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M1028 starting problems

Zero_cool

Member
235
1
18
Location
Virginia,Minnesota
I got back from out of town and my M1028 fires right up, I went to fuel it up its been below zero so i figured id put # 1 in...Ran fine on a 120 mile trip. next morning it turned over but wasnt firing. After awhile i gave it a little squirt of starting fluid and it started and ran fine. So i decided to put new glow plugs in, It had Wellman 070 wich i replaced with AC60 Now it wont start at all...even with starting fluid, and drains my freshly charged bats in under a minute...Ive never had any major problems with this truck.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
Thanks
 

junkridge

Member
33
0
6
Location
leicester nc
Put that starting fluid down!!! LOL.... Does the wait to start light come on as it should?? Do you hear a click noise when key is turned on and then a second click just before the light goes out? If your vol meter is working you can watch it as voltage cuts on and off to glow plug system as well... then I would test each glow plug make sure they are all good... Start with that and make sure that stuff is all working as designed if so then its time to check for fuel...
 

Zero_cool

Member
235
1
18
Location
Virginia,Minnesota
yea my wait light comes on but i dont hear the first click anymore only one click about 15 seconds after the wait light goes off. im trying to get it in the garage now and then ill volt test the other glow plugs
Any idea what a good volt on them are? the one i did test i had around 17.Thanks
 

WARWAG

Active member
Starting fluid is the absolute worst thing you could have done. Pre detination will do severe and immediate damage to the engine. IF you didnt break anything which I think you most likley did, your problem was probrably old glow plugs and old batteries and crappy stock relay. There are Four things you should do. First do the Doghead Relay mod. Cost about $15 bucks and takes about 15 minutes to do. (do a search for Dog Head Relay Mod) The old relay sucks and the new relay really does help cranking the engine over at least compared to my OLD relay. If your batteries are now draining in minutes then you either have a short in the wiring or one or both of your batteries has a short or have just pretty much gave up the ghost. If your batteries are now draining after you just installed new glow plugs I would start there and make sure (double check) your wiring. I would imagine your old glow plugs were not working very well and some most likley were not working at all and now you have all 8 drawing a rather large load. Your old batteries are not able to deliver that load and your old batteries are just not able to do it. Replace both batteries with new batteries AT THE SAME TIME. Both batteries should be made about the same time and from the same factory. Dont mix and match and dont keep one Old battery and buy one new one. And the last thing. NEVER use starting fluid. All kinds of bad things will happen to your engine like destroying it! That will be a real long term very costly problem.
 
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junkridge

Member
33
0
6
Location
leicester nc
I agree 100% with warwag, also your glow plugs will hit around the voltage you got but will decrease in voltage as seconds click by however if you have a bad plug or multiple then you will see higher voltage on the good ones and will cause them to burn out and the ac glow plugs won't take much of that at all, the system is 12volt but it gets around the 17volt hit when first switched on. you can use a simple test light to test them for a quick test to see if any are completely gone...
 

SGT Estum

New member
274
0
0
Location
Twin Cities, MN
Starting fluid is the absolute worst thing you could have done. Pre detination will do severe and immediate damage to the engine. IF you didnt break anything which I think you most likley did, your problem was probrably old glow plugs and old batteries and crappy stock relay. There are Four things you should do. First do the Doghead Relay mod. Cost about $15 bucks and takes about 15 minutes to do. (do a search for Dog Head Relay Mod) The old relay sucks and the new relay really does help cranking the engine over at least compared to my OLD relay. If your batteries are now draining in minutes then you either have a short in the wiring or one or both of your batteries has a short or have just pretty much gave up the ghost. If your batteries are now draining after you just installed new glow plugs I would start there and make sure (double check) your wiring. I would imagine your old glow plugs were not working very well and some most likley were not working at all and now you have all 8 drawing a rather large load. Your old batteries are not able to deliver that load and your old batteries are just not able to do it. Replace both batteries with new batteries AT THE SAME TIME. Both batteries should be made about the same time and from the same factory. Dont mix and match and dont keep one Old battery and buy one new one. And the last thing. NEVER use starting fluid. All kinds of bad things will happen to your engine like destroying it! That will be a real long term very costly problem.
Doghead starter relay mod is definitely a good idea. I did not know doing would help engine cranking... my assumption was that as long as the relay passed enough juice to actuate the starter solenoid the net cranking effect would be the same.
 

cjtroutt

CW2 26 BDE HHC S6
Steel Soldiers Supporter
756
4
18
Location
C.G. JMTC MICHIGAN
sound like the fuel is jell up in the tank as your state mandates Biofuel mix diesel I been up there and had to use Power service fuel cond and power service 911 to get it working again
you prob you are not getting any white smoke at all out the tail pipe
I hade this happen around two week agao I thought our Fuel Tank was prep when they refuel in November some one for got to add the fuel cond and 911 power service to the tank and even the pump did not want to pump fuel we had to heat up the tank and re run fuel through the tank through the pump and aqdded power service in and we have no more problems with fuel turn to wax in the lines and filters.
 

Zero_cool

Member
235
1
18
Location
Virginia,Minnesota
Thanks you everyone for all the great advice i didnt know that starting fluid was so bad..i have to be back to work monday and this is my only vehicle. I cant say thank you enough!
 

Zero_cool

Member
235
1
18
Location
Virginia,Minnesota
Well i just put a test light on all my glow plugs and there all getting power... i volt tested one and got 11.39 volts and then ( i think its called my resistor ) started smokeing like crazy so i shut it off and the red wires that come from the said resistor were so hot that i couldnt touch them.
all i did was put the ac60 glow plugs in i made sure i didnt missmatch anywires.
Is this from switching from wellman 070 to ac60?
 

WARWAG

Active member
Doghead starter relay mod is definitely a good idea. I did not know doing would help engine cranking... my assumption was that as long as the relay passed enough juice to actuate the starter solenoid the net cranking effect would be the same.

The engine definately spins faster now. I noticed it right after I did the mod. Not sure why this would happen.
 

mistaken1

New member
1,467
6
0
Location
Kansas City, KS
I measured an average of around 1.2 ohms on my new glow plugs fresh out of the box. Since they are in parallel the total resistance of all eight would be 0.15 ohms. Assuming your resistor on the firewall is fully functional E/R=I would be 12/0.15=80A. If we use the 11.39V you measured that would be 75.9A. As the AC60G's heat up they are supposed to increase in resistance so that they do not burn out.

You really need to follow the GP troubleshooting in the manual to see what is wrong.

Perhaps your firewall resistor is shorted to ground, that will heat the wire leading to the resistor (but not the one from the resistor to the relay) and drain the batteries pretty quick but then again the fuse links should open.
 
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Zero_cool

Member
235
1
18
Location
Virginia,Minnesota
Ok my truck has been sitting in a nice warm garage for about 20 hours now.
i jumpt in the truck and tryed to start it and it turns over fine now, ( bats must have been froze )
it was acting like it wanted to start for a couple secs and then nothing. it still turns over but does not fire ( fuel problem ?) i followed the glow plug trouble shooting and i got 11.95 volts at the glow plug relay terminal were orange lead connects while the key was in the on position. after the relay clicked it droped to zero.So according to the trouble shooting I need to make sure the truck is mechanicaly sound and fuel system is operating properly.
so i will start with fuel system. Is there a way to bleed the air out with out the truck runing?
 

mistaken1

New member
1,467
6
0
Location
Kansas City, KS
Turn the ignition key on and remove the pink wire from the top of the IP. As you remove and replace this wire listen for the click of the fuel shutoff solenoid. If it does not click when you reinstall the pink wire the truck will never start.

There is a bleeder on top of the fuel filter. While soldier b is cranking the engine open that valve to let any air out. See if you get air, air and fuel or fuel and no air. Be sure to close it before soldier b stops cranking the engine.

Once you have fuel at the filter while soldier b is cranking the engine crack open an injector line at the injector and check for fuel there. Once again be sure to close it before soldier b stops cranking the engine.

Try using a rag and an air hose in the fuel tank filler to put some pressure in the tank to see if that will help the truck start.

Add an electric fuel pump back at the point where the two hard fuel supply lines are joined together with a rubber hose (passenger side frame rail). This will let you push fuel to the filter and ultimately the IP without cranking the engine. (less wear and tear on batteries and starters)
 

Barrman

Well-known member
5,183
1,622
113
Location
Giddings, Texas
Make sure you are getting 12V at the pink wire on top of the IP with the key on. That should be your first fuel trouble shooting process. If that is good and you hear a click when you plug/unplug the pink wire with the key on. Then you are looking at fuel supply. If you have been cranking away at it, some psi will be built up in the filter. Crack the bleeder and you should get a little squirt.

No squirt and you need to back track to find where the fuel is. Filter input line, lift pump output, lift pump inlet, fuel hose and fuel line going back to the tank.

If you have fuel at the filter and the IP clicks on and off. Remove the IP fuel return line. that is the line on top with a pinkish/red squeze clamp on it. Use a long 9/16" socket to remove the fitting from the pump. Look inside the fitting and there should be a little bitty glass ball in there that is spring loaded and no debris. Use carb cleaner to make sure fuel can flow through the check ball and no junk is in there.

If everything checks out good so far, crack a few injection lines at the injectors with a 3/4" open end wrench. Try cranking for 10 seconds or so. You should have fuel sepage or spray depending on how much you loosened the lines. If all this checks out. You are back to the glow plug system.
 
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