LUVTruck.com

Hi all, new here.

I picked up a 75 LUV that's been sitting for 10yrs. All it took was some spark plugs, cleaning out the fuel lines, and a carb rebuild to get it going again. The problem I'm having now is that it seems that the choke might not be turning off completely.

It's got an aftermarket temp gauge and it sits around 190 F once fully warmed up, but driving it at night tonight (with no dash lights since they won't come on...) I noticed the choke light is still lit (though not as brightly as when cold) and seems to flicker about. Any ideas what that's all about?

I'll check it tomorrow to see if the choke is fully off when warm. Also, what's a good place to start checking if the front end has play? It seems that the wheel bearings are loose but it doesn't make any noise and the fronts spin freely. It also seems that the bearing covers are rusted shut...

TIA

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1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!

C stands for charge. This is related to no dash lights. Check the fuse box. It is a common problem in the LUV. Even with good fuses, bad connections in it can cause problems. I took mine apart and soldered the riveted parts toghether and it ran better than it had for years.

Oh ok, well then, in the good news, it didn't come up this morning on my way to work.

Bad news is it was running on 3 cyl for about 2 mins then it cleared up. I think I need new ignition wires.

I plan on cleaning the fusebox like shown on catmandu's website.

_________________
1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!

P.S. I guess I fixed the charging problem when messing with the fusebox to get my lights working last night...

_________________
1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!

Ok so more work done, the C light flickers every once in a blue moon, I tried cleaning the fuse box even more so I hope that takes care of it.

Low beams and high beams now work right as well, but I can't get the gauge cluster to light up. The lights on the heater controls work (well, started to after this cleaning and scared the crap outta me cuz I thought the truck interior was on fire). In fact, the whole gauge cluster is dead except the speedo and idiot lights (well parking brake light doesn't work either).

Got the turn signals and hazards working too! Woo!

Now I didn't do a close inspection of the fuse box, but do they all have the rivets on the bottom? I was surprised to see that all the wires are spade connectors which will make removing it for a thorough cleaning a breeze. I ask because someone said they soldered all of their riveted connections.

I also got a shop manual but I can't find a vacuum diagram in it... I have so many plugged lines it's not even funny. One was even plugged by a shell casing!

_________________
1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!

My 77 has the connectors of the fuse box riveted together. There are enough other posts here about fuse box problems that I think it was common for a while.

No dash lights? Try rotating the headlight switch knob, dimmer control.

Remove your fusebox so you can see the bottom. There are a number of plates that are rivited together. Use a dremel tool or equivalent to grind off the rivit heads. Clean the inside surfaces. Replace the rivits or solder the plates together. I happened to have some copper pop rivits that I used. Your flickering charge light will be fixed. This issue comes up again and again. Oxidation builds up between the plates and causes resistance.

Rotating the dimmer I can even cause the heater illumination to flicker, so the rheostat is definitely dirty, but no signs of life from the dash.

So the rivets connect plates and have to be destroyed to clean them?? Man this is going to be a pain in the ass after all... Has anyone replaced the fuse box with a modern blade fuse one without doing a full rewire?

I fiddled with the carb some more yesterday. It runs better but I'm having a hell of a time restarting the truck when hot, like if I run to a store and grab something quick, it becomes almost impossible to start (I have to hold the pedal to the floor), and I think I managed to flood it today...

Even the carb base seems soaked or wet, but I can't see where it is coming from. The carb is a rebuild from FC (Foreign Carburators) and runs good other then these issues. Sorry if I sound like a complete noob but this is my first carb'd vehicle.

Thanks for the replies thus far.

_________________
1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!

I left the rivets in mine. I just used solder to bridge from one part to another.

As for replacing the fuse box. it shouldn't be a big deal. I think you have 4 input wires, hot directly from the battery, hot with the ignition on, hot on accessories, and hot from the light switch. Most of your newer stuff should have plenty of connections. Just figure out which inputs power which outputs. Connect your existing wires to the correct terminals.

When I was doing some body work on mine, I moved the fuse box inside mounted on the driver's kick panel inside the firewall from where it was.

Thanks for this I might end up doing the same thing.

In the mean time I cleaned the fusebox a-la ctmandu instructions (talk about shiny copper!), and I'm still having issues. Dash lights still don't work, the anti-diesel solenoid 12v switched power is intermittent (sometimes it idles, sometimes it doesn't), and now after the fusebox cleaning the C and O lights won't shut off regardless of key position...

I'm also having issues with the float tabs bending after a few drives, even though fuel pressure is good (about 4psi).
This is starting to get annoying... My intake manifold will get so full of gas sometimes that fuel is seeping between the carb spacer and manifold. Well, at least it's telling me that gasket is bad...

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1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!

Are you sure the float tabs are bending? I have put spacers on the pivot pin to keep it centered to stop sticking.

As for the lights, recheck you wiring.

I'll try adding some spacers, I saw in some carb manuals that some do use spacers.

It seems like my needle valve was sticking so my float level is good now (cleaned it with copious amounts of carb cleaner).

Dummy lights are fixed, when I put the fusebox back together I plugged one into the wrong circuit (battery instead of ignition). Also I've found that I don't have any 12v power to the choke or the anti-diesel solenoid. Fuel relay appears to be working so I think I have a short somewhere. Jumping the anti-diesel solenoid to a switched 12v source seems to have taken care of my hot restart and idling issues!

Dash lights are now working too! All I need to figure out now is the gas gauge and temp gauge.

_________________
1975 Project LUV
It's ALIVE!