190e 2.3-16 leaky trunk?

I have a little problem with my 1986 190 2.3-16 valve's trunk. On the inside, it accumulates water in the inner well. Could it be the rear spoiler has lost its gaskets? If you look at the trunk lid on the inside of the car, there is a metal lip where the wiring is hidden in. There are drain holes there but when I lift the trunk all the way open, water that has accumulated pours right into the trunk. How can you stop this, its a PITA after a heavy rain. Thanks, Joe

[Benzmac]

Be sure that the lower drains are clear. They have drains in the bottom that can be seen from the bottom of the car. They love to plug up.

[MBenzNL]

It is a typical problem for the W201 (even without the rear spoiler).
You should clean the drain holes in the trunk lid (even when they "look" clean.

greetingz,

[jeff-abalone]

where is the drain hole on the trunk lid?????

anyone can get a picture to show the location!!! thanks so much

[larry16v]

I have the same problem on my 16V also.

[thetorpedo]

Has anyone had any luck with this?

My trunk is accumulating water in the inner well as well.

Where are these trunk drainage holes on the lid?

[bbarcher]

The drain holes are on the inside of the bottom edge of the lid. There is an inner trunk layer and the outer skin layer, they come together at that bottom edge, and the holes are basically open spaces where the layers come together so water doesn't stay tapped between the inner and outer layers.

There are also drain holes in the floor of the trunk, in the outer wells. The plastic liners have to be removed to see them. These drains have perforated rubber grommets and a short rubber tube extending underneath the car.

I have heard of the seal around the trunk lock button allowing leakage as well. It is replaceable through the dealer. I read about someone climbing into the trunk while a helper used a hose to spray water so they could see where it was coming in. That's how they discovered the button seal was leaking.

Also, there are two little rubber plugs on the bottom of the trunk lid that could possibly allow water in. They are located at the front corners of the underside of the lid. You could add some sealer to make sure they are sealed.

One more thing I did on mine, was to remove the vent panels on the C-pillar (at the base of the pillar, it separates the fender and pillar). There are some drain tubes that exit there. The sealant on mine was quite old and cracked, so I scraped out all the old brittle stuff and resealed with new silicone caulk. Use sealer that is long lasting and flexible. Aluminum colored silicone house caulk is what I had on hand, so I used it. There are special automotive seam sealers available at body shop suppliers. Don't plug off any of the tube openings there.

I still get a little waterfall from the inside of the trunklid when opened, but never really had puddles in the wells like you described. One day I will try replacing that trunk button seal.