SL350 Leak?

SL63 Mark

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I have a water leak inside the passenger seat well of my 2007 SL350. Does anyone have any suggestions as I can’t find where it’s coming in?

Here is a picture – note the car is parked on a slight angle.

Your help is much appreciated!

I would say roof seals need lubricating, have you considered keeping fish ? (sorry couldn't resist)
 

drmw

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I have a water leak inside the passenger seat well of my 2007 SL350. Does anyone have any suggestions as I can’t find where it’s coming in?

Here is a picture – note the car is parked on a slight angle.

Your help is much appreciated!

There have been slight leaks and bad leaks, now paddling pools - that's the worst I've seen.

You have to sort this before the car self destructs. Assuming the car is parked nose up then you have to start at the front.

You would notice that volume of water if it was leaking at the top of the screen, so heater box drain would be top of my list.

Thereafter you have the seals at the top of the C pillars. They (and all others too) need to be cleaned & lubed (search here for "krytox").

Once you've identified the cause, the carpet has to be thoroughly dried out as you have a load of wiring underneath that causes lots of problems / warning lights.

Whatever, it needs to be done urgently - at the moment you are the R230 equivalent of juggling with chainsaws.

Good luck - ask any questions & keep us posted
 

television

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I have a water leak inside the passenger seat well of my 2007 SL350. Does anyone have any suggestions as I can’t find where it’s coming in?

Here is a picture – note the car is parked on a slight angle.

Your help is much appreciated!

As David, I would say the heater box drain has blocked, the water does run towards the rear (look in the left grill on the bonnet to see if you can see water, easier with the heater blower running). Your car is very bad and I cannot see that being dried out without removing the passenger seat, but to release the carpet at the front, the side kick panel must come off (one large screw under plastic cap) pull the inner sill kick plate up and off and pull back the draft seal and with the seat right back you can pull back the carpet. You will be able to sponge out some of the water, or the worst of it.

The rear window seal is all covered in my DIY, as the weather is so bad, dry off the bottom of the rear glass and rubber seal and stick some black insulation tape all the way round, it will not show at all.
 

Paolino2008

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r230 Roof Leak

Hello all,

I have noticed there are quite a few thread for water ingress issues with the SL. I have been through pages of very informative information. However I am not sure if I can locate solution to my problem. Maybe I am being completely stupid and missing it, perhaps down to the terminology. I attach a picture of where the water is getting into my SL. As you will see I have to drive around with two tupperware boxes on the rear shelf to collect any rain water that drips into the car, during the winter I had to cover the car at night as the tupperwear boxes would be full by the morning if it had rained heavily overnight.

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe due to the terminology its already on forum and I have missed it.
 

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television

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Hello all,

I have noticed there are quite a few thread for water ingress issues with the SL. I have been through pages of very informative information. However I am not sure if I can locate solution to my problem. Maybe I am being completely stupid and missing it, perhaps down to the terminology. I attach a picture of where the water is getting into my SL. As you will see I have to drive around with two tupperware boxes on the rear shelf to collect any rain water that drips into the car, during the winter I had to cover the car at night as the tupperwear boxes would be full by the morning if it had rained heavily overnight.

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe due to the terminology its already on forum and I have missed it.

Your leak has to be coming from the seal between the top of the rear window and the roof, or from the side seals at the window pivot point This is a fault that has never come up on here before.

Have you ever tried lubricating with Silicon grease/oil the top seal or in fact any of the roof rubbers, the one main advantage is that once lubricated the rood can close tighter.
 

Paolino2008

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Hi Television,

Thank you so much for the prompt reply. From my past reading on the website it would appear you are very knowledgeable re problems with the SL. I have not lubricated any of the seals and I am not sure judging by the look of them if they have ever been done before. What grease silicon / oil would you recommend, I will give that a try first and take it from there.
 

drmw

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I'm trying (and failing) to remember what you see if you remove the black plastic bits either side of the rear screen - I think there might be a route through if water can get in.

One side is unusual - both more so and that volume of water isn't just dry or dirty seals.

Also - there are a couple of adjusters - little round rubber buffers - that can be screwed in or out - if these are too far extended, it could stop the seals connecting to the various panels & glass. A picture taken outside of the C pillar to rear window area might give a clue
 

Paolino2008

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Thanks DRMW, I agree it does drip through quite fast. However there are times when it drips through only a little and others a lot. The driver side is more often than not the one that lets a lot of water through. The passenger side very little.

Can you explain to me where the c pillars are, apologies being quite new I don't understand. I'll take some more photos and post them.
 

television

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Hi Television,

Thank you so much for the prompt reply. From my past reading on the website it would appear you are very knowledgeable re problems with the SL. I have not lubricated any of the seals and I am not sure judging by the look of them if they have ever been done before. What grease silicon / oil would you recommend, I will give that a try first and take it from there.

The middle of the road sealer is Gummi pledge, it works well, you have to get the roof into the service position

DSC00329.jpg


As the water looks as though it is dripping from the hinge point of the rear window you should inspect the seals at the upper section of the roof sides. There are no seal attached to the plastic side panels, much car needed with those as the have been modified and expensive to change, so you should not have to touch those

DSC00327.jpg


The leak I feel is either along the top of the window, or the upper sides.
 

drmw

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The pic below is from this thread http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=150296 & shows the C pillar.

When the roof is closed it forms the seal at the rear window & is the adjusters were wrongly set, the pillar can't seal tightly against the rubbers.

It's a bit of a long shot, but worth checking. You don't say how long you've had the car & if this has always been happening since you got it. If it's been a gradual increase, then it could be as simple as dry/dirty seals but if you only got it recently & it's always done this, then maybe someone's been playing about with the adjusters
 

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Paolino2008

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I have just dropped the roof, annoying as its starting to rain, you've got to love this country!!! But I noticed that there are these two little rubber buffers (are these what you were referring toD RMW?). Well you will see from the drivers side that the screw is almost level, maybe even slightly recessed. However on the passenger side you will see that the screw is a few mm above the housing. Could this be why more water is coming through the drivers side?
 

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drmw

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no -the adjustable ones are lower down - Malcolm, I think you posted a few months ago about the adjustable ones - do you have pics?
 

Paolino2008

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I purchased the car from my parents last year. They bought it 6 months old back in 2008. They did have issues with the back of the driver seat being wet but thinking back the ingress only started a few years back after it went into MB as the roof stopped opening one day. They got the roof working again but then the water started coming in. When I placed the tupperwear boxes in the back the carpet to the rear of the seat was no longer wet. So my guess is that it was dripping down all the way to the carpet.
 

Paolino2008

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Those little rubber stoppers I posted pictures of cant be adjusted? Seems odd that the screws to the rear are at different levels.
 
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television

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no -the adjustable ones are lower down - Malcolm, I think you posted a few months ago about the adjustable ones - do you have pics?

I would not go near the ones that I posted on, they were for a clonking in one side and the max allowed is ½ a turn. these were nothing to do with leaks.
 

Paolino2008

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Malcom, just read your response, thank you for the advice re the sealer. I will take a look at the upper seals and get some photos.
 

television

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Malcom, just read your response, thank you for the advice re the sealer. I will take a look at the upper seals and get some photos.

Please apply the grease/ oil to every rubber on the roof including the front ones, there is one nice advantage in doing this in that the car is much quieter.much of the grease may soak in, so do not be frightened to apply too much.

If you still get the leak then some pictures will help, but we can take that later. they are lovely cars.
 

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