Aitch55
Senior Member
If you are looking to buy one or you have one, if you can identify any of the picture below to your 230 then the boot is leaking. This mainly affects cars up to the "new SL" even if some of the self adhesive rubbers have been fitted.
The most common one is this on the bottom of the rear screen
The corner at the bottom of C pillar
Here's some pix of when I did the lower window seal on mine. I found the 'C' pillars weren't too bad but stuck some sealant in there anyway. This is the second attempt after being too woosey with the first application. I removed the original; adhesive strip, a rectangular section that runs the full length. This, I think, was a mistake as it leaves a clearance. Also, once you close the roof, don't open the boot for a couple of days as, closing the boot squashes the sealant into place, opening it again will take the pressure off and allow the sealant to separate.
My car has been stood 'on test' all week in some quite heavy rain and the boot is bone dry.
Offending seal
2 nuts either side hold captive plates, set into ends of seal
Carefully prise the seal away from the carrier plate.
End of seal showing studs on retaining plate at each end
Clean seal. I washed it in detergent and then thoroughly dried and used brake cleaner, sparingly on both metal plate and rubber face.
This time, plenty of sealant along the full length
I followed the line of the original adhesive strip.
I used a tube of black silicone sealant from Halfords and it seemed just the same as the Loctite version I used first time.
Also, where I'd applied plenty of sealant, it oozed out at the end plates when the nuts were tightened. I laid a piece of thick paper at each end of the seal, when I closed the roof down to prevent the surplus sealant adhering to the mating seal on the boot edge.
HTH
The most common one is this on the bottom of the rear screen
The corner at the bottom of C pillar
Here's some pix of when I did the lower window seal on mine. I found the 'C' pillars weren't too bad but stuck some sealant in there anyway. This is the second attempt after being too woosey with the first application. I removed the original; adhesive strip, a rectangular section that runs the full length. This, I think, was a mistake as it leaves a clearance. Also, once you close the roof, don't open the boot for a couple of days as, closing the boot squashes the sealant into place, opening it again will take the pressure off and allow the sealant to separate.
My car has been stood 'on test' all week in some quite heavy rain and the boot is bone dry.
Offending seal
2 nuts either side hold captive plates, set into ends of seal
Carefully prise the seal away from the carrier plate.
End of seal showing studs on retaining plate at each end
Clean seal. I washed it in detergent and then thoroughly dried and used brake cleaner, sparingly on both metal plate and rubber face.
This time, plenty of sealant along the full length
I followed the line of the original adhesive strip.
I used a tube of black silicone sealant from Halfords and it seemed just the same as the Loctite version I used first time.
Also, where I'd applied plenty of sealant, it oozed out at the end plates when the nuts were tightened. I laid a piece of thick paper at each end of the seal, when I closed the roof down to prevent the surplus sealant adhering to the mating seal on the boot edge.
HTH
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