck that I am about to start working on. DSCF5750.jpgThis is how it came to me. Not sure what wiring was done. It still has te 13G A C Delco glow plugs. Or at least the ones with the 3/16" spades. DSCF5752.jpgI see the blue fusible link is cut on the harness side and burnt on the buss bar side. DSCF5751.jpgThe rear battery had 4.6 volts and 8 CCA. The front battery had nothing would not even test. I think they have been frozen from the bulging sides of the batteries. The battery cable ends were all loose and arced at a few places. Just putting together an estimate to get the truck running. Anybody ever seen any glow plug relay like that?
 

cucvrus

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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
Thank you AC for the info. I am a sucker for torment. I will be trying to remove all the add on stuff and returning it to stock. I quoted the job and was told it had new batteries and cables. Not the case. Also told it was not modified. People don't understand the importance of the batteries and connections in these old diesels. Well for any vehicle as far as that goes. Still from what I see it looks like a straight forward repair and upgrade.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
9,552
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5754.jpgToday after work I made a few easy goals. get all the hacked up misfit wiring from the M1009 plow truck. Started with the 24 volt positive cable. Nice stuff there. DSCF5755.jpgNice positive battery post on the 24 volt positive. Why don't it start? DSCF5756.jpgRemoved all the battery cables and am in the process of having new ones made up. DSCF5757.jpgAlso removed all the extra grounds and wiring from the odd ball glow plug relay. I have a new relay and it looks like all the wiring is present and accounted for to set it up stock again. I am going to remove the glow plugs and check them all out also before I do any rewiring. Not really rewiring. Just fixing up the hacking a bit. Both batteries were on the charger again over night and no change in status. They are scrap. Happy Holidays. I want to also put the correct battery hold downs in this truck. I don't like seeing group 31 batteries hanging in mid air over the right front wheel. That is a lot of weight on that tin inner fender.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
9,552
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5758.jpgDSCF5759.jpgI was able to remove all 8 of the glow plugs. they were a bit tight and a little more difficult to get out. But I pull mine about once a year and visually check them on the work bench with my pocket jump pack. Great little jump pack for smaller engines below 4 L, lawn tractors, Snow blowers and anything that needs a jump. also use as a charger on my cell phone if I am out in the bush. Has lights for use on different projects when out away from electricity. I have the 4000 AMP jump pack also the GB 150. That jumps Peterbilt trucks. Most times a CUCV just needs the front battery jumped in my experience. The GB150 does it no problem. Next new batterie and new battery cables. The fast idle solenoid is missing on this truck and the starter support bracket is in place. I am only getting it started and fixing the brakes and lights. Done and ship it back home. Merry Christmas.
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
34,014
1,813
113
Location
GA Mountains
Just to piggyback of Rick a little. We have 3 GB40 jump packs here. 2 of them easily starts a CUCV. I just started the M1010 for the first time in weeks. I've owned the truck since 2013 and the red top Optima have been in there the whole time. They owe me nothing.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
9,552
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
Finally the torrential down pours have ceased. Or at least it is not raining at the moment. Weather man says clear and 52*. I take that. I have some work to do to get this current M1009 back and running. I was told it ran fine but I never heard it. Today we will all find out. I am going to replace all the battery cables with new ones. I had the 3 battery cables made at a local shop and they cost me less then a $100. I was happy with that. Nice steel ends and sealed. I am going to install the batteries in the original battery trays with all the stock hold downs and braces. They are missing from the truck but I know a guy that has them. I will put 2 new glow plugs and the 6 back in that are operational. I found in the past 2 bad glow plugs is enough to make the CUCV start hard. I even had it when 1 plug was bad. I will post pictures later. I am going to hook up the resistor back and wire it like I have all mine wired and everyone I work on. Merry Christmas.
 

cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
9,552
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5764.jpgDSCF5765.jpgDSCF5766.jpgBattery trays set up accept group 31 batteries DSCF5767.jpgStock ground bolt note serrated washer edge.
I am at this point with the m1009 Plow Truck I am working on. The glow plugs are wired stock but I can not get the glow plug relay to clunk in. I did a visual of the glow plugs. I removed all 8 and bench tested them. They are all good. The wait light comes on but the relay does not close. I swapped the relay same results. I started with just Gen 1 light lit on the instrument cluster. I found the oil pressure sending unit disconnected. Plug it back in and the oil light works. The horn blew constantly and I snipped the diode out above the horn relay. The Gen 2 light would not light at all. I grounded the brown wire on the voltage regulator of Gen 2and it lit. I swapped out alternators and the light works now. I think if I can get the glow plugs to work I will be home free. I hot wired the glow plugs and the truck started right up. Tried another card I had around no joy. I was going to pull it out of the M1028 I am driving but it is the only thing I have that runs right now. Any ideas? Merry Christmas.​
 

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cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
9,552
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5768.jpgAnyone see what is missing over on Gen 1? DSCF5772.jpgGen 2 had a special lower mount bolt. Someone ground the knurling from a starter bolt and ditched the spacer. DSCF5774.jpgA Mud Dauber seen it as a vacancy and moved right in. Hate to tell him. After Christmas I am evicting him. DSCF5773.jpgWhat is with the injection pump. Could that disable the glow plugs? What is that injection pump supposed to be on? DSCF5762.jpgDSCF5763.jpgNot sure the heater will work at maximum efficiency. This thing has been hacked. I was surprised it still has the stock starter relay and it works fine. Merry Christmas. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
 

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cucvrus

Well-known member
11,263
9,552
113
Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
DSCF5776.jpgI found a long bolt for the bottom of Gen 2 and I made a spacer. That will be helpful to fix the bolt thru bracket only attachment. DSCF5777.jpgTime to evict the Mud Daubers. I know its Christmas but they have to go. DSCF5780.jpgGen 2 all bolted back in place and the wiring repaired. All is well. I figured out the glow plug problem. And I installed a BMI Industries circuit card. Fired right up. DSCF5778.jpgLook at that stud. Everywhere I look on this truck I find issues. Merry Christmas. Can some one answer what this is and what it is for? DSCF5773.jpg
 

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