Leaking Ship

[300TD Driver]

I just spent the last hour sitting in and around my car during a thunderstorm in a feeble attempt to figure out where she is leaking. It is a 300TD with a 123 body, which I've heard are terrible for leaking around the seals that go against the windows. For the life of me I can't figure this out. Yesterday I had a garden hose on if for 20 min. with no leaks. The only place I get water is in the foot boards of the rear seats and directly under the front seats where the footwell for the back continues. Please help. I can't bear to watch her rust.

 

[guydewdney]

have you got a sunroof? it might be the tubes from the sunroof to the outside have split..

 

[nasher]

From experience, the leaks in my 123's came from the wiper and air vent drainage holes becoming blocked. The lower window seals only stop the doors filling up with water and can't really get inside the car. You may want to check the drainage holes at the bottom of the doors as well. If these are blocked, the doors will rot!

 

[300TD Driver]

Where are the holes?

I do have a sunroof but don't tell me there are vaccum tubes running up there. I don't see any leaking around the sunroof at all but if the tubes run all the way down near the floorboards then that could be it. I think I will try and put tarps over various parts of the car to narrow things down a little.

I didn't even know that there were drainage holes for the wipers and air vents. Could you possibly tell me where to look to find them.

Thanks for all the help

 

[guydewdney]

might also be door seals at the B pillar?

open the sunroof fully - and get a jug with water - pour into the rail next to the sunroof - it should come out of the sills and not into the carpet.

remove carpet(s) and watch to see where its coming in? put newspaper down to mark where?

 

[jberks]

Not sure of the floorpan design on yours so it may not be relevant, but have you checked for water coming from the boot ? I have seen rear light cluster leaks end up in the passenger footwell as its the lowest point from the rear.

 

[TimN]

Have a look in the front corners of the sunroof frame to see if there is any decaying vegetation matters. It only takes a small amount as water travelling down the pipes does so under gravity and so surface tension will resist travel even if only partially blocked. That is why the tubes are so large. Pick out any debris with a tweezer rather than pushing it down the tubes.

Take the floor mats our and througherly dry out the vehicle. Then get some electritans tape the colour of which is the nearest match to the vehicle. You won't be using the sunroof for the next few months so tape around the joint and seal it. Then monitor the situation over a few months to see if it has cured the problem. If it has then you have blocked tubes or a rusty sunroof frame. If not then the problem lies elsewhere.

Don't forget that when driving through puddles water hits the underside of the vehicle with force and will find any aperture. Due to the slope on the floor pan water will run towards the footwell at the rear. Of course which ever side of the propshaft tunnel the puddle is on will assist you in finding the source of the leak.

 

[300TD Driver]

Tested sunroof

Thanks again for all the help everyone has given me.
I finally got everything dried out again. Now I have newspaper down on the foot wells. I tried opening the sunroof and poured a full flower watering can down each rail. I have to say I was a little nervous about dumping water into what appeared to be mechanical parts. I was shocked when it all ran our the front doors and rear window sill rail things. What a cool system. Anyway, no water ever appeared on my floorboards from it. I am going to try taping the top of the roof up with the electrical tape to see what happens. Should know more after the next rain storm, which by the looks of it should be today or tomorrow.

 

[guydewdney]

if that worked - you are in luck - its probably a door seal / window seal.. theres no need to tape it up - you have eliminated that as an issue..

 

[300TD Driver]

Still Leaking but not so bad

Just thought I'd post an update to my situation in case anyone is still watching this or happens to have a similar problem. I tracked down the main cause to the leaking. It was clogged drain tubes under the hood. I had to take off the mud covers behind the tires to even get all the crud out. The worst part was that there is a good bit of rust that had made a hole through for the water to leak into to floorboards of the the front of the car and then roll downhill to the rear floorboards where it accumulated and began the rusting process.

I fixed it up best as I could with a coat of spray on undercoating. It was the only thing I could think to do since to repair the rust I would have to do some major dismanteling. Water levels have definitely dropped after the repair but more is still getting in. I reached up under my dash today to find some of that cottony batting material soaked enough to be dripping onto the floor. It is right near the drain tubes for the sunroof on both sides of the car so I taped up the sunroof today. Hopefully that will be the source. I'm going out right now to vaccum out the water and see if any more accumulates.

Thanks again for everyone's help on this.

 

[graham fawkner]

My 123 had major leaks from rusted sunroof drains. I repaired these with a fibreglass "coat". Very fiddly and required the removal of some interior roof lining and the sunroof rails, but it worked. Very simple to test though, before you go that far. Secondly my 124 had a similar problem. Not the sunroof this time but very easy to fix. It was the rear bonnet or hood seal from side to side of the engine bay which had shrunk in length (age and/or engine heat?) leaving 9inch gaps either end allowing water to pour down windscreen and splash into rear top of engine bay and then down into cockpit. Any moisture will collect initially under the floor mats.
£10 to buy new seal and 10 mins to fix. For more detail check my post in the forum Nov 5th 2001 or e-mail me. Good luck, hope you nail it. Graham

 

[TimN]

Generally if the tubes from the sunroof are blocked then the drainage rails overflow and dampness can be found on the either or both front seats. If after all your endevours you still have water in the rear footwells then I would recommend that you check the condition of the inner rear wheal arches. Water from the turning wheels is sprayed against the inner wheel arches and is effectively pumped into the vehicle if a hole existis if the rear outer wheel arches are in poor condition. Or if they have been repaired (and it is very common on these vehicles) you can bet that they have not been repaired correctly but just made to look good and may have a gapping hole underneath. Just grab hold of the wheel arch and see if your fingers disappear inside the car.