Getting an old military truck running is supposed to be the hard part. For the creator behind @oversteer___, the hard part nearly came with a hospital visit before the engine ever turned over.
He was filling an abandoned jet fuel powered deuce and a half when a black widow crawled out of the fuel nozzle and onto his hand.
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“I Just Had A Heart Attack” When A Black Widow Crawled Out Of The Nozzle
The truck is a deuce and a half that had been sitting abandoned. It runs on jet fuel, and as he points out, jet fuel is very hard to get if you are not a pilot. He did eventually find some.
That is when the spider showed up. “Oh my gosh, it’s a black widow,” he says in the reel. “I just had a heart attack.” He says it almost sent him to the hospital for a long time, and he asks the obvious question: “What are the odds of that?”
A black widow is a good reason to take any old fuel can, nozzle or hose seriously. The spiders like dark, sheltered spots, and a truck that has been abandoned for years is full of them.
The Engine Turned Over But Would Not Run Because It Had No Fuel
With the spider dealt with, he threw some batteries in the truck, filled it with jet fuel and tried to start it. It turned over, he says, but it would not run.
He worked out that it was missing the most important thing an engine needs. There was no fuel getting through. So he ripped out the fuel pump.
“Sure enough,” he says, it was packed with “the most disgusting, sticky stuff I’ve ever seen in a fuel system in my entire life.” Years of sitting had turned whatever was in there into a gummy mess.
“They Said It’ll Be Fun” Before He Took A Breather With Brake Cleaner
The grime and the fumes got to him. He says he needed to take a little breather after working with brake cleaner, joking that “by a deuce and a half, they said, it’ll be fun, they said.”
He cleaned every crevice of the pump he could reach and blew out the fuel lines with air. Then he put the pump back in and tested it, and this time fuel finally came through.
The Truck Fired Up When He Only Meant To Bleed The Lines And It Would Not Shut Off
Next came the surprise. He reconnected the fuel lines to the pump and cracked the lines at the injectors so the air could escape while he cranked the engine.
“Should see some fuel squirting out of all the ones that I was able to crack,” he says as he cranks it. Instead the truck lit off. “Why is it running?”
The injectors were loose, and it ran anyway. He hit the fuel shut off, but it would not shut off because, as he puts it, “it’s not connected.” Thick smoke poured from the exhaust, and he guesses something had been living in there. “I say was.”
Abandoned For 10 Years And Back On The Road
According to his post, the jet fuel powered deuce and a half had been abandoned for 10 years before it came back to life. The truck is now back on the road, and he says he fixed far more than the reel shows.
He also puts to rest a question many commenters might ask. Yes, it runs on diesel too.
Why A Military Truck Can Burn Jet Fuel
The truck is a type of military 2.5-ton 6×6 known as the deuce and a half, and the M35 family was built with a multifuel engine so crews could keep it moving on whatever fuel was around. That includes diesel and jet fuel. That is why he says his truck runs on both.
That flexibility is part of what makes these trucks popular with collectors and off-road fans. They are simple, tough and easy to repair. They are also heavy, so working on them takes patience and good jack stands.
Staying Safe When You Wake A Truck That Has Been Sitting
His close call is a handy reminder for anyone who works on a vehicle or equipment that has been parked for a long time.
- Wear gloves when you reach into dark spots like nozzles, hoses, wheel wells and engine compartments. Spiders and wasps like them.
- Look inside a fuel nozzle or fill neck before you put a hand near it.
- Use brake cleaner outdoors or with plenty of fresh air, and take a break when you feel lightheaded, as he did.
- Check that the fuel pump and lines are clean before you crank, because old fuel turns to sticky varnish.
- Do not crack fuel lines while you crank the engine unless the injectors are properly secured. As his truck showed, an engine can start when you least expect it.
If you do get bitten by a black widow, health agencies advise getting medical attention quickly. He avoided that, and he has his old truck on the road to show for it.
Now he is asking his followers what he should do with the jet fuel powered truck next.