My 1980 240d is badly in need of front and rear windshield seals, they are both cracked and brittle and leaking. I have both seals MB OEM. The glass shop everyone recommends here in town say they use a polyurethane sealant to install the seals. I was reading a post here by whunter to use plumbers putty (this was a rear window replacement post), is that like what my grandfather called pipe dope? I also seem to remember reading here not to use any sealant on these seals. Does anyone one have any direction on this? I want to do this soon as it has started raining again here in the sunny SW, and when left out in the rain my trunk turns into a goldfish pond.

The local quick glass shop quoted me $175 for a new front windshield installed, (which I don't really need but I want to make it worth their time, window does have a small chip in it plus 35 years of sandblasting) I supply the seal, and $120 to R&R the rear with new seal (also I supply). They freaked me out though when they said they would not be responsible if they break the window upon removal, and that new rear windshields are "unavailable". I do have a w123 parts car with a good rear windshield, I thought about asking them if they would try to remove that windshield first, for practice, at their hourly rate, then at least I would have a backup (they may totally scoff at this idea). I would love to tackle this myself but I don't have anyone to help.

Do I have to drop the headliner to remove the rear windshield? I want to help these people any way I can.

Should I go for the polyurethane sealant?

Any thoughts on this matter welcome.

Thanks

__________________

1980 240D 185k "Miss Las Cruces"
1990 300SE/SD 245k/175k
1991 560SEL 250k soon to be 300SD manual trans

Have you seen this in the wiki?

PeachPartsWiki: Rear Window Seal Replacement

(tis also from whunter)

With regards to the plumbers putty (obviously I can't speak for whunter) but I think most people refer to that as a replacement for the stuff you can buy at the dealer. From memory people say normal putty looks just like that stuff.

Personally I'd go for whatever the glass shop wants to use.

However, if I were them I'd be worried about fitting the window rather than breaking it on removal - still if they bust it I firmly believe as a professional shop they should step up and pay for a replacement.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Yeah I read through that before, it looked like the headliner was dropped down in the photos but I think it was just an old car with a drooping headliner.

I guess I got nervous when I read

"Never use any rubberized/silicone sealer."

but further on I read about using the urethane. I guess I'll go with the wisdom of the glass shop. I hope they don't skimp on cleaning out the old crap.

Thanks Stretch for the sanity check!

__________________

1980 240D 185k "Miss Las Cruces"
1990 300SE/SD 245k/175k
1991 560SEL 250k soon to be 300SD manual trans

Pipe dope is a semi thick liquid thread sealer applied with a brush. Plumbers putty is white or gray and looks like window glazing putty and is normally used to set/seal sink drains. I have replaced a number of both front and rear windows rubber seals on W123 coupes and sedans and the installer charges $95 per window and this is Southern California in the last year.

I do know that the rear window needs to be removed when replacing the headliner.

$95 bucks per window, too bad diesel isn't $1.50 like unleaded is here, otherwise it would be worth a trip to the beach

__________________

1980 240D 185k "Miss Las Cruces"
1990 300SE/SD 245k/175k
1991 560SEL 250k soon to be 300SD manual trans

Diesel is $2.65 in Southern California.

I recently wandered up on a project where someone had tried to pry the windshield out of a W111. It did not end well.

But upon helping them to clean up I had a chance to study the sealing material used at the factory. It was a sealant that was applied with a brush since you could still see the brush strokes. It was also as hard as a rock and could not be easily cleaned off the frame. This material was different from the rubber cement used to apply weatherstripping if that helps any.

So from what I have seen the Pipe Dope would be very similar to what MB used back in the day. I am sure there are real sealers out there somewhere that will stick to both the steel frame and the rubber seal. Perhaps the Classic Center could give some advice on this?

FWIW ;

I always use original Mercedes window grommets, they're available from The Classic Center and they FIT and DON'T LEAK , period .

They'll discount them slightly , enough to where it's like getting free shipping .

3M makes a very good urethane window sealant , I'm in The Auto Trade and have been using it for 40 years , no problems ever .

However , taking the time to properly clean the pinchweld whilst the old glass is out , helps prevent leaks too .

I rarely have to use the polyurethane stuff (you inject it using a tiny nozzle on a caulking gun) unless the unibody has suffered serious collision damage .

The rear window (' backlight ') of my '82 240D was giving me fits , leaking , always leaking until last month when I replaced the original 18 gallon fuel tank with a 21 gallon one and discovered the ding danged drain hose in the fuel filler recess , wasn't properly attached in spite of having the proper clamp and good rubber etc.

I re connected it and haven't had any water in the trunk since .

Less Diesel fuel smell in the interior too .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better