Hello friends..

92 400E is shooting out tiny pieces of deteriorating foam foam from the A/C and defrost vents when you turn AC or heater or defrost on. Looks like the foam surround that goes around the blower motors and AC doors is deteriorating and blowing out the vents. Is this what it is and does anyone know where this is comming from (where i can find the deteriorating foam). Thanks for everyones help, this is a killer board!!!

Peter

How much is coming out? If it is not much then don't worry about it. This is common on older Benz and I have experienced myself in my car. It is exactly what you thought. Foam rubber. I don't know how big a job it is to replace the old seals, but I would think it is probably not worth it unless you are getting a ton of the foam.

lots
 

I am getting enough foam to get on my hair, clothes, and all over the dash, oh and an upset girlfriend!

I dont know If I am talking about the same thing as you but I recently changed my blower motor assy. in my 300e. The flap that puts the system into recirculation mode had alot deteriorated foam on it that would turn into dust if you touched it. Well I pulled out my trusty shopvac and got all the foam off of it. There was still some foam in the system and when I turned it on for the first time my dash was covered in little tiny black particles that probably came from that flap.

pezzy is exactly correct. The flap or baffle that regulates air direction is lined on both sides with the foam. I had the same thing happen with my '92 400E.

Caution: PICK IT US ASAP WHEN IT HITS YOUR INTERIOR. The stuff is very sticky and deteriorates upon contact. It will stain everything it its. Lexol cleaner gets it off the leather fairly well. Carpets...that's another story. Just pick up what you can. Avoid scraping the carpets with vac attachment. You will just grind it in. Spot clean first with a good carpet cleaner, let dry, then vac.

I had to fix a "ticking" in my fan blower so I removed as much of the foam from the source when I opened the blower assembly. Not a bad job. Just very very tedious. DO NOT GET INTERUPTED. There are a whole bunch of plastic parts, screws, etc that must be tracked and re-aligned upon re-assembly.

When I exposed the "flap" inside the assembly, I removed as much foam as possible by hand. I then used a knife to pry the tape backing from the aluminum flap which held the foam. With care and lots of patience, I was able to get rid of the loose stuff.

Good luck....and let me tell you...Chicks hate that stuff blowing all over them :-)...sounds like you already found out.

This is not just a problem on Mercedes cars. Almost every car manufacturer uses foam to seal flaps and edges of heater and evaporator.
I usually ignore it because there isn't that much foam in there. I'm not sure how long you've had your problem, but it should be temporary. Afterwards you might get one or two pieces and then it's all gone.

You won't get rid of it by just cleaning the re-circulating flap. To me, taking the system apart to clean the foam isn't worth it. Anyone that ever did an evaporator job would have to agree with me.

Vin

I have seen this problem caused by mice. They seem to like to chew through the flaps while looking for the cheese.

and now, for the lighter side...
 

When I first saw the topic, I had to laugh...then I really cracked up, as I imagined a little dog with rabies living in your dash, frothing at the mouth, and having foam come out of the dash! :D
yeah, I know, that was really weird, but the site was down yesterday, and I nearly lost it.! :eek:
-Larry