Kcanarr Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Good afternoon, just purchased this weasel. Fully enclosed cabin. Photos don’t show the side panels due to them being removed for travel. It appears to have the original motor. ~1800 miles. Been sitting for about 6 years. It’s been converted to 12V. Has anybody else done this? I’m trying to figure out what starter might had been used as this one is dragging and needs to be rebuilt/replaced. Any advice will help! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 Update: thanks to the help of this fourm I was able to download some of the older manuals and found that they did make some that came as 12V. so here is the issue I’m currently running into: I installed a freshly charged battery, when start button is engaged the relay clicks but you don’t hear the bendix kick out and engage. You can physically move the spring loaded deal on the starter but it does not seem to make a difference. New brushes maybe? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Welcome aboard! A first name and location are also great to make it easier for everyone to keep up with who is doing what to whom. Nice looking M29C. What is the hull tag number and data plate number? That top is post WW2 - lots of Weasel used in various polar expeditions - looks like yours was one of them. As for your starter issues, it may need maintenance, but the better first bet is bad grounds or connections. Take off all of the battery and starter connections and clean them very well. My bet is that will do it. All Weasels were 12 volt too. Some had two 6 volt batteries...some a large 12 volt. Regards, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Patrick, Thanks for the information, I'll get things updated. As for the info on the M29C, thats good to know. Where would I find the serial/data tag? There is some tags on the instrument panel but it mostly describes the operating limitations.. I later found out that it was a 12V system and going to work on the connections tomorrow. Just wondering, do you know if they still make these starters in worst case? Also wondering if somebody might be able to tell me what some of the switches do. I figured out the battery disconnect and the start switch but some of the others have me stumped. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 The hull tag is on the passenger side of the bulkhead facing the rear. The data tag should be right behind the driver seat on the same bulkhead. TM 9-772 has all of the operating instructions including a description of all the switches with pictures - I would start there. As for the starter, you can usually get them rebuilt and they are good as new. Lots of the parts are available for Weasels, including parts for the starter, although I don't know if anyone is making new ones. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 Thanks for the additional information! I looked on the bulkhead that you where talking about and didn't find any sort of data tag or hull tag. I'll take a photo tomorrow. I did get a socket on the mail crank pulley and find out that the motor isn't locked up so I'm pretty stoked about that. I pulled the starter off (much easier said then done) that lower bolt for the starter is kinda a pain to get to. Found that the pin that's mounted on the relay on the starter was froze up, not allowing the bendix to kick out. I got it cleaned up and was going to replace the brushes. You said that you can have them rebuilt, I'v replaced many brushes before and could do it myself but not too sure where to begin with finding these replacement brushes. Is there an old car that used to use the same starter in it to make it easier when I got to the parts store? Or does anybody on here have an idea of where is a good place to get the brushes? Everything else on the starter looks great. As far as figuring out what switches to what, I think I have most of them figured out... once I get the motor running then I'll worry about getting the other stuff working, but I was thinking about just mounting LED lights up on the front. I'm going to be using this rig to run across a lake a few miles hauling cabin materials for the cabin I'm building. Thanks for the manuals! Those things are a life saver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5280Beltfed Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 (edited) An electric motor shop should be able to help with the starter. I would pull it and make sure it in fact doesn’t spin, add oil to the oiler bench test motor and solenoid to find out what’s wrong. Pls crusty motors I like to douse with electrical contact cleaner, crank, and repeat a few times. My spare spins under power but need solenoid work for example. I labeled it so years from now my CRS doesn’t get the best of me. Edited October 28, 2020 by 5280Beltfed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted October 29, 2020 Author Share Posted October 29, 2020 Sounds great 5280Beltfed. I got the starter reinstalled this evening and it's working properly. I cleaned the fuel tank out and put in 10 gallons of fresh gas. I pulled the choke, cranked it but nothing. Pulled plugs and they appear wet. I cleaned the plugs and reinstalled them after cranking the motor with the plugs out to clean the cylinders out. It appears as though I'm not getting any spark now. Not too surprised as I kinda figured the points needed cleaning as well. Just figured I'd git it a shot before digging into it. One thing that I'm not 100 percent sure I'm doing correctly is the ignition switch. My model (early model im assuming based on the instrument panel layout) has the start button, as well as the actual ignition switch. Now, if I turn it all the way to the right then my electric fuel pump starts running. If I put it in any of the other three spots that it can be in then nothing happens. I'm a little confused because I did not see anything that talks about a fuel pump in the manuals, and the ignition switch is wire opposite on early models VS later models. However, if I have an early model and its wired correctly, then turning the ignition on will not allow the electric fuel pump to run. Does this make any sense? Tomorrow I'll mess around with it some more and take some better photos of the instrument panel. I did connect the plugs to the wires and ground the plug to check for spark but did not get any, so either I'm not doing something correct or the points are messed up. Thanks! Kennedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5280Beltfed Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 (edited) It could be a multitude of any one issues causing no spark. Mine was an arcing distributor to coil wire touching the speedo. Drove me nuts. After sitting so long it would be wise to torch the carbon on plugs, new wires, cap, clean adjust points, and a coil. Advanced auto had a hellfire coil on sale that throws a mean spark😉. the setting you hear the pump run would be my best guess on the switch question. edit: don’t forget the rotor! I like the top yours came with btw. Edited October 29, 2020 by 5280Beltfed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 5 hours ago, Kcanarr said: Tomorrow I'll mess around with it some more and take some better photos of the instrument panel. I did connect the plugs to the wires and ground the plug to check for spark but did not get any, so either I'm not doing something correct or the points are messed up. Good stuff Kennedy: When I don't have spark, I always do the following. 1. Check for voltage at coil. You should have 12 volts. You may need to work from the battery to the various switches in this case to make sure you understand your wiring and are turning the ignition on when you think you are. 2. Pull the main coil wire and hold close to engine while cranking. You should get a nice spark. If you don't, then you have isolated to distributor. There is some chance it could be the coil, but it is slight so I would rule out for a bit. 3. If no spark from main wire, turn ignition on and use a screwdriver to "short" the points. You should get a nice spark. If no, then check wiring from coil to distributor and find the short/break. 4. If you have voltage to points, then your problem is either the points or the condenser. Take a little 240 grit or finer sandpaper and hold the points closed gently while pulling the sandpaper through them to clean them. I am not worried about the points at this point, just trying to isolate the problem without changing anything and making the whole process more complicated. 5. After you have cleaned points, replace cap and see if you have spark coming out from main coil wire. If yes, then reinsert into distributor and check one spark plug wire. If yes to spark there, she should run. If no...continue 6. If you don't have spark at main coil wire after cleaning the points, suspect a bad condenser. In my experience condensers either work or they don't. The older ones seem to nearly never fail - new ones are often junk so the fact that you might have recently replaced it does not mean much. If you change the condenser, go back and check the main coil lead after reassembly.....you should have spark. If not, then you missed something in one of the steps above. 6. If you have spark at the main coil wire, but nothing to the spark plugs, then your problem is cap/rotor/wires. Most likely cap/rotor because wires can be awfully bad and still work. I usually start by cleaning the center button and rotor contact bar....again we are not trying to "fix" at this point - just get it working and then figure out whether we need to replace or can rehab parts. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 Good Evening Fellas, Thanks for the help and tips getting the ignition system figured out. I got spark back! Just had to clean up the points and away it went. I put some fresh gas in and after sitting for about 6 years (so I'm told) it fired up. I'm having carb issues now and removed the carb to rebuild it.. Seems like a pretty simply setup. Anybody know much about getting a rebuild kit for these? Looking at the manual it appears to be a Carter carb. The issue I was having was keeping it running once it would fire. I'm sure there is a few other factors playing into the roughness and tough starting but this is an easy one and I'm sure would have had to be done anyway. Also looking at replacing the plug wires with new just due to age, I noticed that when I pulled to cap off that all the plug wires where pretty stiff, might as well replace them now... I got looking more for the tag and took photos but I'm having trouble getting them from my phone to my computer. I will try some more in the morning. All and all its going pretty well and seem happy with the outcome so far. Another question that I had cause I'v never seen or heard of it before but coming off the intake manifold is what appears to be a check valve and air fitting (like one used on air tools) it's coming off the right side of the motor. Anybody heard of this? I started mounting my doors and windows to see how they fit but it appears that somewhere along the way the hinge material got messed up so I'll be replacing that with new and new screws to mount them. Thanks again guys! this has been great! Kennedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M29 Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 I got this kit from Mikes https://www.carburetor-parts.com/search.asp?keyword=weasel Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted November 5, 2020 Author Share Posted November 5, 2020 Awesome thanks guys! I cleaned the Carb, cleaned the points up and she fired right up and has been running excellent since! Very happy with the outcome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 Are you in Alaska? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted November 6, 2020 Author Share Posted November 6, 2020 Yes I am! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Was this on CL? I think I remember seeing the ad. I am looking for one right now. I have looked at a few project machines, but need to make up my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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