Was it worth it?

I’ve been chasing down a whistle at speed, and a trickle of water when raining at highway speeds -adjusted striker, slightly bent top of door frame as one poster recommended... both helped, but door spectacularly fails the garden hose test. It pours in like a funnel. The rubber *seems* good. No obvious cracking, supple, etc, so a little skeptical about replacing. Considering starting with just the driver door (approx $45).

Experiences to share?

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

My 1981 240D seals arent great either. Not like that, but a hard rain or direct spray can get a bit of moisture in the car.

My car is almost always garaged so not an issue. But I do have a set.

I did replace the seal on my 82 300CD. I forget why, I think the bottom was torn. IME, 82 and later is a much better/longer lasting rubber than older cars. Its more than justa few years difference in existence.

Its pretty straightforward. There's a channel, it goes in there... There is a metal piece that holds the seal in the front. The worst parts were using the MB OE glue in spots, and the white clips to get the metal holder in place.

Just go slow and be gentle. Not a big deal at all. Check the FSM to verify where there needs to be adhesive. IIRC its not everywhere, but when I removed mine, it seemed like there was adhesive the whole way, sparingly.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

Yes. OEM seals are insanely expensive, so we went with URO. Not too hard to put in, although we had a hard time getting them to stay glued around the check strap. In my option, PTFE spray as a lubricant is a must, plus I used some trim tools I had laying around and those helped a ton.

Doors are hard to close for a while, then gradually get better.

They make a difference. Test yours by putting a dollar bill in suspect areas, close the door on the bill and see if you feel any drag/friction. If none they're bad.

Seals can be maintained and softened a little with glycerin or Gummi Pflege.

Good luck!!!

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

What was the state of your original seals? Were you replacing to solve for anything?

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Splitting at the seam where the ends meet so replaced those. Had others where no splits just drying and shrinking, Gummi Pflege seemed to soften the drying ones.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Ah, right. You were the one who suggested the dollar trick. Very helpful, thank you!
I’ve given the seals a few coats of Gummi Pflege but it didn’t stop the whistling. It did make the rubber look and feel a lot better though...

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

I just spliced several of my door seals. We will see how that goes. Some knucklehead must have tried to break in my 84 with a coat hanger at some point. Both seals on the passenger side had limited spots that were shredded from abrasion. I cut oversized pieces of seal from my parts car, and slipped them in with silicone on both ends for glue. I am not sure how long it will last.

__________________
1985 300 TD 448K
1984 300 TD 278K

1983 240D euro 240k
1994 f-250 idi turbo 330K
1986 f-350 IDI
1987 F-350 IDI

1985 JD 1050 4wd
1965 IH 3660

Perhaps you've already done this, for locating wind noise use masking tape to seal where you think the leak is and go for a ride to see if it stops.

A thin long shim tucked behind the seal e.g., a popsicle stick can also help with diagnosis.

Duct seal strip caulk strip molded by hand as a shim behind the seal can be a more permanent solution.

Part of the challenge of working with old cars is finding work around solutions when parts are NLA or quality is way overpriced. As an experiment you could try injecting GummiPflege into the seal.

Good luck!!!

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Interesting...

I haven't used the masking tape/driving procedure. Instead, I had someone aim a hose at the window and noted which spots were monsooning into the cabin (upper corner -toward front of car).

Had considered both gummi pflege-ing the back of the seal and adding some sort of a shim. I'd never heard of strip caulk. Cool idea but oddly expensive. Is the idea to place something into the channel at a depth that still allows the seal to seat? I wonder if strips of tape might work. Or even strips of an old bike inner tube.

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Yes strips of an inner tube might work really well. The idea is to get it behind the seal so it isn't visible; yet it pushes the sealing edge
of the seal toward the body/chassis.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Well that worked reeeally well.

Not one to leave any stop pulled, I Gummi Pfleged the entire seal, and stuffed as much inner tube as possible into both the channel and underneath the inner edge of the seal. This effectively pushed it out and up.

The cabin is dramatically quieter. Turns out the whistling was the least of my worries.

This should be a recorded technique.

Thank you for the ideas!

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Glad it worked. Start a new thread with how you fixed it. Could be titled SOS...for Saving Old Seals!!!😎

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Very cool. I have been wondering what to do with that pile of bicycle inner tubes.....

__________________
1985 300 TD 448K
1984 300 TD 278K

1983 240D euro 240k
1994 f-250 idi turbo 330K
1986 f-350 IDI
1987 F-350 IDI

1985 JD 1050 4wd
1965 IH 3660

Def one of the more satisfying thrifts.

I’ll add this though. The seal channel at the bottom of the door was a ticking time bomb. I have a Southern California original, no rust, etc, but 3 out of 4 doors had rust under those factory seals. Glad I caught it now while it was easy enough to deal with.

__________________
1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.