114 Coupe Rear Window Re-Seal

[ctaylor738]

I am in the process of cleaning up some of the odds and ends on my 280C to get it to be more of an all-weather car. A couple of weeks ago, TMC replaced the rear differential with a non-whiner, and patched the rust spots in the trunk, caused by a leaking rear window gasket. So guess what - time for a new one.

First thing I noticed, is there is not much information on how to remove the rear window and seal on this model. So here is how I ended up doing it.

1. Remove trim.

Unlike other models, the trim is not fastened to the seal. It is held to the window surround with those little clips like the ones that hold the strips on the outside of the side windows. Start by prying the side pieces up, then the top. These come off in one piece. About half of the fasteners will come off with the chrome and need to be re-riveted.

The pry the bottom piece OUT horizontally, not up.

2. Disconnect rear window defroster

Remove the rear seat back. You need to remove one armrest. Disconnect the hot wire on the right and the ground wire on the left. Remove the clips in the trunk that secure the wires.

3. Run a scraper or screwdriver around the inside and outside of the gasket to loosen it. Be careful of the headliner.

4. Carefully loosen the glass with gentle pressure from the inside. If you feel resistance, work on that area with the scraper, or cut the inside of the seal out. Once the glass and seal are loose, remove carefully, being mindful of the defroster wires.

The leak into the trunk appears to have been from water getting under the lip of the gasket and draining into the trunk through the hole for the defroster wire on the left side.

I am now in the process of scraping out the old sealant and dealing with some minor rust. Will do another post on how the install goes.

[kip Foss]

Chuck,

I am in the process of reinstalling both the front and rear windshields in my 115. I had the car painted and removed all the trim and windows (30 yr. old gaskets but fortunately no rust) inorder to cut down the price a bit. I renewed all the door, and trunk seels. I will also renew the door window outside seals since 30 years in the Texas sun has taken its toll.

I was going to install the front window today but it cracked on me as I was cleaning it. I have a friend down the road with a scrap 115 so I will hit him up tomorrow and see if the car has reached the 'sell off parts' level yet.

I watched the guy install the rear window in my slc a while back using the rope trick so I will give this a try as soon as I get the new window. I'll keep you posted.

[cth350]

You don't save a heck of a lot by doing the window yourself up here in NY, so I'd rather leave it to somebody that's done it a few dozen times.

As for removal, I find that taking the kife to the seal coming out makes it a quick, stress free job. In fact, it's kinda fun to be able to hack and kill something on a mercedes and not have to feel guilty about breaking something.

-CTH

[ctaylor738]

CTH -

Trouble is, no one wants to take them out because they are afraid of breaking them. Also, because of the leak, I was fairly sure that I was going to need some minor rust repair, which turned out to be the case.

I have fixed the minor rust and chipped all of the old hardened sealant out. I need to rivet several of the clips back to the body, then I am good to go with the rope trick.

Kip -

Look forward to comparing notes on the installation.

[kip Foss]

cth,

If I never try to install the window I will never learn how. Now that I have a broken window to practice on I think that I will put in and take it out a few times just to get the feel of it before I tackle the front. Down here it costs about $60 to get a front or rear window installed. To save $120 I think I'll have a go at it myself esp. since I have a practice window to play with.

[ctaylor738]

5. Following the glass' removal, I literally had to chip out the old sealant with a chisel and hammer. I found after a while that if I positioned the chisel on the outside edge of the sealant, I could get 2-3" chunks to fly off. This was followed by sanding.

6. I then treated several rust spots with neutralizer, anti-rust primer, and painted them.

7. Riveted several trim clips that came off with the trime, back on to the body.

8. Helped Phil from Virginia Glass reinstall the glass with its new seal.

- He used an awl to make two holes in the corners of the seal for the defroster wires, and threaded the wires through the holes. This was the most time-consuming part of the job. Much harder than it sounds.

- Installed the new seal on the glass, starting from the top center and working around both sides to the bottom center

- Put a length of clothesline into the body slot of the seal, using an old funnel neck to feed the line in. He overlapped the line at the bottom and taped the ends to the inside of the glass

- Used a Milwaukee battery-powered (rechargeable) caulking gun (there's a Father's day present!) to put a 3/8" bead of sealant in the center of the body flange surrounding the window.

- The two of us held the window above the opening and fed the defroster wires through the holes and into the trunk, finally lowering the glass into the opening.

- Phil went inside the car. I applied a little pressure from the outside as he pulled the cord to pop the inside seal over the edge of the opening. I followed his lead, applying pressure where the rope was pulling.

- Phil then shot sealant between the seal and the glass only on the outside, cleaned up the excess off the glass with a razor blade as a scraper, and we were done.

9. Wrote a check for $100.

10. Still to go - reconnect the defroster, install back seat, and install aluminum surround molding

My conclusion is that the manuals make this sound a lot harder and complicated than it actually is. I would definitely do the next one myself.

I would also highly recommend Virginia Glass to anyone in the DC area needing this sort of work.

[PK2]

cleaning the window from the inside may be annoying...

Well done, Chuck!

[ctaylor738]

I washed the coupe on Sunday, and sure enough, there was a tiny amount of water dripping from the defroster wire hole on the left side. I was tempted to seal it from the inside, but that would leave water getting in from somewhere and sitting.

So it was back to see Phil the glass guy this morning, who was beside himself. We pulled the moulding off, and he shot additional sealant in the corners and under the lip that covers the glass. He swears that there is no way for water to get in between the seal and the body or between the seal and the glass. Having watched him put the bead of sealant down before installing the glass, and watching him shoot sealant between the seal and the glass, I agree.

But when we turned the hose on, there was more water in the trunk. He even got in the trunk, shut the lid and watched while I squirted the hose, and verified it was both wire holes and not the trunk seal.

So he offered me my money back, and referred me to a leak specialist, whom I see on Friday.

What I suspect is the holes for the rivets that hold the trim clips in place. Or maybe the vents in back of the rear window. There must be some sort of plenum that runs under the back of the window and/or vents that is catching the water, which in turn makes its way to the wire holes.

Does anybody know the geography of the 114 in this area?

Stay tuned.