Hi,

Greetings from London, England. I just came across this great forum!

Have a 1980 W123 200D saloon with a water leak problem.

The water only leaks when I turn the heater fan on and comes through the vent on the dash.

It's not usually much water that comes out and only after heavy rain (which we've had plenty of in London this summer!). If you turn the heat on, it turns to steam!

Any idea where leak is likely to originate from? Hopefully, not the heater core (carpets are dry as a bone).

Many thanks

Ben

Hey Ben,
Very nice to have folks from across the pond join us here to share the pleasure and misery of these fine autos.
I've fought many leaks on these cars! Fighting one now btw. But I've never had anything but mice come out of the vents. Does the liquid have any smell or oily feel to it? Antifreeze usually has a semi=sweet smell. Hopefully you just have water intrusion somewhere.
Certainly somebody here will point you in the correct direction, just wanted to say Welcome!

__________________
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

hi. thanks for the welcome!

pretty sure it's just rain water - no smell/colour to it and doesn't seem oily.

great to see so many W123s still going strong in the US. They are getting quite a rare sight over her these days, although many a getting new lease of life on bio-diesel.

If you remove the grilles under the windshield wipers I believe you will see some drains. Clean them out with something stiff yet flexible and you should be set.

Cheers!

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

how do you remove the plastic grills under the windshield wipers?

__________________
'81 300D - swapped to a 617.951 turbo motor with a 150 amp alt.

There are some plastic rivet-style clips. For the driver's side one, you might need to remove the windshield wiper itself -- there is a bolt hidden under a cover where it attaches and goes through the grille.

With these out, then you can lift the grilles off. They sort of latch in one side, but its not tricky.

__________________
1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D
Automatic, A/C, Power Sunroof, Power Right Side Mirror
231K Miles FOR SALE MAKE OFFER

what is the best way to go about removing the plastic rivets without damaging them, I have been contemplating removing them for painting reasons but I do not want to risk destroying the attaching clips/rivets.

would just prying at the edges of the clips with a flathead or a blade get them out?

__________________
'81 300D - swapped to a 617.951 turbo motor with a 150 amp alt.

What you do is use a small punch or screwdriver and you push the center of the clips "in". There is a small pin in the center that expands the legs of the larger outside part. The pins will fall underneath where you can retrieve them, and you just lift the grilles up and off.

__________________
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