PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-577
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 577
DECEMBER 2000
M109-Series SP Howitzers . . .
An Open and Shut Case
B
efore you locked up your M109-series howitzer for the night, did you re-
member to close the breech?
Leaving the breech open puts a lot
of extra stress on the leafsprings.
Pretty soon those leafsprings lose their
spring and you’ll have a hard time
closing the breech.
Keeping the breech closed also
helps keep condensation from form-
ing. That keeps corrosion problems
to a minimum.
rewmen, an impeller fan that
gets loose in the engine compart-
ment of your howitzer or ammo
carrier can cause a lot of damage.
That’s why it’s a good idea to
check the locking nut, NSN 5310-
00-059-2831, on both of your
vehicle’s impeller fans before
each operation. Here’s how:
Make sure the locking tab of
the key washer, NSN 5310-00-
045-3812, is locked into one of
the slots on the locking nut. Then
try to turn the locking nut by
hand.
If the nut is loose or missing,
your vehicle is NMC. Call in your
mechanic.
Make a note of this new
before-operation check until the
TM can be updated.
Scree-e-ech!
If that’s the sound the driver’s hatch
stop makes on your M109A6 Paladin,
then you’ve got a corrosion problem.
On some older Paladins, the shoul-
der pin inside the hatch stop is made
of carbon steel. It corrodes easily, mak-
ing it hard to lock open the hatch.
If the hatch isn’t properly secured,
you’ll also be hearing bells—right af-
ter the hatch swings closed on your
head.
Stop
all
the sound effects by lubing
the pin monthly with OE/HDO. Just a
few drops where the pin attaches to
the stop does the trick. Then exercise
the stop to spread the oil along the
length of the pin.
M109A6 Paladin . . .
M109-Series SP Howitzers, M992A2 Ammo Carrier . . .
Locking nut should lock into key washer
If the pin is already corroded, notify
your mechanic. He’ll have to replace it
with NSN 5315-00-133-7968.
Check the driver’s hatch stop as part
of your before-operation PMCS. Then
make a note of the new check until
TM 9-2350-314-10 can be updated.
Put a few drops of OE/HDO here
ooh!
that darn hatch
brained me
! and these
birds
won't shut up
either!
that's what
can happen when
you ignore
corrosion
squeaks
on my
hatch stop
!
PS 577
19
DEC 00
PS 577
18
DEC 00
yow!
what's
wrong
with the engine
compartment?
Open breech invites corrosion
and weak springs
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