Drain spots.

[winmutt]

Can anyone take pics of the drains for the car? I have a bad leak in the rear and mild leak up front, both on pass side. I don't think its the window, this is more of a flood than a drip. I found the sunroof drains in the middle of the chassis area. Where are the entry points and exit points for the drains?

[marybeth]

1)Front passenger Drain
-Pop open the hood.
-Remove the battery
-Remove the battery tray(two screws on the battery back wall and two on the front of the battery tray
-Underneath the hood springs you will see a LOT of leaves, gunk, etc
-Clean out all the gunk/junk
-You will see where the meal crves downward and a small hole that needs to cleaned out with straighten coat hanger, bailing wire
-drain goes down to right behind the passenger side tire
-After cleaning pour a little water down to see if water drains to behind tire
Now is good time to clean rust off battery tray and any in engine bay area (POR-15 is GREAT for getting rid of rusted areas)

2) Trunk drains
Pull out Trunk wheel-well covers from inside trunk (both passenger and drivers side)by removing clips and pulling wheel well cover up. On wheel well you will see a rubber drain grommet (no doubt plugged up) remove rubber grommet and clean/clear drains. Clean up area around grommet hole (Fix rust if needed-POR-15 is great for this) replace rubber grommets

3)Sunroof Drains
On 300D the drains are on the pillar outside the car behind the passenger door about chest high.
On 300SD the sunroof rear drains are behind te rear wheel on the wheel well. They almost look like the drain should be for the trunk.

If you pull a bit of the headliner out-right near the roof rear inside "handle" you can work you hand in and grasp a rubber hose that is connected from the sunroof drain to the outside of the acr.

Odds are the ruber hose has falllen apart-or come off the sunroof drain.
Clean/clear hose with bailing wire/coat hanger or replace the hose.

[winmutt]

Something seems missing here. Where is the drain location for the rear of the rain gutters?

I litterally had 1-2" inched of water in the foot area of the rear seat.

[280EZRider]

On the car you have mentioned, the SR drains start at each corner of the SR tray. The front drains exit just aft of the front wheel wells. As previously stated, the rear SR drains exit through the cabin vents aft of the rear side windows. This vent is under the trim for the rain gutter. The gutter simply drains where it ends just above the quarter panel.

Usually, a wet rear foot well on a 123 car is from a windshield leak. The rear wells are lower than the fronts; hence, gravity takes over.

[::matthew]

in my case, it was a A/C condensate drain failure.

[280EZRider]

When it comes to leaks, anything is possible.

[winmutt]

I am going to pull the rest of the carpet out on that side and take a hose and see whats up. I find it hard to believe this amount of water is coming from a window seal leak.

[edit]

Rereading your post you said the rear sunroof drains exit at the fins right behind the trim/ side window? This indeed might be the source of my troubles if the hose is toast.

[winmutt]

Its amazing what you can find in these things!

I took a picture of the drain, the tube connects on the left side. A word of caution, keep a hand on that loose tube if you take it off!

[winmutt]

Still no love. Left car in rain today as a test and again inched of water in hours of rain. I chased out the front sun roof drains as well as the front drains. No need to remove tray only battery.

[marybeth]

If you cleaned out all the drains-hood, trunk, sunroof-then odds are a hole has rusted thru somewhere.

Best to use two people on this.

Remove rear seat bottom and back. Peel back as much carpet as you feel comfortable with.

Dry out car as much as possible.

Start with passenger front hood drain area.
-Have helper use hose to run water down passenger side of windshield
you with light inside passenger foot area checking for water leaks.
Does water drain down hood drain-or does any seep into pasenger compartment

Repeat Drivers side hood drain and look for leaks.

Move onto front passenger side front sun roof drain

Drivers side front sun roof drain

Passenger side rear sun rooof drain

driver side rear sun roof drain

rear window last

It does not take long -but you will locate the rust holes. If not to bad the POR company has a good line of fill and fix rust products. If large holes it is time for welding

[kingdoc1]

When i frst got my 240d, there was about 1/2" of water in the floor after heavy rain. Under the hood there was a black hose type drain tube coming out of the cowl I think one on each side. One or both, I can't remember was kinked or routed on top of something else, causing it to get pinched off. As soon as I unkinked them, about a quart of water came outof the hose, i rerouted them so they pointed down and I never had another drop of water inside the car again. I guess those drains being restricted caused water to back up in the area where the cowl vents are and leak into the car.

[winmutt]

Well 4 hours of rain during the football game today and only a little water appears. Progress!

[300dOwner]

Experienced an identical situation on my 85 300D...the drain behind the battery was the culprit...I chased it with a small snake I bought at Harbor Freight for $5 (it's about 3/16" in diameter) and gently cleared the drain...sucker was pretty well hidden in the leaves behind the battery ! The puddle in the rear passenger footwell was discovered when my father-in-law asked me why his shoes were soaking through with water...see in-laws DO come in handy.

[winmutt]

Well then! Unless you live under a rock you know the SE is super flooded. Good news is that my leaks are all but gone! I just went out a while ago to check the flooding in the car and only the smallest 3" wide puddle was there. Will be checking the cowl when I get home today.

[athensbenz]

We have certainly had enough rain lately. What did you use to clear drain lines?