W124. Water in Front Driver & Passenger Footwells

[tmm]

Hi,

New to the forum so be gentle!

I am the proud owner of a lovely 1994 'M' W124 E280 Estate. It's a wonderful beast and I have owned it for about 8 months now.

When I purchased it I noticed that the front carpets were damp. The owner explained that the car was SORN and had been standing for a while.

I cleaned it up and dried out the carpets and there copious sound proofing and all seemed well.

I took the car to a local mechanic who checked the drains and thought all was well. I also asked a Mercedes specialist (ex-Master Technician) to have a look. Again he though the drains would be at fault but couldn't find a problem.

Now I have checked again and the front passenger footwell is a about 1cm deep in water (looks like water, it's clear and odourless). You can imagine how much water there must be in there as the sound proofing has soaked up litres of the stuff. The drivers footwell is the about the same.

This appears to be a recent(ish) problem as there is not sign of corrosion down there. No obvious big holes in the floorplan.

So what's causing it then?

Windscreen seals (service history shows the screen has been replaced twice)? Air Conditioning? Heater Matrix? Colander bodywork?

Are there any 'known' issues with the W124 and water collecting in the footwells? I did search the forums and couldn't see anything.

So then who's got some bright ideas?

 

[BlackC55]

Has it got a sun roof?

The front drains could be blocked

 

[tmm]

There is an electric sunroof. The 1st mechanic was certain that would be the problem before he even looked at the car. He checked it put the air hose down it and declared it 'fine'.

I will certainly check again.

Any other ideas?

 

[Ian B Walker]

Under the dash you will find a hose that carries fresh air to the center vents. This hose comes from the scuttle on the outside of the car. In the center of the scuttle is a 3 inch long cover that has a protrusion in the center of it. Lift it up and you will find two drain holes. Make sure these are not blocked as any water will work its way into the car along the hose.

 

[BlackC55]

The CE blows out water from the centre vents. I think you have just answered my problem

 

[bolide]

The normal leaks are as follows:

1 - sunroof drains
2 - rearmost corner of rear loadspace windows
3 - aerial mount
4 - aircon drain tubes leaking to inside of car
5 - cables & wires through the firewall
6 - air intake to heater

The estates normally leak through the rearmost windows and water tracks in past the rubber seals via capillary action. This water then evaporates and makes its way around the car

If there are any non-factory cables going through the firewall, make sure they're dressed to rise up to the rubber grommet and not drop down to it. That'll stop water making its way along cables

If the rear windows steam up soon after you start the car in damp weather then there's lots of water inside. Mildewed seat belts are a sign. Mildew on the rear seats of a 7-seater is another sign

It can be tricky keeping a W124 dry inside, particularly in damp weather. I use a dehumidifier to dry a car out then go looking for leaks

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Mercedes cozy]

This might be an idea for you, I did this once and tracked the leak straight away.

1) Remove simple carpet from the car.
2) dry any wet patches in the car.
3) Then get some to sit inside the car.
4) Get someone to hose the car down in particular areas

And hopefully you will see trickles of water from some where and follow the water trail.


This happened to friend of mine who had an estate and it turned out to be the big side window at the rear of the estate.

Also we track the window seal being changed to the time the car was in the bodyshop and they fixed the problem because they messed up in the first place.

Hope this helps.

 

[tmm]

All great advice!

I will have a look at the suggested problem areas.

Without access to an airline how would you suggest cleaning a drain or checking that the drain is clear?

 

[tmm]

Good morning!

I have been doing some research with a couple of watering cans!

On the passenger side the water is coming in around a cable through the firewall. This cable is to the right of the large steel plate with airbag and pre-tensioner warning sticker. Should this cable have a rubber grommet on both side to seal it or is just a case of whacking in some sealant?

No idea what the problem is on the driver's side yet.

I can confirm that the scuttle & sunroof drains all work properly though!

 

[Mercedes cozy]

excellent!!! I'm glad my idea worked

any chance u can post a picture of where the suggested area u where talking about.

look forword to your picture so that the best possible advise can given!!!

we r all here on the forum to HELP!!!!

 

[emimec]

Same problem om my 124 series. It was the heater matrix leaking. Its a dash out job, I had it done by a pal and it cost £420 plus £100 for the rad

 

[ndavies5]

Getting the water back out?

Been away on 2 weeks holiday to find similar probelm with my 300 CE 24 Cabrio. Will investigate as proposed above to find the source of the leak, but can someone please advise the easiest way to actually drain the water that's collected in the car already?

Have taken the driver's matts / sound-proofing out so just left with bare metal. Have sponged up what is visible, but there still remains a load I can hear sloshing around somewhere under my feet! There's no magic plug under the car I can remove is there?

Regards,
Neil

 

[SilverSaloon]

you should be able to remove the rubber bungs on either end of the sills - sounds like you will find they are blocked and water will run out of your sills.

wash/clean the dirt off the rubber bungs and then refit.

 

[Terminator Guy]

you should be able to remove the rubber bungs on either end of the sills - sounds like you will find they are blocked and water will run out of your sills.

wash/clean the dirt off the rubber bungs and then refit.

Thanks for this info SilverSaloon as I too had a mini swimming pool in my W124 Cabrio. I'll be pulling off my bungs shortly.

The centre vent drains at the fwd bulkhead were ok, but the ones that collect rain water from the lower windshield area and funnel it down behind the wings at the windshield corners were so blocked that there was little plants growing in them.

I cleaned them out and they flow water quite well now.

 

[gooner02]

Fault code info 124.061

i apologies that this has nothing to do with the original thread, i can't see how to create "new one" so appended this Does anyone have a fault code table for 300CE cabriolet


1990-93 124.061 104.98

all the fault code manuals I come across, are for 8,16 pin . I have 12pin code access. I have an ABS light on and need to know whats causing it.

 

[barry1]

My 1989 300e also has at least 2 leaks, and the soundproofing was soaked with a large quantity of water.

Can anyone help me with two questions;
1.what is the name of the window seal strip along the bottom of the windscreen, and wheres a good place to get a new one?
2. should there be a small gap at either end (approx 1") or should it butt up to the A pillar?

what Ive done so far;
I removed all the interior carpets and front panel. used a watering can to reveal a few issues.
Both side drains slightly blocked causing overflow into engine compartment this in turn flowed onto a wiring loom on passenger side with a grommet loose. This fixed some of the passenger leaks. But there is still small quantities of water there after a rain fall.

There was water getting in the drivers side somewhere behind the dash under where the wiper is situated, but I cant quite see far enough to see the source.
The wiper rubber seal seems pretty hard, could this be a potential leak point.

cheers for any help

 

[kth286]

i apologies that this has nothing to do with the original thread, i can't see how to create "new one" so appended this Does anyone have a fault code table for 300CE cabriolet


1990-93 124.061 104.98

all the fault code manuals I come across, are for 8,16 pin . I have 12pin code access. I have an ABS light on and need to know whats causing it.

If you have the list of faults, they will be the same despite which plug you have.

Commonly the seat best buckles circuits are the problem. Check you have circuit continuity when belts buckled.

 

[Steven Stoole]

Hi guys,I have same problem and have found one of the main causes. I am in the process of having car resprayed so pulled all trims beading off car including rear trims and to my shock and horror my windscreen pillars have lovely holes in them. Also the beading strip at the to of front windscreen starts to rust under it which water ingresses in. The same goes for the rear beading strip on back windscreen, they rust under there. This being saloon. Hope this helps , I will be posting pics as I start to work on the car.

 

[kth286]

If you have the list of faults, they will be the same despite which plug you have.

Commonly the seat best buckles circuits are the problem. Check you have circuit continuity when belts buckled.

Sorry, above is for SRS fault not ABS fault. I mis-read your post.