I went to open up the paneling today to get to the drain tube at the lower left (driver side) corner of the windshield because I have been getting consistent water drips every time it rains behind the pedals. It turns out that the drain tube actually did NOT separate from the body, BUT it is completely rotten, cracked, and torn just a little way down from its connection to the body panel. I felt it with my finger inside, and it is pretty much completely torn. In the front driver side wheel well where this drain tube comes out it's all cracked too.

Basically, I need to find a replacement. I looked in the electronic service manual but could not find anything about replacing this drain tube. I haven't had a chance to look through the EPC to find the part number for the drain tube... Anyone know the part number for this tube?

Finally, HOW DO I GET TO THIS TUBE?? I think I don't have to remove the front left fender, just the plastic covering inside the wheel well under which this tubing is supposed to reside. I mean, I will remove the front fender if I must - it doesn't seem too complicated, but I don't want to do that if I don't HAVE to. If anyone know something about this, PLEASE chime in - I want to fix this leaky drain one way or the other!

Thanks!
Denis

'84 300SD W126

The one inside the wheel well is for the sunroof. If you remove the plastic linner you should have acess to it. But I have only been in their once and I don't really remember. Hopfully it doesn't run all the way up to the pillar!

As far as where to get it, I'm sure the dealer's parts diagram will have it listed. Maybe if you look at the break down on the screen that will give you an idea of whats involved in changing it.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yea I couldn't find the right screen in the EPC yet where the drain parts are listed and diagramed. It's possible that the EPC simply doesn't have a listing for it, perhaps?

So the big fat drains in the wheel well are the sunroof drains, eh... So where do the windshield drains come out??? Underneath the car?? Maybe it connects with the sunroof drain and they both drain out to the same location? I don't see how the windshield drain could go into the pillar - it sits below where the pillar meets the fender. Must be somewhere inside the fender...

No the sunroof drains start at the corners of the sunroof and end in the front wheel wells. So the tube must go through the piller where else would it go?

Did you remove the plastic cowl below the windshield? Their are several drains under that.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Sorry I think I may not have explained myself clearly. The drain that I was talking about is not the drain that runs in the pillars and is not the sunroof drain. The drain that I'm talking about is the one where you remove the plastic covering under the windshield where the wipers are installed. It's right under the lower left windshield corner, just below where the hood and front driver side fender come together. That's why I was saying that this thing can't be draining via the pillars because it sits below the pillars. The sunroof surely drains via the hoses that run inside the pillars - just like on my Saab - but the windshield drain I'm referring can't be inside the pillar. I reckon it probably runs somewhere next to the firewall because the drip pattern is right behind the brake pedal when it rains.

I finally had the chance to do some digging in the driver side wheel well and find out exactly which tube corresponds to the drain that's situated right below the bottom left corner of the windshield - the one where I could see a torn-up tube.

I inserted a medium-sized vinyl hose into this drain pipe and poured a little water into the hose, making sure that the hose is inserted deep enough below the tear in the drain pipe so that the water didn't end up inside the car. Sure enough, the water came out of the big drain pipe that I originally found in the front driver side wheel well running along the backside of the fender.

The drain pipe runs up behind a plastic lining of the wheel well. So I removed a few fastening bolts and partially removed the lining to be able to access the rear cavity of the front fender. I felt my way through the confined spaces along the drain pipe (you need long arms for that!), and it led me to the windshield drain hole, as I knew it would.

The pipe could not hold itself in place, as it expanded, cracked, and tore up over the years. I simply yanked it out. Then it's off to the hardware store. After much deliberation in the plumbing supply sections of Home Depot and Lowe's, I bought a few rubber fittings and some vinyl hose in whatever closest size was available. The factory drain pipe is installed over a protruding metal pipe on the underside of the windshield drain hole. But to get in there to be able to slip some hose onto that metal pipe was simply too difficult with my big hands. It would really be best to remove the fender to do that job properly. So I decided instead to feed the vinyl hose through the drain hole and all the way down into the wheel well and then creatively use a rubber fitting/coupler (which I was VERY lucky to find) to fill the annular space between the hose and the metal drain pipe (I could not find the hose with large enough outside diameter to fit snugly to the metal drain pipe's inner diameter). The rubber coupler turned out to be perfect size in mating the vinyl pipe snugly to the metal drain pipe - snug enough for me to be able silicone-seal any seams and expect it to hold up.

The hardware that I used to rig this up probably cost me around $5-7. My homemade drain is smaller in diameter than the factory drain pipe, of course, but I don't think that it's small enough to limit any water flow even during the very heavy rains. I have every reason to expect this set up to hold up. If it leaks, I will just have to think of a better way to seal it at the drain - maybe use a different sealant than silicone. Time will tell. When the sealant cures, I'll try to flood that thing with water and see if I get any in the footwell. I do hope that there's not some OTHER drain that may be causing my driver side footwell to get wet during a rain... Would be nice to be done with this problem!

Okkkk.... It rained again, and I am STILL getting a drip pattern right behind my brake pedal... The mat isn't as soaked as before I replaced the left windshield drain tube, but it's still wet up by that pedal...

Does W126 have a drain at the center of the windshield that might be leaking? Again, this water got in while the car was parked. Someone mentioned a steering column boot letting the water in, but is that possible when the car is parked?

Did you notice the two large drains in the front of that well under the wiper cowl?

Most likely thats the source of your leak. Spray water around them to confirm.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200