From inside the cabin, even in the driver's seat, I could hear the sound of fuel sloshing in the fuel tank. It's even louder in the rear seat, and my passengers have been pretty amused! The slish-slosh sound is very apparent from a full tank right down to 1/5 tankful of fuel. I could also hear the return fuel sloshing back into the tank. No, my hearing is not exceptionally good, just normal.

Is this normal, or does this point to something undesirable?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Mervyn
1983 W126 (280SEL)

I used to have the same problem in another vehicle (not a Benz). The noise was most evident when stepping on the brakes and it sounded like water was slushing around and rushing forward. Apparently, it was water in the channels in the door frame/floor where the wires normally go. Water was seeping in whenever it was raining hard or whenever the car was washed thoroughly. Sealing it properly eventually solved the problem.

You might want to check that out.

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

You do realize that the gas tank is right behind the back seat? From the trunk, you can pull back the lining at the front of the trunk area and see it. That's why the sound is louder from the back seat but, I don't know why it's making that noise.

Intruder

You don't mention what vehicle you drive, but, I have noticed the same sound from my 85 300D. In my case it became apparent only after I cut a hole in the rear deck to install a subwoofer. The diesel has this strange plastic tank, which is only an inch or so thick and lies horizontal to the rear deck, it's not the main tank.
I've never bothered to find out what this is, but my sloshing sound comes from it.

My solution to the problem...crank up the tunes.

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

Is the horsehair or whatever that MBZ uses to pad the back of the rear seat still intact? It also acts as a sound insulator. My old 240 lost a great deal of it over the years and had to be restuffed.

__________________
'76 240D-Sold
'78 240D-Sold
'85 300 SD, 165K-Sold
'88 300 TE, 165K-Sold
'64 Porsche 356C Cabriolet- under restoration
'86 560SL 124K Miles-Sold
'94 320E Wagon, 74K Miles-128K Miles JUNKED
'06 E350 Wagon, 84K Miles
07 SL550, 14K Miles

I have not checked whether the horsehair (or other insulation material) is still there, and Rainmaker, I'm very sure it's not water that is sloshing, it's fuel!

I guess I'll go stuff some insulation material in the back seat, and if the sound still persists loud & clear, I'll just leave it as that. It sounds embarassing, but if the car runs fine, I suppose I'll resign myself to it.

Thanks for your comments!

Cheers
Mervyn
1983 W126 (280SEL)

My 126 had similar sounds most apparent when tank was full.

I guess this was because I had the rear board cut to make way for speakers, and thus left some gaps for the sound to run through - just as what Merv described.

What I did was to remove the rear seat altogether and added wool insulation before installing seat, and then got someone who did interiors to measure, cut out and design a rear board cover made of wool-like fabric with added insulation. During the course of putting in this cover, we figured that this was where the noise was most apparent.

Now - I don't hear a thing - even without the stereo.

__________________
... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

Rainmaker...re sloshing sound:
I have a 98 E300D and have had several quarts of water retained in the rocker panels below the doors... esp following a heavy rain. What I did was to pull out a rubber drain seal on the underside of the rocker panel draining all the water. Had to do it on both sides of the car. The rubber drain got clogged and all the water sloshed around heard when stopping quickly. Cure complete. RSL

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RSL007
1999 ML430
2001 C320 Sport
2000 SAAB 9-5
1998 E300DT
1998 C280sport
1991 300D
1991 350SDL
1982 300DT
1972 Porsche 911 Targa