Ok..constant water in rear passenger wells, with a little up front. I assume it's front and rear windshield seals..both badly cracked and old...

So I replaced both.

Still a decent amount of water. Finally, wait on a rainy day and see it seeping in front passenger side from the side where door opens...I open door..

That nifty black plastic drain was draining onto the cracked rubber boot protecting my vacuum lines+power window lines..and seeping into the interior! The water would pool and travel down the channel on the side of the seats and into the back passenger footwells.

Who would've ever suspected that?

Its never the usual suspects. Fix those cracked boots!

No more wet feet in Southern RI,

-Kyle

__________________
http://www.betten.mercedescenter.com...n_banner_1.jpg
1976 300D
190,000 Miles
Colorado Beige

1975 300D
Parts Car
78,000 Miles
Rustbucket
Also Colorado Beige

1984 190D 2.2 (Dad's)
156,000 miles
Champagne Metallic Clearcoat

This is relavent info for all W115 / W114. I'm going to post a link to this over in the vintage forum.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

I have had the same problem, a real pain to take the floor mats out and sponge out the water after a hard rain. The boot makes a lot of sense, I know mine are cracked. My W115 is in storage for the winter, but the boots will be the first thing I fix in the spring.

The problem most likely is the small boots that go from the door jam to the door and that cover the vacuum lines and the electrics to the door. I just replaced them in my 1975 115/300d. They aren't all that difficult to replace although it does mean taking the panel off the doors and disconnecting the wires and tubes. Lable them before you start.

The problem is that they are rather expensive. I can't remember the exact cost but you will cretainly know it when you get the bill. I tried to locate them on the net but ended up getting them at MB. Haggle with the parts man and you might get a discount. Use the old 'hard working student, barely getting by, saving for college, etc., etc.' routine and you might save a bit.

Your a better man than I Kip..I went the cheapo route and used expanding foam to seal the hole, cut it down to size, and used a piece of black latex hose and heat shrink to cover the lines.

No way I was paying 43 dollars each for two pieces of rubber.

__________________
http://www.betten.mercedescenter.com...n_banner_1.jpg
1976 300D
190,000 Miles
Colorado Beige

1975 300D
Parts Car
78,000 Miles
Rustbucket
Also Colorado Beige

1984 190D 2.2 (Dad's)
156,000 miles
Champagne Metallic Clearcoat

My 240D also has water that comes from somewhere in the front passenger footwell and it pools up in the rear passenger footwell. Recently I found some rust in that area, even though I've been keeping the rear floor mats out of the car to help keep the floor dry. I never thought of examining the door and I'll take a look tonight. Even though mine is a W123, it seems like this info is applicable to this chassis as well.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Well I have water "pooling" in my right rear floor panel as well, but my car is a W126 and there appears to be no water coming in the front door area.

From what I have gathered it is either clogged drains below the cowl, or a leaky rear window seal. Does the W126 also have these little things you are referring to?

Thanks for the tip! My car has the exact same problem but i plugged the boot in the door with a rag as a stopgap measure....when it rarely rains here.

One other trick I use is to pull the floor mats since they are like giant sponges and I leave the rear floor vent open to keep the floors dry whenever I am driving the car in the rain

__________________
1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

Well I had a quick look tonight, but it doesn't seem to be the door. I'll have to investigate further. I already patched up some rust behind the battery and in the cowl drain area when I first bought the car, so I don't think that's the issue. Maybe it's the windshield seal. Anyhow this weekend I'll do some pouring experiments and see what's going on.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

I have a 240D as well. Still not sure where the water is coming from, but big puddle in driver side rear passenger floor, and smaller puddle in the passenger side rear foorwell.
i have a few questions...
My carpet is glued down, did you rip up the glue to take out the carpet?
also, how can i make sure the drains are clear....
and is there a rear floor vent i just don't know about in my 76?
the car has been sitting for a while, so anything is possible.

i am new to it all and just don't have the funds for repairs, so any advice is appreciated.
thanks.

Alright. Nice post and thanks for investigating. As soon as I got my tranny fixed I was going to track that puppy down. I have the EXACT same problem described so I'm looking there first. I like your method of fixing.......The way to go as I'm concerned.

I'll take a look at it soon and post if I had teh same problemon my 76 300D

Thank you

Sorry that it took me so long to get back to this thread. I finally tracked down the source of my water leak. Some of it was coming through the windshield seal so I put some silicone between the glass and the seal. Most of it was coming through the cracked rubber boots in the doors! Initially I wasn't sure which part KylePavao was talking about but now I know. They're not expensive, about $5 each from the dealer. The front ones are split and one of the rear ones is in good shape but it was disconnected for some reason and that was the main source of my water leak. Unfortunately, as I further investigated to evaluate the damage from all this I found out that the whole area around the rear suspension mount bolts is badly rusted on both sides of the vehicle. This wasn't obvious until I started peeling off the undercoating from below and the insulation from above. Don't believe the myth of a "rust-free southern car". Mine is a southern car but as you can see even southern cars are not immune from destructive interior water leakage. I'm still in the process of cleaning up and exposing the area. Then I'll know the true extent of the damage.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

ohhh man. i just picked up a '78 240D that has been sitting in my driveway (level) and found some puddling on the reat passenger foot well after some light rain. i found the door seals (front and rear) with cracks thinking this was the problem. i used some caulking to bridge the gaps to see if it will stop the leaking. if it does, i'll have to replace the door seals. it's raining again tonight, i'll see what awaits me tomorrow morning. maybe this is my problem, but if it isn't i'll have a couple of other spots to check. after reading the last post, i'm afraid to peel the insulation and undercoating!!

The first order of business is to stop those leaks. After that, if you're not up to peeling anything, at least do a visual inspection for cracked or peeling insulation and undercoating and poke suspect places with a screwdriver. Damaged undercoating should be repaired ASAP because that area will be in contact with water and it will get worse. Interior rust repair can wait once you stop those interior leaks, unless the corrosion is so bad that it compromises the structural integrity of the car.

BTW, to see how I ended up repairing my floor see this thread:
The consequences of interior water leaks

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Could a feller run a tube from the windshield drain down past the wire boot?