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New M818

Lorax

New member
207
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Location
Hampton Virginia
Well, been looking to get a 5 ton for a while. Figured now was just as good as any. Just won this one today. Took a brief look at it last week, before bidding, and didn't see anything major wrong, so hopefully she'll fire up. Keeping the fingers crossed. Right now all I have are the GL pictures.

Anyone else look at this one and see anything good or bad? She's in Richmond Va.
 

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reuben

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Spencer TN
very nice! i would enjoy claiming it. (here i go dreamin of a nicer one, gotta fix what i got and make it a worker first, then the next one's gotta have a winch. I've looked the deuces over and decided I'll stick with the 5 tons, they're more my size, I'd be overloading the lesser ones too much)
 

Lorax

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Location
Hampton Virginia
Update. Went to give the M818 a once over yesterday to see what I'll be dealing with when the EUC clears. As expected, the batteries were dead, but I brought extras and swapped them out. After checking fluids and changing batteries, I crossed the 'ol fingers and tried to start her. She turned over strong but wouldn't start. Figuring her sitting for a while may be part of the problem, I waiting a bit and tried again. Same thing, turned over good, but no start. She was puffing out some white smoke, so it seemed like a fuel problem. Time to check the fuel filter. One thing about these 5 ton Cummins trucks, their fuel filters sure are easier to get to than my deuce's. Pulled the fuel filter canister off and made sure it was full, then reinstalled. Tried to start her again with the same results, except this time without the white smoke. Seems like fuel isn't getting to the engine. May need to drop and refill the fuel filter canister a couple more times, or there may be a pin hole leak somewhere.

At this location, GL requires an escort and about that time the GL guy said he needed to get back to work. He'd been patiently waiting for 2 hours while I tinkered around on the truck. So, I tried to start her one last time, no luck, then promptly caught a foot on something while exiting the cab and took a nice tumble. Got a nice token gift for the day on the hand.

About 1 month until the EUC should clear, basing on what previous ones took, so I have that time to change fuel lines to remove the pin hole leak possibility.

To be continued...
 

ida34

Well-known member
4,120
33
48
Location
Dexter, MI
Did you try bypassing the fuel cut off solenoid? There is a screw on top of the IP. It is used to start the truck when the batteries are dead. Something may be wrong with your cut off. Also make sure you have the fuel valve on the tank with fuel in it.
 

jwaller

Active member
3,724
19
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Location
Columbia, SC
I had this happen with the 5 ton dump this weekend. screw in the bypass screw and she fired right off. cutoff solenoid was stuck shut.
 

Lorax

New member
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Location
Hampton Virginia
Screwing in that bypass screw will be the first thing to try next time.

While working on the truck, the GL escort was very helpful. Richmond is the only GL place I've been to (out of 3 places) that requires an escort. First time going there like that wasn't comfortable, with the guy hovering around. But every time since then it's actually been nice. It's an extra set of hands and eyes when working on something or just previewing things. Plus, with an escort, there's less chance of things growing legs and walking away. Figured GL was due a compliment instead of a curse this time.

Does anyone else's 5 ton engine heater work when the ACC/power switch is OFF? While connecting the good batteries (with the power switch OFF), they sparked a little, until I noticed the heater switch was ON. After turning the heater switch OFF, the battery terminals didn't spark any more.
 

jwaller

Active member
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Location
Columbia, SC
yes the heater is direct wired to the battery. it will work independently of everything else. thats the single wire that should be attached to the positive terminal of 1 of your batteries.
 

Lorax

New member
207
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Location
Hampton Virginia
OK, that explains what that one wire was for. I noticed it attached to one of the + terminals, but decided that was a "later" thing to figure out.

Hope to go for another conjugal visit with the truck next week.

To be continued next week, same bat time, same bat channel.
 

63foxtrot

Member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
159
3
18
Location
los angeles, ca
check the emergency engine stop. follow the cable to the pump, make sure the lever is facing the radiator. 800 series 5 tons don't have return springs on the engine stop. hope this works for you. X recovery specialist.
 

madsam

New member
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I had herd the emergence engine stop does not return with the cable. I never pulled mine to test it though. Lots of people say that you have to get under the hood to force it to return to open.
 

Lorax

New member
207
0
0
Location
Hampton Virginia
Update. Went to work on the 818 again today. Took everyone's advise on getting the fuel system primed. Opened the bleed valve near the engine air intake, had a friend hold a container under it, and started pumping the hand pump on the dash. Fuel started coming out of the bleeder valve right away, and continued coming out at a steady rate while pumping the hand pump. Continued doing this for a couple minutes and decided to try starting her up. She turned over strong, and burped some smoke out the exhaust, but still wouldn't catch. OK, time to try plan B. Screwed in the thumb screw on the fuel solenoid, removed the fuel filter canister to fill it with fuel, and found that it was almost empty. Filled the canister, reinstalled it, and did the hand pump thing again for about 30 seconds. Strong fuel flow with each pump. OK, time to try her again. Cranked on her again for a few seconds and she fired off, belching smoke. Fantastic! She continued running rough and at low idle, so I pushed the "go" pedal a little, and she revved up some. Continued to run rough for about a minute at about 800 or 900 rpm, then smoothed out.

All the gages looked good. Good oil and air pressure, temp coming up, charge gage shows a little low, but at this point I was so happy that the old girl ran, and didn't have something major wrong.

Boy, talk about a touchy throttle! The temp continued warming up rather fast, but OK. Sat there behind the wheel, trying to notice all the different sounds the Cummins 250 makes versus the multifuel deuce. Spun the wheel left and right with the pinky...pure bliss. Tried the heater on defrost, and noticed the spider web on the windshield started flapping, so the fan works. Noticed that the power steering pump was spitting fluid out the vent while turning the wheel to the right, so I think I over filled it.

Looked at the temp gage and saw it was pegged to the right, at 240 degrees. Crap! Shut her down with the emergency handle, and climbed up on the engine again. A quick touch check on the top of the engine showed it was just a little warm, but certainly not hot. Reached down and brushed the side of the engine with a few fingers. Could hold the fingers on the block for about 6 seconds before it got uncomfortable, so I don't think the temp gage was showing correctly. My deuce temp gage jumps all over the place, but the 818 temp gage slowly went to 240 degrees. Maybe it has the wrong sensor? Drained some coolant from the bottom of the radiator, and it was room temperature. Possibly a bad thermostat? Or maybe the gage is reading wrong, and the engine hadn't gotten warm enough to open the thermostat yet? I only ran the engine for about 15 minutes before it showed 240 degrees, and the outside temp was upper 70s.

So, before shutting down the engine, checked the brakes, and they felt firm and good. The air pack made the good woosh/hiss sound when releasing the brake pedal. After shutting down the engine, didn't hear any air leaks. Shifted back and forth between R and 1st to check the sprag. No sound. Hmmm. Kept going back and forth and started hearing the air valves begin to work. Kept it up and started hearing the hiss/THUNK. Great! Kept it up until the air tanks were empty. By that time, there was a strong hiss/THUNK every time.

Tried starting her again and no luck. Pumped the hand pump and there was very little resistance...just moving air. OK, progress was made. Got the 'ol girl running, and running good after a few rough minutes. As long as the rpm's were kept at or above 900 rpm, the truck ran great. So there must be an air leak somewhere. But, a small enough air leak for thinking about driving her to her new home.

The saga will continue. The EUC should come in sometime this week, hopefully.
 

jwaller

Active member
3,724
19
38
Location
Columbia, SC
RE: Awesome!

you said you pulled the emergency stop cable but didn't mention resetting it. did you?

my guess would be a stuck thermostat, pull and inspect. it takes a really long time for mine to warm up if your just idling. maybe 30min.
 
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