Water collecting under boot carpet

[High-Lo]

Just checking if its normal to have water collecting in the small 'well' under the boot carpet directly under the left hand light cluster (next to where the toolkit/jack goes) in my w202? I changed my rear light clusters for the facelift ones and they appear to be fitted correctly with the same rubber seals as the old ones. I used a cloth to collect all the water last night so I know it was clear of any excess water. I checked again this morning (as it was raining again) and its collected water again. It doesn't affect the boot carpet at all and I suspect its getting in through the gap between the edge of the light cluster and the corner of the boot.

The thing is I never checked for any water there with the old clusters fitted so it could be that its perfectly normal to collect water in there?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Exactly the same has happened with my car for the past few years. causing the rear window to steam up all the time.

I traced the leak to be from ether the electric ariel, or from the rear window seals.

After it rains, If you pull out the side wall carpet, you should see a fluffy (I guess you can call it that) bed of hairy stuff

Check this to see if its wet, and also move you hand up above this and feel the metal wall. mine is wet!

 

[Thmsshaun]

Will have to have a good feel round mine. As the rear window does seem to steam up quite a bit.

Khz have you done anything to fix yours or are you just leaving it as is??

 

[KillerHERTZ]

I cant see away around it, other than remove the window etc.

BTW, Have you damaged your ariel/replaced it latley?

Does the boot smell damp?


+ Also, keep emptying the hole of water with bog roll etc, otherwise it will overflow, and keep an eye on it, incase it rusts.

 

[High-Lo]

I cant see away around it, other than remove the window etc.

BTW, Have you damaged your ariel/replaced it latley?

Does the boot smell damp?


+ Also, keep emptying the hole of water with bog roll etc, otherwise it will overflow, and keep an eye on it, incase it rusts.

I think the aerial is original with no damage to the seals. The boot also smells fresh. Still got a kind of new car smell. Maybe its the rear clusters I have fitted which I don't even know if they are MB original parts. I think considering the cra@ppy weather we've been getting I'll be checking it every other day to check for overflowing. Wish I'd checked it before I changed the clusters now. At least I'd know for sure.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[KLP 92]

I had a similar problem when i changed the rear lights with non OEM parts. I started to get water coming through from the seal between the rear 3/4 panel and the light. I ended up removing both lights and using some silicone sealant between the bodywork and lights. I just used the clear bathroom sealant and it worked a treat.

 

[High-Lo]

I had a similar problem when i changed the rear lights with non OEM parts. I started to get water coming through from the seal between the rear 3/4 panel and the light. I ended up removing both lights and using some silicone sealant between the bodywork and lights. I just used the clear bathroom sealant and it worked a treat.

Yes I'm beginning to think it is the new clusters causing the problem. I will try the sealant trick on a dry day to see if it solves the problem.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[KillerHERTZ]

I doubt it is TBH, mine did this before I changed, and both the orignal, and newer clusters had perfect seals.

You need to check all around the boot.

 

[Thmsshaun]

Could be areial seal although boot does smell fresh. Areial is soon to go though as I have got an Electronic one for the front screen fitted.

The original one will be removed with the hole filled in and painted. Dont like the motorised areials.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

How much is that costing you then?

 

[Thmsshaun]

Will do most of the prep work myself so going to the garage this weekend to get a quote for the spraing & finishing. Well will get a quote for the lot and see what the difference is. Will keep you posted

 

[Flash]

Will do most of the prep work myself so going to the garage this weekend to get a quote for the spraing & finishing. Well will get a quote for the lot and see what the difference is. Will keep you posted

Personally, I quite like the eletrctal aerials that were fitted on the 129 SL (they used to come out at an 40 degree (ish) angel quite similar to the pre face lift W202 - personally I would leave the electrcial aerial and would not have the hole filled in and resprayed - upper panels such as bonnets and boot lids are quite difficult to blend in with rest of the paint. However, it is your car and enteirly up to you.

Cheers

Flash