560SEC Rear window/boot leak?

[steveb]

Hi

I am Merc newbie & have just bought a 1991 560SEC in generally excellent condition, but have noticed that there is moderate rust inside the boot in one area (offside of centre) on the underneath of the rear window bottom edge. The boot is dry, but I want to 'kill' the rust (& presumably leak) before it becomes a problem.

Any suggestions about where to look? The boot lid seal looks good, there is no waterstaining on the parcel shelf & no damage (yet) to the external finish

Hope you can help

Steve

 

[talbir]

Hi Steve,

On your leaky boot and rusted bulkhead - one potential cause that is cheap to fix. It could be the boot lid seal, the rubber usually wears or tears and doesn't then form a water-tight seal when the boot-lid shuts. Also checkthe alignment of the boot - lid - is the panel spacing equal on both sides ? Sometimes, adjustments are made and not done correctly, hence not shutting correectly against the boot-seal, causing a leak. It's easy to adjust if it's mis-aligned.

The 3rd potential place for water to get into the boot is if the rear windscreen seal is perished - this will be a more expensive job and not really DIY. IF the rear windscreen seal has been perished a while, then the rear bulkhead will have probably rusted a little (the metal plate under the rear parcel shelf).

Best way to find out where the water is coming from is to get inside the boot, armed with a torch and have someone else shut the bootlid and then spray water on the car, starting from the rear windscreen first.

Your bulkhead will need to treated and whichever seal is perished, replaced.

 

[mjtray]

Hi,

Just read your post............It's likely to be the rear screen seal that has perrished. Its a well known problem on the SEC's.

Have a feel all away around the screen from underneath.....put your fingers through the circular cutouts in the panel. If the paint if flaking off and its getting crusty, the corrosion will be quite extensive and its likely to be quite nasty when you take the screen out.

Not cheap to repair I'm afraid!

Cheers

 

[steveb]

Looks like mjtray's symptom - what order of cost to repair?

Steve

 

[mjtray]

Steve,

I never found out how much it ultimatley was going to cost.........I sold the car.

However, all I can say is that whenever I spoke to any Merc specialists about it, there was lots of umm'ing and arr'ing and head shaking and other expensive noises.

Sorry, I can't be of any further help.....good luck.

 

[mjtray]

Steve,

One other thought, go to www.forums.mbnz.org and have a look at the W126 forum for your cars. Type in Rear Window Seal under the search function, and a whole stack of info comes up regarding leaking rear windows, rust etc etc

Hope this helps.

Cheers

 

[steveb]

Thanks for info - not discovered that site before. I feel a little happier that job can be done, although I think will entrust to bodyshop. Anyone know of reputable garage in Manchester/ Cheshire?

Main problem will be removing window intact.

Thanks for help

Steve