Cut the damn trees down, I hate leaves.

Well just blow them out once in a while, how about every oil change time or ???

Funola, I doubt the foam tape will have any effect on the engine cooling, if it does, then you have other problems.

The short Needles from the Douglas Fur trees can drop into the plastic Vent holes also. have you ever taken off the plate and checked where the Windshield wiper lives? that can be a dirt hole after 30 years of neglect.


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Taking the wiper plastic grills and panel off is a big job. How about just pouring water through the grills and see how fast it drains to check condition of the drains?

Isn't it better to keep the leaves out rather than let them rot in there for a while then blowing them out?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

You'll know the condition of the drains under the hood cowl (at least whether or not they are plugged) after washing the car, or after leaving it out in a good rain. Removing the wiper grills, etc. is a once every 5 years job, unless your regular parking spot is under a pine tree. Blowing, vacuuming, or flushing out the hinge pockets and drains is easy enough to do regularly and frequently, and that's about all it takes to keep things clean.

Your theory regarding sealing the hood edges is worth the exploration, but I don't see this solution resulting in less work in the long run.Be sure to post a pic at the end of the winter to show how the weatherstripping around the hood affects the body finish in that area and how it holds up.

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'79 240D

I used to park on a driveway almost under a few big Douglas firs. Now I've got a cottonweed - I mean wood - forest 30 ft from the car across the street. At least the birches are gone... The worst part is the climate here. The leaves fall from being pounded with rain for months as much as anything, so they just turn into a wet heavy mass.

The blower is the best I've ever tried. Even a shop vac just doesn't do it. w126 is different but still, the blower works.

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1981 300SD - 283,000 KM's at purchase, 360k+ now. Engine replaced at 311k. 16" CLK wheels, w126 gen II cosmetic upgrades, late w126 leather interior. RIP. Parted and gone due to fire

1987 300SDL - 243K miles and counting. In winter hibernation!

2001 Ford F250 Super Duty "Platinum Edition" Lariat 4x4 7.3L turbo diesel, 295k+ miles, various mods for reliability and performance.

Steve, the plastic grills are easy to remove. Punch out the centers of the pins, then lift out the outer part of the fasteners. then lift out the grills.

The center panel takes a bit more work to remove. knock out the center pins, same as the grills. the panel has some sticky foam holding it down, so be careful lifting it up so it doesn`t get tweeked.

I cleaned out that area on our 240D. there is dirt that accumulates in there over the years. also good to check out the wiper linkage etc.

Didn`t you have a tree limb come down and hit the rear window or roof on your other 123? that would be a bigger concern than a few leaves.


Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Follow up to this experiment. It's leaves season here and my car has been parked 20 ft away from 2 big 60 ft tall trees and I've been busy raking leaves. The weather stripping has been 99.9 % effective in keeping leaves out. I only found 2 small dried slivers about thumb size in the hinge pockets that got in via the openings on the fenders by the windshield pillars. If I plug those 2 openings with foam it would have kept leaves out 100%

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Interesting - how's the water run off in heavy rain? Any evidence of water getting into the sides of the engine bay - say pooling by the headlights - wet looking tach amp etc

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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!

The W126 cowl area is like a magnet to leaves and debri. When I bought mine I couldn't believe the amount of leaves/debri that came out. I used a combination of shop vac, leaf blower and pressure washer to clear the drains. I've thought of using something similar to screen messh to cover them.

Also don't forget the channel around the trunk seal. The fron edge can easily fill causing a heavy rain to deposit water in the trunk. The area above the tail lights need to be kept clear also.

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1983 300SD
1988 420SEL

Good question! I have not thought about that. It's been very dry not much rain in the last month. Next time it rains I'll pop the hood and check for you.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I imagine the weatherstrip will do the same, keeping leaves out of the trunk channels. I will go ahead and try it.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Here it has been silly wet again - I get the impression both of my cars need as much drainage as possible at the moment. Quite a lot of water gets sent through those drains in the hood spring pocket areas on both the W123 and W201 - where's it gonna go if it can't get down there? Hopefully it will just roll down the side of the car but if it starts to pool at the front of the engine bay that might not be so great.

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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!

I'm starting to think like you. My driveway has 5 Pin Oaks --- how many leaves do you think I have between the 87 Champagne firewalls????

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

I recently had the wiper grilles and centre panel off. I also rebuilt the rusted hinge pockets.

On my 85, there was no debris under the grilles or in the centre section. Just a bit dusty. There are two large drains that discharge from that area into the engine bay at firewall. Should be easy enough to check that those drains are not blocked by pouring water in. And at same time check interior of car to make sure some of the water is not leaking through firewall.

The hinge pockets have drains that discharge sideways into the engine bay through the inner fender wall. Again easy to check by pouring some water in. On my car the hinge pockets were rusted on both sides down in the vee.This allowed water to go through cabin side wall into the car footwells and likely was main cause of floorpan rust. The outer hole just discharged inside the enclosed section of the fender behind the wheel well. That is also where water that runs down off the windshield goes, in the corners.

I see the hinge pockets as being the major problem area. I kind of neglected the 300D over the years, but I usually try and vacuum leaves out of my cars once a year. The worst ones we get are when we are in SC in the Spring. Don't know what those trees are, but small nickel sized leave fall and are harder to get out than our large oak and maple leaves.

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Graham
85 300D,72 350SL, 98 E320, Outback 2.5

The small nickel sized leaf is probably black locust. My 300D gets bombarded with one of those from a neighbors yard as well as the 2 sweet gums in our yard.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

UGH!!!

try 5 pin oaks, D$%@#$%@ pain/pine trees, and several (I MEAN SEVERAL!!!) Poplar and Dogwood, and white oak, and those GIANT fern trees... mimosa... ugh...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!