military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) (11/26/90)
From: sun!portal!cup.portal.com!Bits_of_Magic On PBS I saw a special on a civilian group that watchdogs military weapons systems. They try to expose systems that they feel don't work and would threaten the life of American soldiers. Anyway, they said that in order to change the oil on an M1 tank, you had to remove the entire engine and transmission! To do this requires 2 huge support vehicles. According to the show, the oil has to changed rather frequently. They speculated that the enemy should target the support vehicles, and render the M1 useless rather quickly. Is any of this true? How could a system that took a billion dollars and 10 years to produce have such a "feature"? Ken Zarifes <bits_of_magic@cup.portal.com>
jmasly@mainz-emh2.army.mil (John Masly) (11/29/90)
From: John Masly <jmasly@mainz-emh2.army.mil> FROM: bits_of_magic@cup.portal.com (Ken Zarifes) >...in order to change the oil on an M1 tank, you had to >remove the entire engine and transmission!....... >...the oil has to be changed rather frequently.... Well the PBS program was half right. Yes, to change the engine (or transmission) oil on an M1 series tank, you must pull the power pack out of the engine compartment. No, the oil does not need to be changed frequently. All combat vehicles are in the Army Oil Analysis Program (AOAP). Every 25 hours of operation, or 30 calendar days, a sample of the vehicle engine oil is sent to a lab for analysis. The results of the analysis determine if the engine oil needs to be changed, or if other maintenance must be performed on the engine. This is a cost effective approach, when you consider that the AGT 1500 engine takes 25 quarts of oil at a filling. Since the Lube Order for the tank calls for the transmission oil to be changed on an annual cycle, if needed, the engine oil would be changed at that time. (Some of you ex-tankers out there help me out: Didn't you have to pull the full up power pack out of the M60 series tanks in order to change the engine/transmission oil?) ***************************************************************** * John R. Masly, Mechanical Engineer, Mainz Army Depot, Germany * * "The U.S. Army's Depot on the Rhein" (German Spelling) * *****************************************************************