Fixing the 1998 HMMWV

[mrandig]

Over the holidays I got a few things done, beginning with the front transfer case seal.

Disconnecting the front propeller shaft was fairly simple, as it's only 4 bolts.


Getting the propeller shaft of the way however turned out a little trickier. While it's possible to push the shaft back a bit, I just wasn't getting the room I needed to do this.


After getting some advice here on this forum, I unbolted the center bearing and was able to get back to work.


With the yoke removed, I think I see my culprit. There's a soft star washer/seal in this picture that's in pretty bad shape. I'm going to replace both this washer and the main seal, since I'm already this far along.


Remove the transfer case front seal with an appropriate tool.




Make sure to put something underneath the transfer case, as it's going to bleed for a while.


For this exercise, I did buy a purpose-specific tool to install the front transfer case seal. I'm sure I could've done without, but it does make life easier. Besides, what's one more hmmwv tool that I'll probably only use one time?




New seal in-bag I purchased a few years ago. This has an expiration date of 2027, which isn't a long way off, but we'll see when the time comes. Besides, now I've got the tool to change it.

My fault for waiting so long to install it.


After putting a little oil on the inside of seal, and a little RTV on the outside, it was just a matter of installing the new seal with my new tool and bolting everything back together.

I think I may have driven the front transfer case seal a little deeper than needed, as I was reading inches, while the instructions were actually in metric. So far so good, however. No more leaks noted.

 

[mrandig]

Over the holidays, I was also able to finally get my wipers to work. This required removing the top, and dropping the windshield.

In the interior, there are two pins, one of each side of the dash. Remove these pins, and the dash will be free to fall forward. If you have a DWF kit, remember to remove the snorkel also.


With the windshield dropped, there's three electrical connectors visible. These weren't terribly bad, but I cleaned them up really good with a wire brush.


After a good cleaning, everything goes back together.


In my case, it turns out these connectors were not the problem, as the wipers stopped working again as soon as the roof was installed again. So, roof off - the wipers work; roof on - they don't work. Turns out the problem was with the way the roof was installed, as the roof brackets were pushing the windshield forward ever so slightly, causing a gap between the connections.

Once the roof brackets were fixed, and no longer tweaking the windshield frame, there's no more issues. The wipers work 100% of the time now.

 

[mrandig]

As a final holiday treat, I did some work on New Year's Day sorting out the fuel level gauge. This hasn't been right since day one.

First, the entire dash was removed, yet another new fuel gauge was installed, and everything was rewired.


Just behind the crew cabin, the M1123 has an access door which can be removed to access the fuel sender. Mine had four screws, which come out with varying degrees of difficulty.


You'll probably need to pry a little bit, as the cover is attached with what looks to be seam sealer.


With the cover removed, the fuel tank sender is visible. I could tell right off the bat the wiring here is bad.


As soon as I touched the sender assembly, things started dissolving. Note that this doesn't look like it supposed to.


Wiring issues outstanding, remove the top bolts and the sender can be pulled up and out.


Sender removed.


New sender, new installation kit. I didn't take a pic of the new sender here, but it's a newer canister style.


Installation is the reverse of removal.


I can at least hook it up temporarily for now, but this wiring issue is going to have to be fixed.


The old sender looks mighty gunky, so it's probably best it was replaced, even if wiring turns out to be the actual culprit.


Unfortunately, I had more issues with riv-nuts spinning, so that's always fun.


New gauge with new sender installed. Looks like I can finally tell has much gas (diesel) I've got in the tank.

 

[mrandig]

The new year is over, but this project never is.

Wrapping up the fuel sender change, everything gets a good cleaning.


Yet another purpose-specific tool. This one is a crimping tool from DMC, an AF8 M22520/1-01 Aviation Crimp Tool, which is muy expensive. The good news here, however, is that this will work on almost all of the packard connectors used on this truck.


While the female connectors are pretty easy to assemble, the male ones are almost impossible to crimp without the DMC tool. Even with the tool, crimping these 14ga connectors is a physical task.

I had a lot of casualties before I got this right, but fortunately I figured it out before I ran out of parts.


A little silicone spray helps when putting things back together.


The existing wires don't need to be stripped very much, maybe 3/8".


The male connector actually has a female plug, just keep things confusing.


There's a collar/retainer that will need to be removed in order to use the tool, then reinstalled. It's tiny, so don't lose it.


Plug installed.


Both connectors complete.


I lost a little bit of length on these wires during my initial trial and error period, but still have plenty remaining.


Issues with the fuel sender seem to be permanently fixed. That is, whatever permanently means.


Now I just need to replace the loose riv-nut and put the cover back on. I still have to choose what to use for a sealant on the top cover, but that's the least of my worries.


I really never thought I would use this riv-nut tool more than once, twice if I was lucky. I guess I was wrong, as it's more than earned it's worth on this hmmwv.

 

[Milcommoguy]

Over the holidays, I was also able to finally get my wipers to work. This required removing the top, and dropping the windshield.

In the interior, there are two pins, one of each side of the dash. Remove these pins, and the dash will be free to fall forward. If you have a DWF kit, remember to remove the snorkel also.
View attachment 961045

With the windshield dropped, there's three electrical connectors visible. These weren't terribly bad, but I cleaned them up really good with a wire brush.
View attachment 961046

After a good cleaning, everything goes back together.
View attachment 961047

In my case, it turns out connectors were not the problem, as the wipers stopped working again as soon as the roof was installed again. So, roof off - the wipers work; roof on - they don't work. Turns out the problem was with the way the roof was installed, as the roof brackets were pushing the windshield forward ever so slightly, causing a gap between the connections.

Once the roof brackets were fixed, and no longer tweaking the windshield frame, there's no more issues. The wipers work 100% of the time now.

My two cents worth... Those old rotted, dried out rubber and contacts good when new, 30 years later problems ?? This will save one a headache later. Now the pennies. Get rid of the contacts. Butt splice the wire together, one to one or if the "on & off" windshield is a thing use quality disconnects or full-on military style Packard connectors. Follow good auto electrical practices.

Wipers "on and off" is a thing when you need them, CAMO

OR

Something like this ?? Tag the wires ?? A - B - C or ground - battery - pump

 

[Milcommoguy]

.

 

[mrandig]

My two cents worth... Those old rotted, dried out rubber and contacts good when new, 30 years later problems ?? This will save one a headache later. Now the pennies. Get rid of the contacts. Butt splice the wire together, one to one or if the "on & off" windshield is a thing use quality disconnects or full-on military style Packard connectors. Follow good auto electrical practices.

Wipers "on and off" is a thing when you need them, CAMO

View attachment 961077View attachment 961078 OR View attachment 961080

Bring on the packard connectors. I'm not afraid.

 

[mrandig]

To put this fuel sender project to rest, I decided to just use clear silicone to secure the access panel. Because that's what I had on my shelf.


Should be fine. Since the sealant doesn't go completely around the panel, it doesn't really seal anything.


Works good, looks good. Another project complete.

 

[mrandig]

Seems like only yesterday.

It's actually been almost a year to the day since this this truck was brought out of storage, but at least the hmmwv is getting close to being worthy of daily driver status.

By storage, I mean it was sitting out in the yard behind the shed.


Pretty good considering it didn't run, the tires were flat, the interior was shredded, it was infested by spiders, and it was hit by a falling tree during hurricane Beryl.


Initially there was a total of 65 items on this truck that needed to be looked at.


Unfortunately, after looking, that list climbed up to over 150 things that needed to be done.


And now, it looks like we're down to around 10 items remaining. At least for now.


I still can't get the 2-man top installed correctly. I will not be deterred, however.

 

[mrandig]

It's been a little chilly lately. If it gets below 20 degrees here, all of Houston shuts down. That's probably for the best, as nobody here seems to know how to drive, even when it's sunny outside.

On the subject of safe driving, I didn't realize until I started driving this truck around that I had a few lights out. Funny, as I thought that I checked these previously, but I guess not.

Fortunately, the removal of these lights is pretty simple.


Five screws and the covers are off. The fronts and rears are basically the same.


I had already purchased some replacements bulbs online - The bulbs are manufactured by CEC and are 24v - the small bulbs are #623, the large bulbs are #1683.


The old bulbs were definitely wasted.


A few minutes later we're back in business.


Unfortunately, like so many of the other projects on this M1123, this is not the end. The left front assembly and right rear assembly are broken beyond any reasonable repair. I'm not going to try to epoxy these back together; I'm just going to get two replacements.

Looks like it's back to the internet to find some new parts and spend some more money. No, I'm not going to get LEDs, as I'm staying old school.


Check back soon for more updates...

 

[mrandig]

Well, one thing led to another, and now I've ended up replacing not only the light assemblies, but also the housings for both taillights and the rear marker lights.

New front light assembly installed.


The old rear housings were pretty much wasted.


The worst part about this project is drilling out all of the rivets. There's a lot of them, and it takes a lot of patience.

The wiring wasn't bad, but these connections are getting pretty fragile. This pic is actually after replacement, as I forgot to take one earlier.


Once all of the rivets are out, and the housings replaced, then all new rivets need to go back in. Just to do this the right way, I opted to spend a few extra dollars and buy the correct OEM rivets also.

After this, I really don't want to see another rivet for a while.


The housings for the rear marker lights were a bit better, but since I was here anyways, I might as well change them.


New housing.


Lots of rivets.


On side complete.


The marker lights had a gasket involved that I wasn't in any of the manuals.


Old housing prior to removal.


New housing installed. For the marker lights I did end up using off the shelf rivets, as they're different from the ones I used in the taillights.


Notably, these are all pics from the right side. I'll wrap up the left side later this evening.

 

[Sgt Jiggins]

Not sure if you're going for 100% stock/OEM spec on everything, but, if not, I'd Highly recommend looking into trucklite led lighting. It's not inexpensive but dangit the difference is something you almost have to see to believe. I have zero issues driving it at dusk now - I can see and better yet, others can see me!