working on a xm211

[wesleycorbin]

Hey guys!!! A friend of mine got a xm211 and we have been working on it. It was a fire truck for nearby town for a long time then we found it after 4 yes of sitting. She starts and will run only with choke on and brakes don't work. Any ideas on what's is up with her? Thanks!!!

 

[m1010plowboy]

Colorado, dude... we need moe info man, cough cough. Welcome to Steel Soldiers.

Everything is fine except she will run only with choke on and brakes don't work?

 

[wesleycorbin]

I am going to put pictures up later today hopefully. Well all the glass is there and interior, although the seats look like bigbfoot uses them as his bed and then has night terrors! The air compressor seems to be working due to the horn working... OK well its a squeak right now but it sat for 4 years so I am sure there are all kinds of matter in the horns. But even though the air gauge shows pressure when the brake pedal is pressed it feels free, no fight to push it to the floor at all and no cool air brake sounds either. It was a water tanker truck for the Allen's park fire department here in Colorado for a long time. But then they said that they could not get it above 30 dude to the brakes grabbing. So they stripped it of all the fire fighting gear and then the facilitys director here at the camp I work at got it with a dream of turning it into an offroad tour vehicle for the rocky mountain national park trails. But it sat there until my buddy Dan bought it for a measly 500 bucks!!! As for the choke problem. We could not get it started for the longest time. Then I remembered my wife's 1985 Mazda rx7 she had when we first met, great car!!! But any way it would not start. Even on a hot day with out the choke. So I thought "hey there's a choke pull, let's see." After a few cranky turns it fired up and idled high with the choke on on 3\4s pulled put. If you pull it all the way out or push it all the way in then it dies. When we first got the truck to work on we thought we had a fuel delivery problem some where between the fuel pump and carb, so we put some compressed air through the lines and what ever blockage was there ain't no more. This is not only my first BIG truck, but also my first truck ever!!! This forum is a wealth of knowledge for me. I only found it because I was looking for a download for the manual. But then I decided that it would be good to get involved and make some friends in the big truck world. Thanks m1010plowboy!

 

[Section8]

Sounds to me that you have to rebuild the carb or clean it out at the least. At the least from sitting for those few years it probably has some gunk clogging the float or debris is blocking the flow needle. I had an old Harley that gave me grief like that. Once I tore the cab apart I found some grit holding the flow needle open so the engine had a high flow of fuel and was flooding out while the float was sticking due to old gas gunk.
Clean it out and you should be good. Just remember to mark and record your adjustments to your lean/rich screws and air.
The brakes..... well I can't help much there since I don't have any on mine yet. As always, check you fluids.
Does your system fully charge off of the aircompressor? You should have an annoying buzzing sound going off in the cab until your system is charged. If this does happen and you still don't have any peddle, if the fluids are up, I would say your air /hydrolic actuator needs cleaning or rebuild. Do you hear any hissing? With the system charged walk around the truck and listen and feel all air lines. You may have a leak. The glad hands at the back could be one of them. Dirt tends to get in them causing air to escape.
Might want to check your brake shoe travel. Look through the side port on the inside shield of the drums and check how far back your pads are.
Since you said the fire dept. dropped the truck due to grabbing brakes. They may have backed them off a bunch in an effort to relieve the problem. That would also cause the no brake peddle feel. If the pads have nothing to touch, then no feed back pressure.
These trucks also have 2 brake cylinders per drum. Total of 12 for the truck. Check them to seem if they are seized or have blown and are losing brake fluid. They are not to bad to come by for replacement but are getting pricey.
Just my thoughts. Take it or leave it.
Let us know how it goes.
Oh yea... welcome to the site! The green bug is a hard bug to get rid off!

 

[m1010plowboy]

Starting the M211

The work you need to do on it will be decided with what you're going to do with it when you're done.
If it's going on public roads or even if you're hauling something you love down the driveway, all the potential catastrophic failure items need to be inspected.

You'll be touching wheels to wheel nuts, brakes, tie-rod ends, drag link, steering arm, bearings and seals to the cotter pins that hold some of it together.



As Section8 points out, the drum brakes have 2 wheel cylinders at each wheel. If one cup fails on the end of one of your 12 cylinders the pedal will go to the floor. They are the end of the line in the brake system and where we always start.



The running issue is usually solved with a Removal, Clean and Replace operation of the 3 parts we need to start anything. Fuel, Spark, Air. The fuel pump in the tank has this screen on it and old gas can plug them up.



Start there, pull the weee tiny filter in the carb inlet and add a clear inline filter to monitor what's going on. Spark plugs out, distributor cap off, wires out and everything cleaned up and inspected. Air-breather un-clipped, oil spilled all over starter from mishandling the "oil filled" air breather.......then grab the TM to get your specs and info to put it all back together. It helps to have big tools.



The risk to starting any new 'stored' toy is the engine ingesting a mouse from the air in-take or garbo in the fuel and going through a few steps can avoid that. Blowing out the lines was one of the things on the huge list.

We'd appreciate pictures when you can so we can take the ride. Thanks for sharing the M211.

 

[wesleycorbin]

Thanks so much. Its is coming along nicely. I have a full time job so I don't be to work on it yesterday. But I did look at the brakes and it
Ookes like it needs more hidrolic fluid and maybe a air leak but thats for another time. I wanted to work on it this weekend bit I am going to get my wife's jeep that broke down and swap out the tranny and front drive shaft, so this week ends taken. But I did measure the cab to fit 1996 jeep grand Cherokee seats in, we want to turn it into a camper/ offroad tour vehicle. I came up with and idea of custom making a monster large version of a slide in camper and bed, like the ones you see on pick up trucks. That way we have our toy the duece and then our tour vehicle! Whsat do you think? I will really try hard tp it some pictures up today I swear! Thanks for all the help guys!!!!