After 7 Years of Dormancy....

Deino · Post by **Deino** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 6:49 pm

Another M38A1 runs. Barely.

I bought this jeep a few weeks ago from a fellow in Utah, who had it for 5 years stored in his horse stable. He bought it from a local who had to move east. The story is the original owner (the guy moving east) was driving it when he noticed an exhaust manifold gasket leak. He removed the manifold but broke off the #1 stud in the block. Apparently he did try to fix it at some point, because I discovered a broken off Ease-Out in it. But he let it sit for two years before selling it. Anyway, I dug it out with a diamond bit and got it all together again.

After repairing the exhuast system my Dad and I worked through the fuel system and did the best we could with the carburator. We resealed the gas tank, blew out the fuel lines, and primed the fuel pump. We nearly died from the stale gas fumes when we blew out the lines....

Poored a little gas down the carb and hit the starter, and it finally hit and began to run. But very, very rough. At first, we thought one of the spark plugs wasn't firing. While checking the plugs, we noticed that plugs 1, 2, and 3 were wet with gasoline after immediately shutting down the engine. #4 was dry. It looks to us like the carb needs to be rebuilt, however my dad's read that the YS carb is extremely difficult to rebuild correctly. We've had a carb rebuild kit on hand for some time now, but we're reluctant to tackle the job because of what we've heard.

Is the YS carb as difficult to rebuild as we've heard, or is it something that can be done by someone with average mechanical abilities? Or should we send it off to someone. My dad's philosophy is that you don't send anything off until you've failed to fix it yourself, but he's giving that a second thought this time.

Another question...how fast is the 24 volt starter supposed to turn the engine? This one doesn't bog down, it just seems to turn slower than what we figured it would. It's slower than our 12v starter on our M38.

On a positive note...the jeep did move under its own power today. It drove about 15 feet back into the garage with a plume of white smoke behind it....

Post by **wesk** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:26 pm

The 24 volt starter should turn about 20-30% faster than your 12 volt units.

The YS carb is no worse than any other single barrell carb. The keys to a sucessful rebuild are skill, patience, cleanliness, proper tools, a quality late model kit with modern rubber parts and a very, very thorough cleaning/soaking.

Once you have got her to run for an hour or so at about 2500 to 3500 RPM then do a set of hot compression checks. Also while it's running for that hour run a vacuum gage test battery as well. Get a voltmeter on the battery and check for 28 to 30 volts at 3000 RPM. Observe coolant flow in the radiator and look for steady flow of bubbles or heavy burping.

When you finsih these tests set down with manuals in hand and review what they mean.

Deino · Post by **Deino** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:06 am

Would you happen to have an instruction manual for rebuilding the YS 950? I've looked online, but haven't found anything yet. Dial-up is a pain when searching for something like this...

We did a cold compression test yesterday and came up with 100, 105, 90, and 90 for the number 1, 2, 3, and 4 cylinders respectively. I believe my starter is running a little weak, so I doubt we made anywhere near 185 rpms during the test. However, the starter will start the jeep, so...I think I'll hold of on fixing or replacing it for now.

linx310 · Post by **linx310** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:24 pm

Before you rebuild that carb try a product called "sea foam". I have used it many times on carbs that were gummed up. Basically you pour a little into the carb and then mix the rest with the gas.

It doesn't always work but its worth a shot.

Post by **wesk** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:52 pm

Just click on the "Downloads" link at the top of this page and go to M38 manuals or fuel system.

Deino · Post by **Deino** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:02 pm

Just a little update for those that care.

Had all kinds of trouble getting the engine going. My dad and I got it running a few months back, but it wouldn't idle. Did some carb work and still couldn't get it right. Talked a friend into helping us out, who happened to be a former National Guard mechanic, and he got it running. It worked for a while, then started acting up again (trash in the carb). But it ran long enough to time it and for us to notice a pretty bad knock. Thought it was a bad wrist pin, but after checking it out, it turned out to be a bad head gasket. The gasket had been installed slightly out of alignment and the 1st and 4th pistons were touching it when they came up. Also, the exhaust valves were waaaay too tight and the intake valves were extremely too loose. It had a vacuum leak, too. Got all that back into spec, then cleaned out the carb again, replaced the aftermarket fuel filter and finally she's ready for the road.

It runs great. Quiet, great oil pressure (60-65 pounds at start, 21 at warm idle), no temp regulation issues, and LOTS of power. Well, compared to dad's m38 anyway.

Even the vacuum wipers work as they should. Turns out the motor had recently (mileage-wise) been overhauled, with pistons 0.040 oversized.

Some new rubber and a couple adjustments to the steering and I'll have a jeep I'd be willing to drive across the state.

It's been a headache working out the gremlins, but it's also been a lot of fun. It was well worth the wait and tested patience.

Post by **wesk** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:47 pm

Hello Dan,
I just love hearing the good news once in awhile!

53a1 · Post by **53a1** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:12 pm

Any pictures of her? Thanks.

Deino · Post by **Deino** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:22 pm

Sure. Let's see what I can dig up....

The last pic is it with my dad's M38. Sorry about the pic sizes, and for the blurry front pic with the sun glare.

In the third pic you can see the rust damage at the bottom of the cowl pillar. I've already cut out the bad spot, I just need to doctor it up some more before I have a welder take care of the job. That's about it so far as rust, though. There's some rot around the gas tank well seams, and one hat channel under the driver's side is in need of attention. Just paint bubbles at this point. As of now they're not getting any worse, so I'll take care of those when I finally decide to strip it down and do a resto on it.

Oh, and some of you might notice the tires on mine change. Well, I had to replace the original '53 tires with something a little more reliable, so I chose some '66 tires we had laying around.

53a1 · Post by **53a1** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:46 pm

That's a nice one. Mine had the same rust and I had to do surgery as well. Replace the AR with a 14

Deino · Post by **Deino** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:37 pm

I'll have an M1 carbine to throw in there some day. Just a matter of money. Built the AR out of spare parts we had lying around the shop. My dad used to be a gunsmith, so he collected a lot of junk over the years.

oilleaker1 · Post by **oilleaker1** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:23 pm

John at Midwest Military told me that I have the "GREEN DISEASE" You have it too! The Jeeps look great-----have fun. That is what they are for!

John

Deino · Post by **Deino** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:20 am

I sure do. Got a working speedometer in it yesterday and was finally able to tell just how slow I was going.

maeserik · Post by **maeserik** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 9:17 pm

nice M38 to....

Erik