W123 230e Swimming pool

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cdc02254

Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
59
Location
Broadstairs
Car
1979 W123 240D-1983 W123 230e
Help needed.

I drove home from work last night in the torrential rain about 75 miles, as I approached home and went round a bend I heard sloshing water.

On further inspection I found about an inch of water in all foot wells apart from drivers side. I managed to remove all the water and dry it out but when I went to the car again this morning I found more water.

This is a new problem as all the foot wells are very clean and corrosion free.

Where does this water get in from??

I have checked under the car and all is clean without any holes, cracks etc.

My gut feeling is the air vent on the A pillars, how can I check and locate the problem??

Many Thanks in advance

Brett
 
It will be from the firewall area. The reason the drivers side is dry is because the water runs down a channel straight to the back.

have you cleared out your drain holes? Look at the back corner where the bonnet hinge is to see if there is any rust or holes.
 
Has your car got a sunroof. Quite often the sunroof drainage pipes leak meaning water gets into the roof pillars and then to the floor. Other possibilities are degraded door seals which are allowing water in below the doors or failure of the waterproof membrane on the door behind the door card--water runs down into the door and if the drainage holes in the bottom are blocked will fill up and spill into the interior. Another possibility is the heater intake/plenum chamber drains are blocked allowing water to overflow down the inside of the bulkhead---check the drains are free they often get blocked with leaves, To test remove some of the trim and carpeting- make sure everything is dried off- then with you inside with a torch get an assistant to play water with a hose on the various suspect areas.

ps JAY'S has had several of these models so listen to the voice of experience;)
 
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Took the two drain hoses off of the fire wall and they are dry, very dry as if not water has come out of them in a long time.

Passenger side hinge area corroded.

I now cant open the bonnet but at least I have a better idea where to look.
 
yes so the drain holes are blocked solid and so water is finding its way into the car... Im afraid its most likely that the area behind the hinges has rotted through.

On my yellow car, there was only a very fine crack of corrosion, which allowed water in behind the firewall insulation inside the car.. water trickled down and settled in the rear floor.
To repair properly requires removal of the front wings and bonnet.

When the issue first popped its head, I couldnt take my wings off so used some P40? (fibre glass stuff) to patch the hole.
I have now had it all welded properly.

the first thing I do when I buy a car now is clear the drain holes!
 
Just taken the vent covers off of the scuttle and all is nice and clean and rust free there but the p/s hinge area is not very nice.

Time to look in the glue cabinet for a special solution, plexus ma420 is a favourite at the moment.
 
Just taken the vent covers off of the scuttle QUOTE]

I'm having similar problems with leaks. Can you explain how you took the vents off from the scuttle? I assume you mean the two plastic vents between the bonnet and the windscreen.

They appear to be held in place by square plastic clips that have a smaller clip in the centre of each. I don't want to do anything that will damage the clips.
 
It is an old favourite on W123's that the drain holes just at the bottom of the A pillars become blocked up with leaves etc , causing water to gather and corrosion to set in . Even if this has not happened , it is essential on these cars to clear these drains out periodically . Bonnet hinges also seize and break , and it is a wing off job to replace , this is also a known fault on W126 models .

As Graeme rightly says , another problem common to many MB's with sunrooves is that the cassette above the headlining rots at the corners where the drain tubes exit . The seal around the sunroof panel in the roof is NOT designed to be waterproof : the design allowed for a certain amount of water to enter around the closed panel , then drain away via the channels along the edges of the cassette and down the drain tubes at each corner . Unfortunately , these are also prone to getting blocked up with leaves and other debris that enters when the roof is open , causing water to lie there and rot to set in . The only proper repair is to remove the cassette and weld it up , although I have done temporary repairs by sleeving a piece of plastic tube inside the rubber one and into the cassette then sealing with a hot melt glue gun ( knowing it would come back eventually ) . I did help a friend replace the sunroof cassette on a W126 with a good one from a breakers , but it was a BIG job , taking two of us a full day , not counting the couple of hours in the breakers ( where we didn't have to worry about being careful with the headlining ) . These sunroof issues affect many models including , but not limited to , W123 , W124 , W201 , W126 .
 
I've been watching this thread with interest as I also have a similar problem with my W116.

I recently had some welding done to the passenger footwell as I thought it had rotted through from the outside. However, it now transpires that it probably rotted through from the inside because of a leak in the areas you have been talking about.

I decided to do some investigations yesterday and this is what I found...

This is the view from the top, just down behind the bonnet hinge. I have pulled the firewall insulation pad forward...

CIMG5517.jpg


I removed the front seat, carpets, glovebox and heater blower to gain access from the inside....

CIMG5515.jpg


To be confronted with this. You can see the horizontal metal of the inner wing where the firewall passes behind it into the footwell. The cable to the top left is the bonnet release cable where it passes through the firewall......

CIMG5516.jpg


This hole was full of fibreglass filler so had obviously been leaking for a long time and been bodged up. Fortunately the other side of the car where the fuse box is located is fine, just as well because it far more work to sort that side out.

This is the veiw from the wheel arch looking into the car...

CIMG5521.jpg


To repair this it will need three plates made up, one on the inside, one in the engine bay and one in the wheel arch.

At least I have found the problem and can keep the car covered over until the repair is done.

Good luck with yours :)
 
Scary stuff , Leigh .

I have a couple of small holes at the back ends of the sills on my 280SE . I can now weld a bit with my MIG now , but am apprehensive about welding the car in case I set fire to something in behind the bit I'm welding - does not seem to be accessible from the other side , even with seats & carpets out .

The Fintail I gave up on had holes like this EVERYWHERE once I started pulling off underseal etc .....
 
Scary stuff , Leigh .

I have a couple of small holes at the back ends of the sills on my 280SE . I can now weld a bit with my MIG now , but am apprehensive about welding the car in case I set fire to something in behind the bit I'm welding - does not seem to be accessible from the other side , even with seats & carpets out .

The Fintail I gave up on had holes like this EVERYWHERE once I started pulling off underseal etc .....

Indeed it is Derek but at least its repairable. If it had gone any further it would probably be a dash out job :eek:
 
Derek, i've been thinking of swapping the sunroof cassettes on my two cars - my spares car one tilts and slides nicely, my roadworthy car slides but only just. Is it really that bad a job? And does the whole headlining need to come out?
 
Ian , when I helped my friend do it on his 300SE , we just ripped down the headlining on the donor car in the scrapyard - took us a couple of hours to remove the cassette without damaging any of the bits we wanted .

When we came to change the cassettes over on his good car , Tery had carefully removed the headlining himself before I turned up . It still took us the best part of a day to swap the units over , with one holding the cassette in place while the other did up bolts etc ( it really is a two-man job ) , then I left him to replace his headlining . If you took out the rear window , you might get away without removing the headlining , but otherwise the cassette needs to be dropped straight down inside the car and turned sideways to get it out of a door ( just possible - we did it - but not much room to spare ) .
 
You can get at quite a lot by just removing the trim panel on the underside of the sliding roof panel , once you have that down , close the roof and a few bolts allow the metal panel to be lifted out .
 

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