Wetness

[280EZRider]

If the sunroof drains are plugged - one at each corner of the sunroof frame - you will have water stains on the headliner.

A common cause of water getting under the footwell carpets is a windshield seal leak. The water can also end up in the rear footwell because it is lower than the front well.

[BrassMonkey]

I know both windshield and rear glass seals suck. They leaked when I pressure washed the car. I dont think those seals are too expensive - but that is something I would leave to the pro's. Its lower on the list than many other tasks I have.

BTW - I checked the drains under the hood hinges. They were junked up with debris. The sunroof doesn't open or I'd check those.

Im not looking to pull the seats out either - maybe if only for a few minutes.

I'll see what I can do with the sound barrier. But I'm not sure I want that removed either - the car is plenty loud as it is.

[newtodiesel]

If you open the trunk, you should have a manual way to open the sunroof usually on the left side closest to the hinge area. I have never opened one manually, but I think you can put a tool on it and open the sunroof that way, long metal looking bar will lead you in the right direction. A lot of the guys here try to find the euro models and take every thing they can get their hands on that is manual. Window cranks manual sunroof manual a/c they even get the bumpers they are shorter. Less stuff to break.....me... I like all the electric do-dads...mine work! for now...

[BrassMonkey]

Originally Posted by newtodiesel

If you open the trunk, you should have a manual way to open the sunroof usually on the left side closest to the hinge area. I have never opened one manually, but I think you can put a tool on it and open the sunroof that way, long metal looking bar will lead you in the right direction. A lot of the guys here try to find the euro models and take every thing they can get their hands on that is manual. Window cranks manual sunroof manual a/c they even get the bumpers they are shorter. Less stuff to break.....me... I like all the electric do-dads...mine work! for now...

You wouldn't have a picture of that would you? I dont have any long metal bars - but I do have what looks like a bolt that doesn't seem to have a purpose. I may just give it a swirl and see what happens.

I was able to get under the car tonight for just a couple seconds. The axels appear to be solid. There was no play and the boots are still intact. Though one on the drivers side is old and weather cracked its still completely intact.

The flex ring - I'll be adding these to the top of the parts list. They didn't look terrible - but there is definately some fraying. They look simple to replace though.

Finally - I replaced the burned out ford solinoid with a new one and changed out the rocker switch I had with a momentary switch. There is NO possible way for me to forget to turn this sucker off again!

My next little piece of engineering will be to replace the fast idle twisty knob ($50 for a new one) with a manual choke cable found at the parts store for $7. Just stomp the gas - pull the choke and start 'er up.

[Stretch]

Have a look in the DIY section - top right hand corner of this page => resources => DIY articles

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123SunRoof

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123SunRoofRepair

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123SunRoofSprings

[carnut]

The vents you cleaned out are NOT the rear sun roof drains. They are to exhaust air from the interior. The drains are hoses that exit the body just behind the rear tires. Hoses can be seen in the trunk with the inner trunk liners removed. The CHOKE cable should work in theory but simply depressing the throttle partially when started cold will do much the same thing. That cable broke because the PO did not depress the throttle slightly before twisting the dash knob.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by carnut

The vents you cleaned out are NOT the rear sun roof drains. They are to exhaust air from the interior. The drains are hoses that exit the body just behind the rear tires. Hoses can be seen in the trunk with the inner trunk liners removed. ...

On my W123 4 door sedan with a manual sunroof there is no exhaust air from the interior. The rear drains come out in this area.

May be it is different with a power sunroof?

May be it is different on a coupe?

From what I've read here the wagon is the same as my car.

Can anyone confirm this?

[BrassMonkey]

good stuff guys (and girls)! That bolt in the trunk is indeed for the sunroof! I'm going to run out there with my drill and see if I cant get the sucker to open!

My plan for the car is this will be my foul weather car. Since its already rusty and pretty much nasty I wont worry about messing it up. But I also dont want to be sitting in a funky smelling sweat box thats soaked to my knees.

When the weather is good I'm on my harley.

[BrassMonkey]

I got the sunroof open - half way anyway. It popped open and came back about half way & decided that was far enough. I shot a bunch of WD-40 in everything and closed it back up.

Thank God it closed. Being this is my bad weather car - I didn't want to have to use an umbrella.

[hd wood]

Have you looked at the front windshield gasket? That and the front hinge drains are the main culprits.