HELP!!! I Have A Swimming Pool In My CLK

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Nicensleazy

Active Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
66
Location
Sheffield, South Yorks
Car
1998 CLK230
I probably made a mistake last week when a mate of mine asked how my 1998 W208 CLK was shaping up and I replied 'Oh bloody brilliant no problems at all!' Because today I've discovered a bit of a problem....... here goes.

Like most of the country over the past few days we have had heavy rain here in South Yorkshire but yesterday afternoon it was of biblical proportions. The hail and rainshower that we had at 3pm yesterday resulted in the roof at my work place being unable to cope and we had a flash flood. We coped with that but I'm not sure that I can with what was to follow!!!

This morning, again after another night of heavy rain, I jumped into the old CLK to drive to work and for some reason unknown to myself decided not to listen to the radio/CD/Ipod or any in car entertainment which is unusual for me- with hindsight a good job I did. Well after probably a mile or so I thought that I kept hearing water or the sound of it sloshing about. It was particularly noticeable as I set off from traffic lights or being stationary at a roundabout. At first I thought it was my imagination but it continued throughout my 14 mile journey to work in Rotherham.

When I got to the car park at work I decided to make a check round the vehicle and found the rear offside footwell carpet soaking wet. It had previously always been dry, as still are the rest of the carpets in the other footwells.

'OK' I thought 'Wet carpets doesn't account for the sloshing sound though', so I continued to investigate and looked to the two rubber drain holes that you find at either end of the sills. I literally just pushed my little finger in each of these and a torrent of water poured out of both holes.

So now I am happy to say that I have no sloshing sound, but do have a very soggy rear offside footwell. I am at a loss to know how such an amount has accumulated in I presume the sill and how to stop it happening again, so I turn to the wisdom of the forum to see if anyone has any useful advice or suggestions to remedy this. The car does have a factory fitted electric sunroof, if that is relevant, and all rubber seals (as far as I can see) appear to be in good shape.

I've learnt though that the next time somebody asks me as to the health of the car, not to be so bloody upbeat!!
 
If you have not already do so check out the rest of the drain holes too. If they are similar to my 124 its goes something like this.

Perhaps 1 under the spare wheel well. Just pop the spare out and you should be able to see a rubber bung, it should have holes in it.

Drain holes at either side of the base of the windscreen which you should be able to see with the bonnet up. They are probably full of leaf clag. These I think drain to the front drain holes you have already cleared. Not sure where the drains for the sunroof are and where they "go to ground" as it were.

Other will be along to correct me if I'm wrong and hopefully help with the sunroof drains.
 
Can any1 give info as to where the drain holes are on a w211, best be safe than sorry.


TIA
 
Another thing that is common on your car is the scuttle panel below the windscreen blocks up with leaves etc. The rain water then cannot escape through the three drains and goes over the heater motor and fills up the nearside floorpan.
Worth pulling up the passenger front carpet and have a look, if water present remove the top of the scuttle panels and clear the drains. Also remove the passenger under dash trim and take down the pollen filter and heater motor as they will be soaked aswell :thumb:
 
I would suggest that you use this weekend to lift up the carpet inside your car and make sure it dries out properly. I've seen too many times what happens when you don't do that in time. The carpet starts to grow some not so wantedgreen patches ;) and if you're unluckythere can be enough water left under the carpet to start ruining some sensitive connections or leads running under there :(
I hope you get it sorted soon.
/ Mike
 
Another thing that is common on your car is the scuttle panel below the windscreen blocks up with leaves etc. The rain water then cannot escape through the three drains and goes over the heater motor and fills up the nearside floorpan.
Worth pulling up the passenger front carpet and have a look, if water present remove the top of the scuttle panels and clear the drains. Also remove the passenger under dash trim and take down the pollen filter and heater motor as they will be soaked aswell :thumb:

Thanks for everybody's advice but I'm none the wiser with this at all having spent this morning trying to find the source of the water. The flooding is localised to the rear driver's side passenger footwell. I have checked all the other parts of the floorpan and they are definitely dry. The boot as well is bone dry. No signs of any leaves in the scuttle panel under the windscreen as has been suggested. I can't seem to find where the drain for the sunroof ends up either.

I might be wrong here but I'm wondering why the drain plugs in the sill didn't automatically let the water out and if perhaps this built up and up until it had nowhere to go but lap over into the rear passenger footwell. It's just strange that I literally put my finger into the rubber drains on the sill and the water immediately came out there was no obvious blockage there at all????
 
The drain holes can become blocked up from road silt over a period of time and water trapped in the sills will find its way into the inside, so it would be a good idea to remove the gromments both ends and flush them and the sills out with fresh water
 
Need to check the scuttle panel in mine too as I set off to work after an insanely heavy downpour and about a cupful of water fell out of the dash, behind the glovebox. Everything is dry now so I can only imagine the level of water going down the internal drains was so high that they overflowed!
 
have you had any work done to the car in recent times.. if a window motor has ever been replaced, then there is a panel on the 124 cabrios that needs to be fitted again, mine was not fitted properly after having the motors changed, and if yours have ever been worked on and the panel not fitted back properly, then that could be a source of water from the rear...

worth checking out.. hopefully i am wrong, but u never know..

good luck
 
have you had any work done to the car in recent times.. if a window motor has ever been replaced, then there is a panel on the 124 cabrios that needs to be fitted again, mine was not fitted properly after having the motors changed, and if yours have ever been worked on and the panel not fitted back properly, then that could be a source of water from the rear...

worth checking out.. hopefully i am wrong, but u never know..

good luck

No nothing at all apart from a routine service back in February. I think that Clive's theory that road grit has blocked up the drain plugs seems feasible. The water then has continued to build up and spilt into the cabin.
 
Last edited:
I continued to investigate and looked to the two rubber drain holes that you find at either end of the sills. I literally just pushed my little finger in each of these and a torrent of water poured out of both holes.

sorry to hear about your water problem, is it staying dry now?

are these drain hole you pushed situated on the floor pan or at the end of the sills?

I know that some water flows within the car, but I'm not sure that there is supposed to be water within the sills at any time:eek:.

my concern would be how the water was getting in to the car, and not how it gets released.

please keep us all posted regarding your progress, as this is a problem i need to address on my car as well.
 
sorry to hear about your water problem, is it staying dry now?

are these drain hole you pushed situated on the floor pan or at the end of the sills?

I know that some water flows within the car, but I'm not sure that there is supposed to be water within the sills at any time:eek:.

my concern would be how the water was getting in to the car, and not how it gets released.

please keep us all posted regarding your progress, as this is a problem i need to address on my car as well.

Well up to now the situation seems to have rectified itself. AFAIK things like the sunroof drain go into the sill and then drain out naturally, which is why I believe that the sill drains had become blocked. The drain plugs are situated fore and aft of the sill they're a rubber grommet type thing.

The carpet has now all dried out and the only slight dampness is in the foam underlay but I keep attacking that with a hair dryer and that is getting better. Underneath that the floor pan where the cables etc run is bone dry.
The problem did occur after what I can only describe as one of the heaviest sleet, hail and rainstorms I have ever see so it might be because of that the CLK's drain system as designed simply could not cope- I know that the roof of the place I work in certainly couldn't!

Anyway I hope that whatever problem you've got with your CLK gets solved.
 
My previous motor (Pug 406) developed a similar problem, although the interior never became wet. I could hear water sloshing about as I drove along and worked out that it was in the o/s sill. I went underneath but couldn't work out where the drains were, so I got the old cordless drill out and a 1.5mm bit and drilled through on the lowest point at the rear of the sill. As soon as it broke through, about 3 or 4 pints of water came pouring out. Fortunately for me, it was nice clear water, not rusty. I allowed it to dry out for a couple of days and then painted the edges of the hole to prevent corrosion. But I left the hole there so any further water getting in could get back out again.

Problem solved!
 
I probably made a mistake last week when a mate of mine asked how my 1998 W208 CLK was shaping up and I replied 'Oh bloody brilliant no problems at all!' Because today I've discovered a bit of a problem....... here goes.

Like most of the country over the past few days we have had heavy rain here in South Yorkshire but yesterday afternoon it was of biblical proportions. The hail and rainshower that we had at 3pm yesterday resulted in the roof at my work place being unable to cope and we had a flash flood. We coped with that but I'm not sure that I can with what was to follow!!!

This morning, again after another night of heavy rain, I jumped into the old CLK to drive to work and for some reason unknown to myself decided not to listen to the radio/CD/Ipod or any in car entertainment which is unusual for me- with hindsight a good job I did. Well after probably a mile or so I thought that I kept hearing water or the sound of it sloshing about. It was particularly noticeable as I set off from traffic lights or being stationary at a roundabout. At first I thought it was my imagination but it continued throughout my 14 mile journey to work in Rotherham.

When I got to the car park at work I decided to make a check round the vehicle and found the rear offside footwell carpet soaking wet. It had previously always been dry, as still are the rest of the carpets in the other footwells.

'OK' I thought 'Wet carpets doesn't account for the sloshing sound though', so I continued to investigate and looked to the two rubber drain holes that you find at either end of the sills. I literally just pushed my little finger in each of these and a torrent of water poured out of both holes.

So now I am happy to say that I have no sloshing sound, but do have a very soggy rear offside footwell. I am at a loss to know how such an amount has accumulated in I presume the sill and how to stop it happening again, so I turn to the wisdom of the forum to see if anyone has any useful advice or suggestions to remedy this. The car does have a factory fitted electric sunroof, if that is relevant, and all rubber seals (as far as I can see) appear to be in good shape.

I've learnt though that the next time somebody asks me as to the health of the car, not to be so bloody upbeat!!
 
Newbie don't shout at me how do i post
 
Newbie don't shout at me how do i post

Scroll down to the very bottom of the page to where it says..'write your reply'............and when you have, press the blue box 'Post Reply'. Simples.

But you have already done thato_O
 
Scroll down to the very bottom of the page to where it says..'write your reply'............and when you have, press the blue box 'Post Reply'. Simples.

But you have already done thato_O
I'm replying don't won't to reply want to post
 
At top of the page click on your username, click inbox, click, start new conversation. Hope that works for you.
 
Go to forums, pick the area you want to post in , eg engines , click on it, you will a box top right, New Thread
 
You can make your own cheap moisture trap (as yours will currently be a bit moist!)

Ice cream tub, drill lots of 6mm holes in lid, and a few around under the lip, then half fill with soap powder (aerial/bold etc), and replace lid securely. Pop it into the footwell.

The powder will attract moisture and eventually ‘cake’.
You can ditch it and replace, or dry in the oven (not plastic box!) And reuse. It will help drying, and smell laundry fresh as opposed to musty. :rock:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom