LUVTruck.com

I thought I'd start sharing some of the cheap quick fixes I've found over the years dealing with LUVs. I don't claim to be an expert, so if anyone has improvements on any of my tips please speak up.

On of the most common sources of water leaks into the cab that I have found are the rubber boots that cover the shaft for the windshield wiper shafts. I recall trying to get replacements and they were thin rubber and cost a fair amount for a little dab of rubber.

The alternative that I've used with great success is the rubber boot off of the distributer end of a set of spark plug wires. You need the kind that come straight out of the cap, not the 90 degree bend ones, but most of the ones I had sitting around from my luvs were about right. Combined with a trick for keeping those shafts lubed, this seems to fix both the leaks and the squeaks in the wipers. Here are the steps you need to do:

Take off the wiper arms, there is a nut that holds them on right out in the open.

Remover the cowl, 4 screws hold it in right along where the edge of the hood rests. (Be careful not to lose the little plastic plugs that go just under the windshield and hold some tabs one the cowl in place. Look before you take it apart to see what I mean. They can pop out and disappear.

Pull off the foam surround and rubber boot from the wiper shaft.

Take some time to clean up the shaft, also this is a good time to vaccum the leaves and dirt out from under that cowl.

I pack some thick grease in the replacement boot, helps keep it sliding especially if it fits tight. Plus it helps keep the moisture out and away from the shaft and the inside of your LUV. Something like wheel bearing grease or even petroleum jelly (aka vaseline) should help keep things dry and moving free.

Slide the boot down over the shaft and down to the plastic housing the shaft rides in. Place the foam back over the shaft too. Put the cowl back in place and screw it down.

I just did this to my 79 and this time I tried replacing the cowl screws with stainless screws in hopes of cutting down the rust. With the dirt and water hitting those screws all the time they seemed to be pretty rusty, so I'll have to see how stainless holds up.

Good tip, thanks!

Hey Thanks for the tip, livein here in Mt Hood Oregon.. We know what a little water can do to a chevrolet luv truck...i'll try the stainless screws.....Matt

Jeez! What a great idea. The stainless screws too. I can redo with the stainless srews but its semi-too late for your great Idea. I"glopped" a bunch of that black silicone stuff arround what was left of the boots. It looks only a little bit knarley but it worked super.

Given the current weather conditions, I though it might be a good time to bring this thread back to the top again.

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95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

The day I painted the cowl, I did put two rubber pieces on the shafts, but I didn't use any grease or silicone. Now that the truck has been out in the weather, I did notice a tiny bit of water under the heater. That's another problem for me to figure out and fix. It's going to be tackled after I do some of these issues with the oil loss.

It is a great tip, and the spark plug boots fit nicely. I had them to use too, since I replaced the wires with new ones.

I hope I don't have to pull the whole heater unit off to figure this one out. I will though, if I have to.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

The problem of mystery water leaks from under the dash popped up yet again and I found this thread doesn't show up well in the search. It is also very timely, as it happens to be pouring rain outside here in western Oregon right now. So I thought I'd resurrect this old write up, and add some more text to bait the search engine into finding it.

Water leak under your dash, leaking windshield, leaking heater or just getting wet feet? Check your wiper shafts. Odds are the rubber boots that keep water out have long since cracked and turned to dust.

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95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

Sweet! I remember reading about this a couple years ago and once I got my luv I couldn't find anything about it.

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1980 LUV 4wd 1.8, 31's, 3" body lift, weber 32/36, header, fakemaster, project in progress
1989 Isuzu Pickup 4wd 2.6, 2.3 head, weber 38, header, flowmaster, 31's, DD/light wheeler
1989 Camry, the race car
1968 Ford Fairlane Fastback, next in line

Thanks for the share. 800xl ...time to bring it back up...

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Previously owned 2 Luvs) 75 & 77 Fleet-side
3rd 77 Step fixing up aka The Yellow Submarine to Luv Ms (Sun)Shine=)
98 GMC Gas Guzzler~>The reason 4 my ~>3rdLuvNext2a66MALIBU =)
66 Chevelle The Oldest of all the vehicles I owned

All the water in my cab comes from the antenna,running down the cable. The antenna itself was busted off before I got the truck,so I won't feel any pain welding the hole shut..