Good day!

My wife has been complaining that water is dripping on her feet from the underdash area on her 450SLC. My assumption is that this is condensate from the Air Conditioning unit, and that the drain hose has become clogged.

This weekend, I pulled the dash covers on both sides to try and find the drain hose , but could not locate it.

I jacked up the drivers side of the car to get a look around underneath, and a good quart of water drained out from a small hole above the transmission.

Can someone tell me where to locate the drain hose from above or below, so that I can run some wire through it to ensure that it is not clogged?

I figure I've bought a bit of time, as a quart of condensate will take a while to collect. But I would prefer not to have to tilt the car every 30 days!

Many Thanks!

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Dan Davis
74 450 SLC
59 Jaguar (Mark 1)

Early 107 series cars had a design fault whereby condensate could spill into the footwells, particularly when cornering. I cannot remember what the cure for this is but from memory later models had a design change (someone else may be able to refresh my memory on this). I used to tell my wife to catch it in her shoes to prevent the carpets getting wet! I'm sure many rusted 107 floors were due to permanently wet foam underlay resulting from condensate leaking into the footwells. Since my SLC lost its refrigerant due to a leak which I have not bothered repairing it since it is no longer my daily driver, I have not recently had the problem of iced water falling on our feet.

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

Thank you Greg,
Yes, I pulled the floor mats, and the foam was quite damp. Fortunately, there were some small cracks in it as well, which allowed me to press hard with towells to sqeeze out most of the stored water. The underlying floor is so well covered with undercoat, that there appears to be no harm done. I am blown away by how much effort was put into the design of this car, at 30 years of age, it's virtually flawless, and with a little TLC, I hope to keep it that way!

__________________
Dan Davis
74 450 SLC
59 Jaguar (Mark 1)

If the foam is damp I would suggest removing it and drying it. It can store an amazing quantity of water and there is no way of completely drying it in the car. Eventually it will cause damp odours and possible rust in the floor. When I purchased my SLC I had the same situation. Hidden by the underbody coating below and the foam above was considerable rust in the floor. I removed the seats and floor coverings to repair this. The foam underlays require days out in the warm sunlight to dry out, and this is after you have pressed as much water out as possible using the technique you mention. If your floor does not have rust due to this you are lucky. Dry the underlay properly now and avoid bigger problems later. The SLC was a lovely car, but like all 107 series, rust due to this problem and other external water leaks is a major weakness.

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

Good advice Greg,

I will certainly do as you suggest.
However, if I don't cure the problem, I'm afraid I will be drying out the carpets and foam every month!

__________________
Dan Davis
74 450 SLC
59 Jaguar (Mark 1)