Texas Rains Cause Sunroof Leak (124 Wagon) - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

justinperkins · #1 07-08-2007, 11:35 PM

After a torrential downpour the other day, I had some water coming in from the right side of the sunroof (both the front and rear corners of the sunroof).

This weekend I spent a few hours making sure all 4 of my sunroof drains were clear (the right rear drain was clogged with old sunroof grease), they all seemed to flow pretty well after that. Well we had another downpour this evening and I am still getting a little bit of water inside the car.

It looks like the front right drain is clogged still, even though it appears totally clear (I ran that plastic weed whacker stuff through it).

This is what I did:

#1 Pulled out all four rubber grommets from the underside of the car where the sunroof drains flow to and cleaned them up (they were nasty)

#2 Ran plastic line through the front drains from the top of the car 'till I saw the plastic come out the end

#3 I couldn't get to the rear drains from the top, so I ran the plastic line up from the bottom until they stopped

Is there something I'm missing with these drains? Thanks guys.

aersloat · #2 07-09-2007, 02:34 AM

My sunroof leaks pretty good as well, which is not a good thing in Portland. When I ran weed whacker line down the two front drains the line daylighted below the front pillar in the area just in front of the front doors right around the level of the check strap. I had thought that they would daylight under the car as they seem to on yours. Both sides daylighted there. I guess some additional investigation in warranted. I (or my passenger) get dripped on sometimes from the left or right front corner of the headliner so I have water collecting up there and not draining although the drain lines seem clear. I have my headliner off and just today ordered $80 worth of weatherstripping and gaskets from Duval to try to to sort this thing out before the end of summer.

justinperkins · #3 07-09-2007, 10:43 AM

I wasn't getting too specific in my OP but the right side front drain comes out in the door jamb area like you said, but the left front one goes all the way down into the rocker.

It's hard to look in the front door jamb, but on the right side you can see the drain hole if you look closely. The left side has no drain hole in the jamb.

Since they appear to drain into the rocker, there was really no good way for me to pull the weed whacker line all the way through.

I guess I'm going to pull the front headliner piece down so I can get a good view of the front drains, run some water through there and see what the heck is going on...

Mercury · #4 07-09-2007, 12:59 PM

Would pulling the plastic wheel well liner allow you visibility to the drain ending? Six or so screws and the thing comes in and out pretty easy. Give you a chance to clean out the junk that has built up.

justinperkins · #5 07-09-2007, 01:44 PM

I've been thinking some more about it and I have a new theory:

The right rear drain is clogged somewhere towards the start of the drain line, not the end since I've already cleaned it out. This is causing water to build up on the right side of the sunroof tray and the one functioning drain on that side, the right front, cannot keep up with the increased flow, especially when it rains hard (I've only seen the leak after a big downpour) and so it overflows the sunroof tray on the right side.

That's my theory anyway.

Until I can access the start of the right rear drain, not really sure what to do about it.

Don M · #6 07-09-2007, 02:30 PM

Justin,

The problem is one of your roof drains has shrunk and pulled back into the inside of the rocker area. Both front drains need to be sticking out of the rocker area and draining to the outside between the fender and the door.

You will need to get new drain hoses from MBZ, remove the old ones and replace them.

Its a simple job. You do not need to remove the door to do this. Some manuals say you need to.

I just replaced both drain hoses on my 87 300TD a few months back. We have a very good handle on how the water flows and if the drains are pulled back inside, the water will end up in the front floorboard first and migrate to the rear seat area as well.

HTH,

Don~

justinperkins · #7 07-09-2007, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don M

Justin,

The problem is one of your roof drains has shrunk and pulled back into the inside of the rocker area. Both front drains need to be sticking out of the rocker area and draining to the outside between the fender and the door.

You will need to get new drain hoses from MBZ, remove the old ones and replace them.

Its a simple job. You do not need to remove the door to do this. Some manuals say you need to.

I just replaced both drain hoses on my 87 300TD a few months back. We have a very good handle on how the water flows and if the drains are pulled back inside, the water will end up in the front floorboard first and migrate to the rear seat area as well.

HTH,

Don~

Thanks for your reply Don, but I don't think that is the problem. The issue is not "water on the floorboards", it's water (a very small amount) on the headliner, right front corner.

How do you visually inspect the rear drains where they attach to the sunroof drip tray? I could only run plastic wire up from the ends until it stopped.

JimmyL · #8 07-09-2007, 06:05 PM

I've darn near given up the fight to find the leak on my '85 wagon. Have you ever seen cars that leak like these freakin things!!!!!
Somehow, mine leaks on the drivers side of the sunroof, runs down from about the middle of the sunroof. It runs along the underside of the headliner [top side against car roof that is], runs down to the A-pillar, and drips down that onto my parking brake lever and hood pull handle. I believe it also makes it's way down the B-pillar, gets that carpet wet, and just creates a very large pond under the driver's seat. Also the rear carpet on the tranny hump is soaked on the driver's side.
Sunroof drains appear to drain. The front connections from sunroof to drain hoses is fine, and does not drip at all. I have sat in the car with the front trim cover removed and headliner peeled back a little, and water is coming middle/or back to front. What is it with these freakin cars.

I got weed eater line to feed out the front tubes easily. I had to try and shove it up the rear drain from the back{

} as you can't really get to the rear drain opening, only the exit. My weed eater line was not stiff enough to make it up through the channel, but water poured into the sunroof area drains back to the rear exit.
I'm at a loss also......
I'm sooo happy China has no sunroof!! She might end up being a keeper!

justinperkins · #9 07-09-2007, 06:59 PM

Well that's not very inspiring at all Jimmy! You trying to convince me to bust out the duct tape already??

aersloat · #10 07-10-2007, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don M

Its a simple job. You do not need to remove the door to do this. Some manuals say you need to.

Don, how much of the interior trim needs to be removed to replace these lines?

JimmyL · #11 07-10-2007, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinperkins

Well that's not very inspiring at all Jimmy! You trying to convince me to bust out the duct tape already??

Well, I guess that explains why the sunroof was caulked shut when I bought the wagon.....

GreenMedallion · #12 07-10-2007, 03:02 AM

I recently solved my leaky wagon sunroof. After removing the headboard, and the front of the headliner, I found that one of the drains was rusted out where it met the rubber drain. POR15 Patch to the rescue! That solved the water leaking in. If yours is rusted out like that, be sure and double check by pouring some water into the drains. It took me a few rounds of patch to seal it up - it was very rusty.

Needless to say the rubber drain house was not sticking out into the door jamb. There is a hole it fits in, but it is VERY tight to access. I couldn't get more than two fingers in there to find the hose, bend it, put it back in place. It was a good 20-30 minutes of painful fiddling.

If you have a spare clutch cable for a scooter or a brake cable for a bicycle, I've found those to be great for clearing the drains.

Don M · #13 07-10-2007, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aersloat

Don, how much of the interior trim needs to be removed to replace these lines?

Not much at all.

Typically its the front drains that get the shrinkage problem. The rears only suffer from clogging.

I did not need to replace the rears on mine so I dont know how to do it.

To do the fronts you only need to remove the visors, front headliner panel, ( not the entire headliner itself ) the A pillar panels, the lower inside kick panels and the front carpet pieces. After you remove the headliner panel you will see small push clips that hold the stretch headliner up front. They just pop right out to expose the drain hoses and their sunroof connection point.

Once you remove the kick panels you will see some white felt that needs to be pulled lose from the kick panel body area. This will allow you to see the direction the hoses take and how to route the new ones.

Both sides take less than on hour if you look at the hose routing and form a game plan before you start.

The new hoses will be fed down the A pillar from the top to the bottom after you pull out the old hoses. They will easliy slip right down.

The trick at the bottom is to look behind the slot the felt lining you removed in the kick panel area to see the hole made for the hoses to go through.

Im convinced while being built, many 300TD's hoses were cut too short allowing them to easily slip back inside the
body of the car. If you cant see the hose sticking out between the fender and the door to the outside, you will get some water in the floorboards. Some more than others depending on how the hose ends up facing once it pulls itself inside the car.

Mine was so bad on both sides that the seat frames were nearly rusted through and a huge molded area under the carpet had formed. I had to replace the front and rear carpet and the seat frames. The carpet alone is over a grand. Luckily I had spare seat frames.

Don~

justinperkins · #14 07-10-2007, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don M

Not much at all.

Typically its the front drains that get the shrinkage problem. The rears only suffer from clogging.

I did not need to replace the rears on mine so I dont know how to do it.

To do the fronts you only need to remove the visors, front headliner panel, ( not the entire headliner itself ) the A pillar panels, the lower inside kick panels and the front carpet pieces. After you remove the headliner panel you will see small push clips that hold the stretch headliner up front. They just pop right out to expose the drain hoses and their sunroof connection point.

Once you remove the kick panels you will see some white felt that needs to be pulled lose from the kick panel body area. This will allow you to see the direction the hoses take and how to route the new ones.

Both sides take less than on hour if you look at the hose routing and form a game plan before you start.

The new hoses will be fed down the A pillar from the top to the bottom after you pull out the old hoses. They will easliy slip right down.

The trick at the bottom is to look behind the slot the felt lining you removed in the kick panel area to see the hole made for the hoses to go through.

Im convinced while being built, many 300TD's hoses were cut too short allowing them to easily slip back inside the
body of the car. If you cant see the hose sticking out between the fender and the door to the outside, you will get some water in the floorboards. Some more than others depending on how the hose ends up facing once it pulls itself inside the car.

Mine was so bad on both sides that the seat frames were nearly rusted through and a huge molded area under the carpet had formed. I had to replace the front and rear carpet and the seat frames. The carpet alone is over a grand. Luckily I had spare seat frames.

Don~

Add some pics to that perfect description and we've got a nice DIY! Thanks Don

loneranger · #15 07-10-2007, 07:05 PM

I had the same problem one my 300 CD. It was a FL car and the salt air rusted the front drain tubes and the pan where the tubes were welded. I pulled the headliner, removed the sunroof unit, made new tubes with brass tubing and JB welded the tubes in. The plastic drain tubes were loose. Coated the tubes with silicon caulk and used ss safety wire as clamp. No leaks---ever again.