LUVTruck.com

Pulled and replaced the valve cover gasket today, and put on my 'new' reman'd Trooper carb. New carb gaskets, and I inspected/replaced the vacuum and fuel lines. The truck had a minor miss when I bought it, I thought maybe an exhaust valve, but now it's much worse. I haven't adjusted the choke yet for the Luv, but a WD-40 check didn't yeild any vacuum leaks. I did find the #1 plug wire was arcing/broken, so I replaced it. That took care of about 1/2 of the miss. Still sounds like it's not fully hitting on one cylinder though. I'll check the rest of the plug wires tomorrow.

What does an exhaust manifold leak sound like at the tailpipe? Looks like I should have picked up a set of gaskets for the exhaust too. I'm a bit worried that it may have been leaking for some time and burnt a valve.

I'm planning to put in the electronic dizzy tomorrow, maybe it's just points?

I just ordered a set of NGK RC-IX43 Isuzu 1.8 plug wires. I miss the Bougicord sets on my Saabs, too bad they are too short to work on the Luv...

Thanks in advance for any input

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Ok, so what's the secret to getting the carb bolted down tight enough to not leak? Ignition wreches, maybe? I can't get to the bolts and this truck runs very badly right now. I put two new carb gaskets in when I swapped carbs, and the carb itself is a low mile Hitachi reman, no leaks; it looks brand new. Is it possible that the black plastic spacer is cracked?

The truck has had the smog stuff removed, and the 4 air inlets pinched shut, same for the EGR pipe on the exhaust manifold. I used the vacuum diagram from FullaLuv's post on my 'Blew Sumpin' Up' thread and checked each of these connections. Minus the smog stuff, everything is present and accounted for.

The muffler has a hole in it, but I can't attribute how poorly it runs to a lack of back pressure.

Put the plug wires on it from the '78, which really had no other driveability issues. When I went to time it today, (with a known good electronic distributor) the timing mark 'floated' about 1/4" back and forth. The vacuum to the dizzy was plugged. What's that about? Vacuum Leak, right?

Tomorrow, I'm going to plug every vacuum line except the one to the dizzy and see what I get. I'm going to have one very clean intake manifold, I have a new can of carb cleaner begging to help me troubleshoot. I'm considering removing the carb and putting some copper permatex in place of the paper gaskets just to see what happens. I have to drive this thing to work Thursday night. I've got the idle set at about 2K just to keep it running right now. When I had a vacuum leak on the Saab, I found that the fuel ratio (mixture) screw did basically nothing when trying to adjust the idle. That is not the case with this truck, tweaking the fuel mixture does actually adjust the mixture. Ack...

I'm missing something stupid, I can feel it. Aside from a slight miss and a stuck manual choke, this truck ran great before I fixed it.

Should I go get a 12mm ignition wrench? Put the old carb back on? Get another set of carb gaskets? Forget the house payment and buy a Weber? hahahha...

Help, please.

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Such anguish, such misery, such pain! Nukeday, I feel for ya, but alas, you're so far away!

That's probably a good thing, since I'd just look more stupid than you by standing around with my hands in my pockets!!

No, I can't say what the problem is, but as far as the wrenchs go, have you thought about a 12mm crow's foot? I want to get one myself, especially for those two inside nuts. I can't get to the one by the thermostat without taking the thermostat off and spilling coolant all over. I haven't actually tried a crow's foot, but I plan to.

Another thing to consider is Permatex's® Threadlocker. There's several varieties, and I have the red. I'm going to put some on my idle adjustment, so it stops changing all the time.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

buy a weber... here at the dallas wrecking yard all weber carbs are called cores and are $25 the last 2 i got from him i just slapped on trucks ant took off... i did have the adaptor for one and the other had the wright one for the luv... but if it does need rebuild its only about $25 for the kit

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My old but now gone Luv...

Saw somewhere online where you can get the install kit for the Luv, includes chrome air cleaner and filter, adapter plate, linkage, vac plugs, gaskets etc for about $80... combine that with a carb CT mentioned and you should be in great shape, for not a whole lotta $$. I ended up buying new, couldn't find a 'core' from a yard sollution, but I was a bit pressed for time. Mine gets me to work and back also.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevy-LU ... enameZWD1V

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FIAA: Color Guard

First, buy three cheap fairly long 12mm wrenches. Then heat them all with a torch and bend 1 90 degrees, 1 45 degrees, and 1 about 25-30 degrees. Now you have a damn good set of import carb/intake wrenches.

Second, get a weber 32/36 w/an adapter plate. Enough has already been said about that. Beg, borrow, or steal one. (J/K about the steal part...lol)

Third, never...I repeat never...install a carb with permatex or you will be sorry. Besides making it nearly impossible to get the darn carb back off, it's chemical composition is pretty toxic to your fuel mix and that ain't gonna help ya much.

Fourth, If you can't get your hands on new gaskets, then go to the local parts store and buy a large sheet of appropriate gasket material and make your own by placing the gasket material securily over your part and tapping around it lightly with the rounded part of a small ball peen hammer untill it cuts away all of the excess material to make a new usable gasket.


Fifth, if you have a very bad miss, you timing is going to be hard to set, so make sure all your ignition stuff is in excellent shape and set up properly.

I hope this all helps ya...good luck!

Thanks guys. ctmandu thanks for the hook up on the weber, that's amazingly cheap and worth the hour drive. Thanks for the pointers, Taz. I've made lots of gaskets by hand in the past, and only permatex'd one carb. You've clearly described why I only did it once, I was a bit desperate when I posted last night, thanks for the reminder NOT to do this. I've got plug wires on order and the rest of the ingnition system checks out. '79-luvr I appreciate the info on the weber install kit, I had been looking and did not know that this was available. The weber is just going to have to wait, though. The truck does run, sort of..

I just went out and ran to get some milk. The truck idles high, but runs pretty decent when it's cold. I'll look at the choke again, maybe it's sticking. I'd venture to say this is pretty much a confirmed vacuum leak. Once it warms up, it's sucking air somewhere. The wife and fam are about sick of my wrenching on this thing, but I think I can get a couple more hours of grace...

I'm calling in a bit here to get into the muffler shop, I'll pick up a couple of cheap 12mm longs and ask the muffler guy to heat them up and bend 'em for me...

Front timing cover oil seal is still leaking, and my oil pressure lamp comes on when it's warm. Oil is at the right level, and I know this is not related to my driveability issue, but I'm curious what's involved in replacing that seal. Could I swap the front cover from the '78? Radiator has to come out to get at the balancer, right? Looks like the dizzy needs to come out too, but I'm curious if I have to remove the water pump or if I can leave it on the housing?

hahahah...what have I got myself into? The fun part is figuring it out...the sucky part is bustin' my knuckles...

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Anyone know if this will fit under the stock hood? Save me $30 over the weber adapter kit but I'd have to fab my own throttle bracket...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Holley-Weber-5200-32-36-Carb-Race-Phenolic-Spacer-Kit_W0QQitemZ260116118728QQihZ016QQcategoryZ46098QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Found the electrode on #3 plug was pretty mashed, and the plug wire came apart on removing it. It was pretty brittle. I didn't have plugs, so I put in an old set out of the Saab. Same electrode length, a bit colder plug maybe. Had to pull out yet another old Bougicord to put on plug #2. Moved the # 2 wire that was there to #3 spot. Replaced most of the vacuum lines. A little carb cleaner under the carb gasket and guess what? Still sucking like crazy, riiiiiiiiight there...grrrrr...

I'm going to go get some ignition wrenches and another set of gaskets. I will make this thing run right.

...where's my DAMMIT tool...oh wait, I need that...

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Swapped the carb gaskets and put Indian Head on them this time. For you younger guys, that's gasket shellac. I guess the thing today is high tack or something...Anyway, only a slight improvement. Still hunting at idle pretty badly. I think I'm going to swap the electric choke to the old carb and see what I get. The exhaust noise is continually becoming more pronounced, and I'm pretty sure at this point that the donut is leaking along with the toasted muffler.

Could the intake gasket cause this sort of problem? It's water cooled, so I would expect to see a leak if it weren't seated properly. I think it's the front runners that have the water port, I guess it could be drawing air in from an edge somewhere. I have the old intake off the '78 sitting here, and the carb I took off the '79. I may try to clean them up and install them back on the truck rather than mess with what I've got. It would allow me to insure the carb is on nice and tight too. Of course it means messing with old coolant lines. Cooling is the only system left for me to mess up on this truck anyway, might as well go for broke. hahaha...

The exhaust nuts are all actually pretty loose from the oil that had been leaking from the valve cover. That gasket could prolly stand to be changed too. Last donut I tried to do, I messed up the studs on the exhaust manifold, not sure I'm up for that experience again.

Honestly, this is the same problem I've had since I bought the truck. The stuff I've done has just made it more pronounced. I'm not convinced it's the carb, this carb is nice and tight. When I did the valve cover gasket, the only thing that was actually interfered with was the plug wires. Those have all been checked and the electronic distributor installed. I didn't wd-40 check the intake after the new gaskets/sealer; the family was waiting for me to put it back together to go pick up new bunk beds for the kids. I've replaced any suspicious vacuum lines, routed them correctly and installed new plugs. The cap and rotor on the dizzy are brand new too.

Here's a weird tidbit, the ignition key was about 120F when I went to take it out after a 30 mile trip. Warm, but not burning hot. That can't be good. Could this be part of my problem? I'll do some searches on the forum, thought I saw something about this somewhere..

I must be getting old, it takes me WAY too long to get this stuff sorted out, and WAY too long to actually do the work. I'm beginning to think I'm the world's slowest, crappiest, backyard mechanic...glad this forum is here

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

If I had to make a choice of putting the carb on tight first, or installing the coolant lines, I'd go with the coolant lines. Those are crucial to not leak. If you spring a leak, you have to remove it all over, or work under the intake blind. I'd rather tighten the carb bolts from on top. Did you try Permatex® Threadlocker? Just a small drop on the threads, then tighten them. Have the thermostat housing off when you do it too. Make those wrenches Tazman mentioned. What a great idea!

On the exhaust manifold. Mine was resurfaced for about $30. That's a must. No sense trying to get a good seal with a warped connection. Take the studs out of the manifold and re-tap the threads to insure they're clean. Get some new hardened exhaust studs, #10s. Install the whole thing again with new gaskets and lockwashers.

Did you get your new ignition wires?

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

I used a stubby open end wrench, just fit between car inside bolts and the valve cover looked like it was six inches long. tightend the carb up real good. I had a loose fitting on the #1 piston air manifold jet pluggy thingy, do you still have that thing on?? That was causing a crazy putt putt from the exhaust side. Only reason i might leave that thing is cuz it's shiny.

I plugged the intake on the air injector tubes, but later plan to remove it completely and put plugs in, or braze the fittings closed.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

Well, I got to looking at the intake I have laying in the garage. I was standing there, about at my wits end and it dawned on me. It IS something simple. Using the diagrams I had on hand left out one important vacuum connection. The brake booster. That hose also runs under the heater hoses, and probably got knocked by the valve cover when replacing the gasket. So I go out to the truck and take a look. Sure enough, that hose is as dry and cracked as can be. I replaced that hose and took care of 95% of the problem.

I had the carb really screwed up in order to keep it running, and I'm still fine tuning it back to normal. I just keep backing the idle screw off and adjusting the mixture until it stays running at idle. I also backed the choke out a lot, the fast idle cam is now sort of screwed up, but at least it idles and stays running right around 1000 RPM. I had it running so rich last night, I think I got about 6mpg in to work, but at least I made it in.
I jumped out on I-5 tonight because the secondary latch on the hood is flaky and the hood was flapping all over, took the opportunity to do another adjustment, and it's now darn close to where it should be. The secondaries actually seem to be engaging now, and I spun the tires all over the place when I floored it to get back on the freeway..hahaha. We'll see how the choke does in the AM.

The temp gauge is only coming up to about 160 or so, so I'm going to replace the thermostat over my upcoming break, and also put in a new set of exhaust gaskets, if I get to it. I drained and changed the coolant last week, but didn't have enough anti-freeze on hand, so it's only good to about 210/-5 right now. I'm pretty confident that this carb has a heat related setting somewhere, so this may also be part of my idle issue.

Hooked up my $5 alcohol injection thingy, and it works just fine. I've been using the little valve adjusters as a poor man's vacuum gauge. When I close the valve and the idle changes, I'm pretty confident I've got good vacuum.

Glad the forum is back up, I've had my own site in the past and it's an easy thing to forget to renew the domain. Glad it came together, and thank you Ben for making this available

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

OK, I've still got a vacuum leak. Only when it's warm though. Figures. I'm pretty aggravated by the whole thing. Guess I need to get those wrenches bent and remount the carb yet again. It just won't idle flat once it's warm . The choke was a mess, but I had that straightened out and then it started to warm up enough to drift and hunt again. I think this round I will make my own gaskets from a thicker material than what is provided by the parts stores. I'm beginning to suspect the intake might be slightly warped. Be nice to have just a bit more cash to throw at this thing, and I'd get a weber and only do this ONE more time....

This shouldn't be that hard, but I have to say I'm about ready to go grab the tbi, intake and computer off a 2.3 sitting in the wrecking yard, rather than mess with this carb another minute.

Looks like the oil pan gasket is leaking pretty badly too, got a shoeful of oil from messing with the carb all afternoon. Yay.

Someone once told me to just buy a $2000 car to start with rather than waste all of my time on <$500 POS's... Can't figure out if I'm too stubborn or too stupid to listen to that advice. Today it looks like the latter of the two...

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Somebody said that's just the way these trucks are. Well I say they don't have to be prone to trouble. They are strong little trucks, and you just have to get it right. I worked and worked on my truck until I thought it was going good, only to have it fail big time. I had it towed home!! Cost me $137!! I then would have stopped for a long time, but the few of you encouraged me to go on. I took the parts you gave me a fresh start with, took a deep breath, and started over again. I had to consolidate some debts, and re-max another account, but by golly, I got it going good now. I LUV my truck, and it almost makes me feel guilty hearing about your troubles. After all, one of the finest additions to my engine is the electronic ignition that you gave me the link for, Nukeday. It runs PERFECT. I'm going to dive in soon, and re-torque the head, adjust the valves, and replace the top cover gasket.

After that, it should be running for years. As long as I keep the oil up and never let it overheat. A good rebuild should start from the inside out, and if you're thinking of tweaking an engine to perform well for you and that engine has internal faults, you could be fighting a losing battle. I don't wish that on any of you, but face it, these trucks are well worn by the time most of us get them, so...

And if it's mechanical, it will break down eventually.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

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

I know i speak for myself only, but I'm not all the way stoopid and not all the way stubborn, just a little from column A and a little from column B. It took a dude not even touching my hitachi to put the weber i had waiting around. I think it makes me cooler than he is cuz i at least tried. Dunno man, isn't insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? In my case the LUV proved me right and showed me that it just needed new lungs.

My opinion about the $2000 POS vs the $500 POS

For $2000 you could get a common honda, cavalier, heck even a sebring i bet and all you would have is a Run of the mill POS with the same or even more problems( throw sensors, computers, and TBI into the MIX)

When For $500(LUV) + 300(Weber) + 200(random parts) + 250 (dash cap, carpet, mats) + 250 (New Seat upholstered or buckets) + 200(Paint)+LOTS OF WORK and Cussing and Beers/Captain Morgan and little rewards like some1 going man cool truck howdya get it to run still.

I think the LUV takes it hands down. Further on down the line a rebuild sounds fun to me too. V8 swap is tempting but defeats the purpose of have an economical truck lol maybe i'll get a second luv and stick a V8 in there hmmmm en1 want to buy a 94 300ZX TT $14000 and its urs!!

Idk dude I maybe young but the rewards that are harvested from putting a little work into the LUV are much greater than the same work+money put into a 95 corolla.

My 2 cents

Thanks for the reminder. It's funny to me that I remember when these trucks rolled out of Chevy dealers brand new. I get stuck sometimes thinking, 'It's not THAT old'....hahah...

My first car was a $250 purchase back in 1982. My dad had given me a 4 dr, bronze, Plymouth Valiant to drive so I bagged groceries all summer to get the coin for my own ride.

It was a 1958 Pontiac Starchief. Salmon. Yeah, pink. 348 big block, AT, floorboards long gone, and chrome for miles. Sold it to stay in college.

I tried counting all my cars one time just for fun, and I quit at about 200. I've owned pretty much one of everything that was imported or manufactured in the USA from about 1960 - 1985, I think. Well, no real high end euro stuff, although I did pass on a V8 '74 Jag a few months ago.

Guess my perspective has been modified since I've had kids. Disposable income is a bit harder to come by these days. I should focus on the fun though, you're right

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Found my vacuum leak. Someone had removed the emissions stuff on this truck, and put a tin plate, 1/2 a gallon of high temp RTV and the original gasket back over the opening for the EGR valve. It was leaking when it warmed up. I couldn't find the gasket locally, so I made one using the original as a template. And I too, RTV'd the heck out of it.

Finally timed it, and it's right at 10 BTDC, with no drift.

BUT, it looks like my used electronic dizzy just gave up cylinder #3. Plug is oil coated and removing the wire from the distributor completely actually causes the truck to idle better. Swapped plugs and wires, I don't have another cap. Standard firing order is 1-2-4-3, and yes, I checked the firing order . Anyone have a trick to run this out of order? Can I just rotate it...2-3-4-1? Or 4-3-1-2? And check the plugs after running it for a bit? I did put another plug in the 3rd hole, just on the odd chance it was cracked or bad. It looked fine before I put in though (it was used), and it still runs like crap. Gapped 'em all at about .32 (70mm) or so...

Guess I get to put the points dizzy back in tomorrow and see what I get...

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

I thought the firing order was 1342?? just a thought RTV rules!!! goo gone or acetone gets it off your fingers, unless you are uber and didn't get any on your finger