Water leaking into car around wipers

Jaz

'73 144 - finally getting around to working on this one.

Appear to have a pretty big water leak when water runs into the passenger side of the scuttle panel.

Looks to be coming through where the wiper linkage runs through the firewall.

It seems like there is some sort of seal there but doesn't look like it's in right.

What am I missing and what's the process to fix? It doesn't look like the scuttle unbolts at all.

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Cheers!

Major Ledfoot

Jaz It seems like there is some sort of seal there but doesn't look like it's in right.

Correct; it isn't.

To fix it, you'll need to pull the dash, the wiper motor, and the wiper assembly to get to the seals.

Drawing 26533 from the 140 73+ parts book - Grupp 3, sida 48 & 49 (PDF pages 218 & 219 in the VolvoTips copy)

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[25] = 687782-3 = bushing

[26] = 687791-4 = washer

Oh yeah - it's drawn for LHD, as much of these parts drawings are for 140s.

carnut222

Hmm, on the 240s, there's a rubber grommet on the shaft surrounding that hole you see in the photo, plus a bunch of mastic on the back of the wiper unit to seal the wiper unit to the outer hole in the dash. Not 100% sure if the 144 is the same as a 240 though. Best bet is to remove that metal clip (slide it off perpendicular to the pin), then undo the bolt holding the short linkage arm on the wiper motor. Then remove the wiper motor from the engine bay side and investigate further. Pic below is the seal found on the 240 wiper motor shaft housing. It appears to be missing on your car…but there's a lot of odd rough sealer around the hole so it looks like there was never a seal there…maybe 140 is different?

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Forg

My first 242GT was leaking there, the seal had completely withered/shrunk & didn’t do anything.
Taking the wiper motor off showed the problem … also dunno if a ‘73 144 is similar to that.

carnut222

Major Ledfoot that looks pretty much like the 240 so I doubt the dash needs to come out…probably just glove box. The OP has a pretty good view already so should be able to easily access the clip, slide linkage off and remove the short linkage arm from the end of the wiper motor shaft…the remove wiper motor from engine bay.

Jaz

Major Ledfoot bugger, I was hoping for a leave the dash in fix 🤣 at least getting the dash out isn't too big of a job? May as well put a 240 heater box in there too while it's out since mine is kaput too then I guess

Major Ledfoot

Jaz It's lots and lots and lots and LOTS of Philips-head screws.

73-74 dashes are not as easy to remove as 81+ 240 dashes. Plan plenty of time for the job if this is your first attempt. There are screws hidden behind the clock / centre vent plate which are tricky to get to. IMHO the process is made easier by pulling the steering wheel.

You need to pull the cluster, the clock, the glovebox, the centre console, the HVAC control panel (note on 140s there's a vacuum hose connector which can be unplugged; they deleted these on 240s) etc etc etc.

Jaz

Ok, so actually really easy to pull the wiper motor out with the dash in. Don't have any of the lower panels fitted atm so easy access .

Seems like someone has tried to schmoo it up before and the inner seal is deformed.

Next problem is the damn shaft snapped undoing the bolt that holds the arm on.

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Jaz

Major Ledfoot yeah im planning on not pulling it if i dont need to, im trying to get the car back together not dissemble it more than i have to, i only found this cause i was pulling the seats out to put in the new carpet and noticed it was wet so got the hose to diagnose

carnut222

That wiper motor looks identical to the 240 wiper motor…the inner seal design changed from that sort of flared seal to a proper grommet. Not sure whether they are interchangeable or when the grommet/seal changed.

Jaz

carnut222 oh nice, i have a spare one somewhere i think.

It looks like it could be replaced with the appropriate size rubber grommet, the crucial one is the inner firewall by the looks of it, thats about the only spot the water can hit

jamesinc

@Major Ledfoot I believe in this instance there is actually a separate RHD drawing, or at least that's what this "spec version" and the apparent RHD configuration in the drawing imply, although the wiper arms themselves still seem to be oriented for LHD for some reason!

@Jaz what's the part number on your wiper motor, is it 1211996?

It wants (#2) seal 687971 followed by (#24) 667075

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The photos you posted above I can see part #2 only

Edit: spec version 5450 appears to correspond to Australian 140s

Major Ledfoot

jamesinc Thanks for finding that, I should've gone to the next page. Sorry Jaz.

Jaz

jamesinc

No idea on the motor part number, i had a good look but cant see it stamped on it anywhere.

Thanks for the part numbers, is there anywhere specifically i should be looking to find the seals? Ive had a google and look at the usual suspects but cant find them anywhere.

Cheers!