Tmadsen
New member
- 12
- 0
- 1
- Location
- Laramie Wyoming
I am a fairly new member here but I have been lurking and reading for quite a while before I actually signed up. I wanted to share my story of my recent cold weather recovery...
I Live in Laramie Wyoming but I work in North Eastern North Dakota, so when I was looking for a MV to purchase I looked in North Dakota thinking since I am there anyways it wouldn't be a problem. Well I found a M923a2 that I wanted. I was weary about picking it up because of the cold weather. The plan was to Fly to Fargo, catch a ride to Grand Forks, get the truck and drive it approx. 200 miles to work where I would have 20 days to go over it and make it ready to drive the 900 mile trip home to Laramie. the biggest concern was that because I was flying I would be unable to bring anything that might be needed to get the truck to work.
long story short.... I got to the truck, it started and ran just fine . the weather was miserable, -10 deg outside, 15 mph blowing snow. The Heater worked (YAY) but not well enough for a soft top driving into the wind at -10 below. I was freezing my ass off. My worst fears were realized the first time it started losing power and died alongside the highway in the middle of nowhere ND. The tank was full of summer bland diesel and it was jelling up the filters. I stopped a total of 6 times that night and drained out the filters and primed the system back up, lucky for me I had an adjustable wrench to loosen the drain plug on the tank to fill the filters after I drained them. And yes I did poor in some 911, but for those of you who work with diesel engines in -10 deg weather and 15+ mph wind ... you know that additives sometimes just don't cut it. but I finally made it to work.
Not much was wrong with the truck that worried me too much, except the summer blend fuel which I promptly replaced. The CTIS doesn't work (I couldn't care less) and the ABS doesn't work (this I will fix). other than that it runs great. I replaced the front drivers seat with a much more comfortable one that has armrests and adjusts. and when it was time I climbed up in and started out on my 900 mile trip home.
No problems on the long trip home except that I once again froze my ass off until I got 3/4 the way to south Dakota and the weather improved to above 0 ( then the heater actually kept up with the leaks in the cab). I did notice the truck shifts rather hard from 4th to 5th ( I will investigate this). but all in all it was an enjoyable trip. I stopped in Minot for some fuel and a service station to check a leaky tire (turned out to be a valve stem core) , some friendly guy stopped by to say hi and mentioned he was a member on steel soldiers (he asked my handle and I couldn't remember it ) .
I have many plans to modify the truck in a few different ways. I have already turned up the fuel screw and backed off the full fuel nuts on the pump which gives it a dramatic increase in power. Its still very slow to start out from a complete stop ( I think this is called "spool up") I know its not a race truck but it seems to me it should not be that slow, but once its gets moving and the turbo gets turning the acceleration is more than I would expect by far.
Here are some pictures because I know how much everyone loves pictures.. (btw .. the little guy is my nephew and he loves big trucks) the truck and trailer are both really dirty, the trailer doesn't have a lunette eye on it yet and it only chained to the truck for now, I am going to install a cot and heater and hardware to make a little camper out of the CBC.
Anyways.... ALOT of great info on these forums and I want to thank everyone here for all the great threads, I have relied upon them and appreciate it !!!
I Live in Laramie Wyoming but I work in North Eastern North Dakota, so when I was looking for a MV to purchase I looked in North Dakota thinking since I am there anyways it wouldn't be a problem. Well I found a M923a2 that I wanted. I was weary about picking it up because of the cold weather. The plan was to Fly to Fargo, catch a ride to Grand Forks, get the truck and drive it approx. 200 miles to work where I would have 20 days to go over it and make it ready to drive the 900 mile trip home to Laramie. the biggest concern was that because I was flying I would be unable to bring anything that might be needed to get the truck to work.
long story short.... I got to the truck, it started and ran just fine . the weather was miserable, -10 deg outside, 15 mph blowing snow. The Heater worked (YAY) but not well enough for a soft top driving into the wind at -10 below. I was freezing my ass off. My worst fears were realized the first time it started losing power and died alongside the highway in the middle of nowhere ND. The tank was full of summer bland diesel and it was jelling up the filters. I stopped a total of 6 times that night and drained out the filters and primed the system back up, lucky for me I had an adjustable wrench to loosen the drain plug on the tank to fill the filters after I drained them. And yes I did poor in some 911, but for those of you who work with diesel engines in -10 deg weather and 15+ mph wind ... you know that additives sometimes just don't cut it. but I finally made it to work.
Not much was wrong with the truck that worried me too much, except the summer blend fuel which I promptly replaced. The CTIS doesn't work (I couldn't care less) and the ABS doesn't work (this I will fix). other than that it runs great. I replaced the front drivers seat with a much more comfortable one that has armrests and adjusts. and when it was time I climbed up in and started out on my 900 mile trip home.
No problems on the long trip home except that I once again froze my ass off until I got 3/4 the way to south Dakota and the weather improved to above 0 ( then the heater actually kept up with the leaks in the cab). I did notice the truck shifts rather hard from 4th to 5th ( I will investigate this). but all in all it was an enjoyable trip. I stopped in Minot for some fuel and a service station to check a leaky tire (turned out to be a valve stem core) , some friendly guy stopped by to say hi and mentioned he was a member on steel soldiers (he asked my handle and I couldn't remember it ) .
I have many plans to modify the truck in a few different ways. I have already turned up the fuel screw and backed off the full fuel nuts on the pump which gives it a dramatic increase in power. Its still very slow to start out from a complete stop ( I think this is called "spool up") I know its not a race truck but it seems to me it should not be that slow, but once its gets moving and the turbo gets turning the acceleration is more than I would expect by far.
Here are some pictures because I know how much everyone loves pictures.. (btw .. the little guy is my nephew and he loves big trucks) the truck and trailer are both really dirty, the trailer doesn't have a lunette eye on it yet and it only chained to the truck for now, I am going to install a cot and heater and hardware to make a little camper out of the CBC.
Anyways.... ALOT of great info on these forums and I want to thank everyone here for all the great threads, I have relied upon them and appreciate it !!!
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