By no means do I consider my ol' Benz a fabulous example of the classic w123 BUT it ain't no 'slacker' either! Or is it?
While washing it yesterday I got interested in the drains and how well they were (or were not) performing their intended task but ran out of time and had to go some where like a 'date' with the wife! (Some things never change, I still have to have a clean car when on a date...even though she says I don't need to try to impress her anymore...after 12 years of blissful matrimony! ) Anywho...I later got busy doing a search on here regarding drains and found a thread that someone suggested checking under the battery tray for rot. Well this afternoon I pulled the tray and sure enough, the drain hole was plugged tight with a sand / dirt mixture (car spent its first 21 years in FL and TX) and the tray was rusted out on one end (see picture).

Under the tray there is some serious surface rust and I want to attack this with the best effort I can, and least expensive. The area affected is, after all, under the tray and basically out of sight. There used to be a rust inhibitor treatment that was called Suspend or something like that. It would encapsulate the rust and turn it to black. You could prime then apply a finish coat. Anyone know whether it is still available? Guess I could do a google search, duh!

Anyway I just want to emphasize the importance of looking at that area on your cars - even if your car is "rust free". I have used that term when referring to mine but for the moment I guess I can't!

BTW - I included some shots of the car best I could with the limited space I have in the garage!..

Also, if any of you have a good method of repair please let me (and others) know.

Attached Thumbnails

         

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Dale

oh yea it can get nasty.. I pulled mine and cleaned out all of the drains. the junk that came out was amazing...

try the sunroof drains next... though I can't get to mine.. weird



great W123.. its perfect!.. I wish my chrome was like yours...

Thanks!

I actually did try the roof drains and found the rear ones were working fine. The water came out from behind the rear door window. But from what I understand, there are actually front drains for the sunroof as well. Is this true? If so where does it exit?

There is a short piece of tubing that comes out at a slight angle under the rocker panel about mid-passenger door (not sure of the driver's side?) whaty is it?

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Dale

the fronts exit from the front wheel wells..

tell me.. how did you clean the rears.. some say to shove some cable up there.. I cannot find cable small enough and strong enough to make it up in the drain.. or find the proper outlet to shove the cable into.. its rather annoying

Theres a piece of tubing that drains the Hirschmann electric antenna, on the drivers side I don't know about one mid door though
Battery acid eats the paint then the water that collects from a plugged drain will rust. A good coat of primer is recommended at that stage, plus preventing acid from starting all over again.
One thing that causes the battery to dump acid is overfilling it then charging it or overcharging.
I try not to fill them as a habit to keep the fluid topped up, you just want it to not be down to or below the top of the plates.
And I use a sheet of BatteryMat under the battery to absorb any acid that might accumulate, its a neat product but be forewarned that the hold down clamps won't fit well with the Battery mats they sell as they are a tad too thick so the threaded studs on the clamps won't stick up far enough to put a nut. There's a way to work around, I used a thin fender washer bent to fit it does the job fine.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

I didn't need to clear mine as they drained fine. Although I did take a piece of trimmer line and shoved it up from the bottom of the trim piece (on body, not on door) right behind the rear door window because there was a piece of a small leaf or two stuck there. That however was not inside any drain tube, it was where I could see it but couldn't get to it with my fingers so the trimmer line came in handy... Hope this helps?

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Dale

Trimmer string worked on my 240D rear sunroof drains. It was difficult to locate the exit point. If the string won't work, you might try bicycle brake cable.

John

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Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
2002 F250 powerstroke with Plantdrive WVO conversion
1983 300SD 190K miles ,sold
2006 E320 CDI

Wrong! The sunroof drains drain out a tube right in front of the front door. You can kind of see it with the door open.
The drains in the front wheel wells come from the hood spring area....

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Thanks for clarifying! I was thinking that the drains inside front wheel wells were indeed from the 'spring perch' area. I'll have to go look for these you refer to...tomorrow!

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Dale

I actually had a similar problem on my 240D. I am not sure what other products are out there, but my brother and I worked on stopping the rust from spreading anymore. I recommend the POR 15 starter kit. It's got everything you need and it's pretty cheap. I got it through iPd in Portland, or it's online here...
http://www.ipdusa.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=1995&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1
I'm not sure where else it is available, or if there is a similar product out there. it's pretty good at stopping the rust and repairing it to an extent. Hope this helps.
Nicolette

Thank you for your reply!

I have heard about that product - just no first hand experience, yet. I remembered the name of the product I referred to in my original post - 'Extend' by Permatex. It's called a rust 'converter'.

PS: Carry on with the thread! I'm going to bed, gotta hit it early in the morning! Have a great day or night, wherever you may be!

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Dale

I figured it would make its way out to there...

that does make sense.. I was wondering what those things were...



85DSL,

I tried the string.. and some stranded steel cable.. I need to find some thin stranded cable with a coating..


moving on.. your colour is great... and I had no idea the muffler was silver.. mine is totally black. I must have the wrong one

I used POR-15 on my son's 65 Mustang and on the same spot in my daughters 240D. I highly recommend it. Also consider using under the brake master cylinder. It will eventually rust due to a brake fluid leak.

http://www.por15.com/?gclid=CLOFqdrP7I4CFR2NgQodm0CxLQ

Dave

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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

Replacement mufflers come unpainted, I believe out of the factory they were painted black.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

First, that is a beautiful car. I've never before seen one in that colour. It's fantastic.

The rust doesn't look too bad compared to some that I've seen. You're going to have to get in there with a wire wheel and clean it up a bit before you can use any product on it. Remove anything that the rust has spread under, or it will just come right back, and remember to clean and treat both sides of the area.

As for rust treatments, I have heard good things about POR-15, but I have also heard bad things. I have no personal experience with it. I have used a product called Corroseal, though, and it seems to be absolutely fantastic, not to mention very affordable.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread