Interior water leak 560SEL 1987

[560owner]

Hello

I have recently bought a 1987 560SEL, which i am very happy with.

However, i have noticed that there is a water leak coming from near the bonnet pull handle near the passenger footwell.

I have taken the front carpet up to dry them out as they were very wet.

I have had a look under the bonnet to see if there are any broken grommets etc but can't find where the water is coming in from.
This seems to be happening everytime it rains and is becoming quite annoying.

The drivers side is fine, just the passenger side. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[219]

There are two possibilities

First - you may have a blocked drain hole - check the area just in front of the bottom of the A pillar at the corner of the windscreen - there is a drain hole which sometimes fills up with leaves etc , if this gets blocked it will cause what you are experiencing .

Second - it could be the sunroof drain tube - there is a drain at each corner of the sunroof cassette - the lid of the sunroof is not fully watertight and water drains out through the four corners - sometimes these drains block up with debris , then standing water causes the corners of the cassette to rot away . You can either pull the door seal back and drop the headlining at the top of the passenger door to inspect - or , with the sunroof open , pour a little water into the surround ( with n/s/f of the car facing downhill so that water drains to that corner ) and watch for the water draining out below the A pillar under the car .

Hope this is of help , and welcome to the forum .

How about posting some pictures of your car ?

 

[560owner]

Thank you for the advise. I'll give those methods a try asap!

I will send pics soon too, there are some older pics on this link.Mercedes : 560 SEL It does need TLC, rear arches need replacing and 2 new front wings.

The engine mechanics seem to be fine, gave a good service last weekend, although i do need to fit new front springs as one has cracked, any advised on fitting new springs would be useful too!

Many Thanks

Alex

 

[219]

I saw that one when it was advertised - looks like you have a nice car with a lot of potential .

Re the springs - you need a Klann type internal compressor to do the job safely - see the following thread

http://www.MBClub.co.uk/forums/wheels-tyres/105442-broken-spring.html

 

[jools1066]

Good luck getting it sorted;

I spoke to the guy about buying it , it seemed a very genuine car and the chap selling it was no BS either

My only thing was i did not want to do all that work and still end up with a green car and velour interior, but that is only me.

Sure you will have great fun with it:bannana:

 

[560owner]

Thanks! The guy i bought it off is my brothers friend who iv'e known for a few years...small world!

80's classic, i don't mind the colour! The car is great really does have some "grunt" too think it does have potential, bit of a change after getting rid of my omega 3.0 V6.
PS Great forum, very helpful!

 

[jools1066]

you will love it

the guy you bought it off was looking at a red xjr jag when i last spoke to him
or had just bought it.
he was worried someone was going to chop the merc up for parts, it is far to good for that

I have bought a 560 sel from a chap in london, not managed to pick it up yet

that was 4 weeks ago LOL, need to get it sorted.

Welcome on board

 

[stwat]

I have the very same issue with my 300se. It is very intermittent with mine though. It totally flooded a few weeks ago but hasn't leaked a drop since and we have had much worse rain since then too. Very odd indeed.

My roof drain is not blocked and I found no blocked drain holes in the scuttle area either!!

Total mystery.

 

[560owner]

Thats right, he bought a Jag XJRs, not as quick as the merc apparently?!

I'm going to fit new discs and pads all round tomorrow and if i have time will flush cooling system, have new thermostat too, for the sake of £12 might as well fit a new one!

Thanks again everyone

 

[560owner]

PS i remember i had a Astra Mk2 and that had a water leak, turned out it was the plasic sheet/membrane behind the door card letting water in, the seal had broken, so it was siliconed back on and never leaked again don't know if thats any help to you STWAT?

 

[C43AMG]

Maybe change the wheels back to OEM ?

 

[mercmush]

I had water leak in exactly the same place on my w126 500SE. Finally I took it to my ICE man who removed the carpet below the bonnet pull handle as well as the carpet below. Then when he poured water in, we saw it trickling through below the A pillar. A quick blast from his black silicone sealant gun and that was the end of it. Before that I'd investigated the sunroof drainage holes, the heater matrix, leaky grommets, blocked drainage holes etc etc etc. Good luck with yours.