G503 Military Vehicle Message Forums

I just bought this, not running. No data tag on it. It was running 6 mos ago, supposedly no spark. I am looking for any info I can get on it by the pictures. Any advice on the spark issue gladly accepted. If I need to take other pictures to help with identification let me know.
Thanks, Glen

Welcome to 503!!
Check the points in magneto. make sure the kill switch is in the on position., pull one of the plug wires off hold it to ground and have someone turn the engine over.

Thank you Gunslinger, that was more or less my 1st plan. Going to look over all the wiring also, not the cleanest work has been done on it in the past. Anything to know about checking the points on the mag? Do I have to remove it or will it come apart while mounted?

In addition to Gunslingers ideas test the on/off switch with a multimeter to verify it isn't shorted to ground. If it is OK, I would disconnect the wire to the mag and then check for spark, the hourmeter can sometimes short out if you have one. Good luck and keep us posted.

It does have an hour meter, I will check the switch. May be till after the weekend before I get to work on it.

Welcome to the forum. You will get all the help you need here.

1-Dissconnect the ground wire from the magneto and hour meter. A faulty hour meter could ground the mag so it will not fire
2-Pull the mag by first removing the governor and check tooth alignment between the mag and cam gear. Your top engine shroud data plate shows a V serial #ed engine so the timing should be V to V.
3-Pull the mag cover and clean the points 400-600 grit sand paper set to 0.016" then contact cleaner and a clean piece of paper to wipe the points clean and dry. Impulse the mag and you should observe a bright spark across the points.
4-Use Non Ethanol fuel I add 2oz of Sta-Bil per 5 gal of fuel. Drain the tank and refill with fresh fuel.
5-Remove the return line from the inlet carb tee and crank engine to verify fuel delivery to carb. fuel should spurt 1-2 feet.
6-Check oil level. If too full smell for presence of gas indicating a bad fuel pump diaphragm.
I have rebuild kits for the AC Flat Top fuel pump.

You stated it ran 6 months ago so you should now have it running again.

Your fuel tank has a filter but it is hard to replace

Your sediment bowl uses a Wix 33034 filter easy to replace.

With your gas tank full and the sediment bowl pulled you should have fuel pouring since the tank is higher. You may need to pressurize the tank to start the flow. If you have a stream of fuel then the tank filter is working.

You have a M274-A5 that was retrofitted maybe at Fort Campbell to fenders, electric start, alternator, modified steering, a starter box mounted on the steering column and should have the wide sand tires and electronic magneto but you are better off with the regular mag and the 7:50 x 10 tires.

Thanks Muleman, I will go through that whole list. I was looking over it yesterday and it looks like someone was going to pull the starter relay, maybe that was the problem. The man who used it and worked on it died, the owner did not know what was wrong with it. Just that it was an electrical problem. Still want to check it all over to make sure it is right.

Also here in Commifornia it is not easy to get non ethanol gas. Not sure what to do about that problem.

What part of California do you live in, I'm north of L.A.

I am near Lake Isabella, east of Bakersfield.

Finally had time to do a little work on the Mule, turns out it is just a bad starter. I hooked everything up and it turned over a few times and started briefly. After a few tries the starter would not work. I took it apart and the brushes are gone. I ordered a new starter so when that gets here I hope it will be running.

Great, you are going to love it. Just started both of mine after a long winter's nap.

Great, you are going to love it. Just started both of mine after a long winter's nap.

Congratulations on finding your first mule issue. As with almost all vehicles over a half century old you will get proficient at diagnosing and repair of your beast.

One suggestion about gas is that as you probably know the stuff they make us buy out here has a very short shelf life, and any gas about 6 months old or older should be replaced with fresh gas. You might go to your local general aviation airport and see if you can talk to the FBO about buying some 100LL avgas.

One suggestion is that unless you have the wide rims with the tractor groove tires somewhere you might remove and either save or sell, (please don't throw away) those wide fenders because I think you will find they get in the way and get bent up without the wide wheels. I personally like the standard rims like you have because the wide tires and rims about doubles the distance it takes to turn around. Not to mention it is harder to steer and wears out tie rod ends faster.