My seal was completely gone and the one from LMS was way too expensive- When I was at the auto parts store I happened to see some weather stripping with this profile and it worked better than I had any right to expect..
Thank you very much! I'm sure you need a good one in Florida. I looked all over town for a suitable replacement and I think I passed that one up.
I have two questions about your seal if you're still around:
But first:
I haven't ordered the one from LMS-->CORRECTION, LMC, either, about $40+ with shipping and on my low income I need to put the money in more important parts.
More importantly, I think the LMC one may be too short!! In one of the LMC diagrams it appears to be the same length as the original which is also TOO SHORT. The one in my truck which appears to be original is too short by
10-12 inches on each end! It catches all of the water coming through the hood-cowl gap, diverts that water to each side and then dumps it all in the engine compartment!. See photos:
On the passenger side there is always water lying on the top of the black plastic box over the heater blower. There is no way for that water to drain off. The lever from the vacuum motor that controls the fresh air/recirc. door is rusty and the thin steel clip washer that holds it to the plastic door actuator is gone (maybe it rusted away) so the lever does NOT stay on the actuator. In addition, my windshield wiper motor was so rusted out from the hood seal leaks it would have probably been refused as a core. (I replaced it with a new one)
Also notice the rust on the hood hinge. I'm sure that is from water entering through the hood-cowl gap and running along the hinge.
Also notice that the lower cowl flange to the left of the hood-cowl seal is holding water. That is where the water diverted by the seal dumps onto the air plenum to the left of where the A/C evaporator coil is located inside the plenum.
Notice again the distance from the end of the seal to the fender. It appeared to be over 10 inches and is probably about 12 inches!
IF a seal could be installed all the way across to the fender (
which it CAN**) that would be
much better but the water STILL will run into the engine compartment through that gap between fender and fender-mounting bracket. I've examined this closely. **In order for this to work, the seal has to run along the TOP EDGE of the Cowl so there will not be a dip in it to collect water- This will require drilling some new small holes for screws. (see my installation questions to Biofarmer93 further below) Water WILL go to the end if installed along the upper edge of the cowl. There is ample room for the seal behind the hinge with only a slight notch in the flat base of the seal that Biofarmer93 is showing. If you look at yours you will see what I mean.
Further I would like the water to drain completely out of the engine compartment and I think I can devise a cup and drain tubing that will fit on each end below the ends of a new seal (won' have time to do that until next year after I get other things fixed. (slow going for me)
Just one more thing: You can see that my Cowl is dipping down from the fender line. That happened when I removed the cowl to replace the wiper motor/assembly. I could not seem to get it slid back up under the chrome along the bottom edge of the windshield. Probably dirt or debris in there?
I have to take it off again when I install an excellent hood I have and nice hinges with no rust - plus fix this mal-alignment of the cowl. I dented the existing hood all by myself
= long story caused due to "Mysterious Unsolved Electrical Phenomena" post at FTE idi section (mystery SOLVED)
SO, I assume that to do this
right next time, I have to remove the chrome trim at the base of the windshield. Its probably packed with Fir or Pine needles or it's the soft seal under there that has been deformed while I was doing the work (seemed like that). I was going to ask if removing that chrome is normally the proper procedure for removing and replacing the cowl, but in my case I don't think I have a choice. I looked at that when I had the alignment problem but I didn't know how to safely remove it without damaging it so I didn't (I'll figure out how when the time comes to replace it).
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In the next picture (which may not be necessary) I'm showing the whole length of the seal, surface rust on the brake booster which should not be in a California truck (or any truck) and it may be from the 5+ years it has been in Washington State rains. - The engine compartment insulation on the firewall (and inner fender wells) can get wet too. Wet insulation is not a good thing. Fire wall insulation is exposed behind the engine and I do believe there is insulation behind the thin plastic cover you see (I haven't looked) but rain can get down behind that too and affect anything/everything that is behind it. The water dumps right onto that white cylindrical thing that goes through the firewall, I think it contains a wiring/harness, I haven't looked close at that yet.
All of this is another reason why I didn't order from LMC.
Picture from the other end of the seal so you can see what the original looks like. I tried to rotate it to the left for an easier view but it wouldn't stay:
Installation Question(s) for Biofarmer93:
1) I can't enlarge your image while writing this (don't want to lose this post) but that looks like a dense foam rubber seal rather than a solid rubber seal. I think door seals are like that. Is this correct? The original is a dense solid rubber seal which you can probably tell from the picture.
2) From your image, which side did you put facing up, right or left?
3) How did you attach it?
In mine there is a metal reinforcement strip integrated with the rubber seal, not completely across but ample in the areas where the screws go through.
I think what I will do is this: First I have to lay-out and drill holes in the cowl for the screws that will go though my steel strips and the base of the seal. I will also pre-drill those strips and number them for the right location on the cowl. After making sure that I have my procedure down-pat with the seal cut properly (I will leave some excess
to be sure it is long enough) I will apply a water proof adhesive to the seal or the cowl (or both if required - but I hope not!). After I get the seal adhered in place I will use some rigid steel strips (that won't bend under the screw pressure) to the base of the seal and screw it all down. I'll put a very light coat of sealant behind the metal strips. These strips don't have to go all the way across, I think the ones on mine are intermittent, just long enough to go beyond 2 screw ones. An aluminum extrusion all the way across would look nice if I can find a small one that is rigid enough. You might think this is over-kill but I don't. If you look closely at door seals they fit over a flange of sort to hold them in place so the won't slip and we don't have that on a cowl.
That is all I have for now, thanks for reading
