For those who have water leaking from dash...

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Saverio

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It happened.
It rained while I was out driving with my wife in the Scamp.
Next thing we know, our legs were soaked with water.

I thought it was the windshield until I did some research and decided to check the wiper pivots.
I received my new wiper pivot seal kit ($11 from an auction site), and pulled them apart yesterday.

Here is why my car was leaking.
A homemade patch job from the previous owner.

The base gasket was as thin as paper and the water seal bushing (purple foam cutouts) are just laughable.

 
Wow. Just wow. If you go through the trouble to repair wiper seals, and its not a 10 minute job, use the right stuff!
 
fratzog lover said:
Wow. Just wow. If you go through the trouble to repair wiper seals, and its not a 10 minute job, use the right stuff!
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Exactly what I was thinking. The parts are cheap enough to do it right the first time.

Actually, after replacing those once, I don't want to have to do it again. haha!
 
Maybe the parts weren't available when it was done. Maybe the previous owner didn't know the parts were available. Not everyone is on the internet. Glad you got it fixed.
 
I have the same issue on my Dart.
Have got the kit, but didn't have the motivation to crawl under the dash yet.
Although the left wiper-unit seems very doable, the rightside however seems like a lot more work.

My temp-fix was cutting a hole in a brake cylinder seal which I slid over the wiper-pivots.
But even that didn't do much good as the water still drips in on fairly good raindays.

I did replace the windshield gasket aswell in my case, as the outer rubber lip was worn/torn loose from the rest of the gasket.
 
The engineer that designed putting the wiper linkage under the dash should get a kick in the bag.They should have put it in the cowl like GM did then you wouldn't have to deal with leaks.
 
BigBlockMopar said:
I have the same issue on my Dart.
Have got the kit, but didn't have the motivation to crawl under the dash yet.
Although the left wiper-unit seems very doable, the rightside however seems like a lot more work.

My temp-fix was cutting a hole in a brake cylinder seal which I slid over the wiper-pivots.
But even that didn't do much good as the water still drips in on fairly good raindays.

I did replace the windshield gasket as well in my case, as the outer rubber lip was worn/torn loose from the rest of the gasket.
Click to expand...

It actually wasn't all that bad, but don't expect it to be too quick of a job.

I should mention that I have a 74 Scamp, with A/C - so my process was:
  • Remove Glove Box Assy
  • Remove Defrost hoses
  • Remove Radio
  • Remove Ashtray Assy
I left my instrument panel in place and just removed the screws to loosen it up a bit.

I then took the whole wiper assembly out and put it together on my work bench, then fed the entire assembly through the glove box and into their respective spots (getting the arm attached to the motor was the most difficult, just because it sits farther back).

It definitely helped to have an extra person around for getting the pivot through the cowl though. Once those new bushings are on, it's hard to get it through the pivot mounting area in the dash and lined up perfectly.


wannadrag said:
The engineer that designed putting the wiper linkage under the dash should get a kick in the bag.They should have put it in the cowl like GM did then you wouldn't have to deal with leaks.
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I said the same thing last night while I was fighting to put it back together...except my language was a lot more animated. :D
 
I just got my first B-body last week, a very solid 1967 belvedere. Solid, except for the floor pans that is. And we all know why.........
 
I been putting off replacing my seals for a couple of years now because I hear what a PITA it is fixing. With my 3XL body & gorilla hands it will probably be 10 times harder...anyone have know a easier way???.....lolol
 
I think I would start by removing the front bench or both seats to make room for some comfy backlaying.
Perhaps put on some safetyglasses so your eyeballs won't catch the majority of debris and fiberglass insulation while your hands are plowing away behind the dash. :)
 
My 72 Scamp has the same problem with leaking, so Im gonna have to tackle this as well.
 
Once you get them changed, use Rain X a lot.
I never have to use my wipers on my daily driver and I'm hoping that makes the new seals I put in last another 10 years.
BTW, every heard of "Micro Mesh"?
The little black rubber sanding block that comes with it seems to be made from the same material and it makes a good seal material and you can do it with a little upgrade on the thickness.
But like you know, NOW you can buy the kit and do it like that.
 
Burntorange70 said:
Yep. If you find him let me know. I would like to kick him in the junk too.
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How many times I have thought that.

I've been slowly tracking down my leaks and am almost confident that it is dry. I started with the obvious windshield gasket. Did that twice due to not using liquid (tube) butyl in the lower edge. The wiper pivots also took 2 tries. The second time was to add grease fittings. If they are not really tight you can get a drip through them. The purple gasket (which should be black) does nothing for keeping your feet dry. That is more of a positioning device to keep the wiper centered. The white foam will crush to a paper thin membrane and I am not even sure that it needs to be there. I got my seals from DMT and they came with a rope caulk to put around the base. That is what really seals it. The second time I put them back it I used some rope caulk from my windshield install.

Other leaks. Don't assume that that is all your leaks. The cowl itself could be leaking. And, the edges of it are not very wide flanges and are just overlapped with sealer between. The first place I found was a couple pinholes in the low point by the air inlet to the heater box, near the right cowl drain. Then I found a hole in lower right corner of windshield by A pillar that I missed.

Last but not least is the one pictured below. On the drivers side - the top of inner side panel has a small flange that comes up under the cowl drain. I don't have carpet in yet, so every time we got heavy rain I saw a little water pooled in 2 ribs of the floor. I found it by dusting the inside with flour and was able to see a trail to the source next time it ran in. It was partially rusted away and even though I had seam sealed it from the inside water was still getting through. You would never see this unless you looked up from under it with the fender off. I found that Black Jack neoprene roof caulk does a much better job on these areas than seam seal.
 

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Wiper arm placement wouldn't have been so bad if they had built these things with a removable cowl panel like most vehicles are built!

Mine will be easy to replace as my car is gutted at the moment!!!
 
I had the rubber mat / flooring in my Valiant with leaky pivots, one day it as like walking on a water bed. Replaced the seals and floor pans.....
 
I used two rubber gaskets from the hardware store to keep them centered and that works great then I tried a thick layer of silicon gasket maker. It slowed the leak BUT it definitely still drips on the passenger wiper side.
 
snowcrow said:
I used two rubber gaskets from the hardware store to keep them centered and that works great then I tried a thick layer of silicon gasket maker. It slowed the leak BUT it definitely still drips on the passenger wiper side.
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wow, I`d almost pay some one to replace mine, and I don`t even know if they leak yet .
but I remember they leaked on my 68 fastback when it was brand new. didn`t know what it was tho, back then!
 
This might be the problem with my 1970 Dodge Dart. Every time it rains I have water pooling on my passenger side floor board. I figured I had a bad windshield gasket. Never thought that it might be this. I'll look into this for sure. Thanks!
 
FlyingFalcon said:
This might be the problem with my 1970 Dodge Dart. Every time it rains I have water pooling on my passenger side floor board. I figured I had a bad windshield gasket. Never thought that it might be this. I'll look into this for sure. Thanks!
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Pass side is not to bad to get to at all. It is the driver side that sucks big time.

One way to check it is to run a hose in to the vent under the windshield then get under the dash with a light and see what you can see.
 
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