John Turner
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2002
- Messages
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- Your Mercedes
- S124 250TD (1989), S124 E300TD (1995), S211 E320 cdi Sport (2007)
W124 Estate rear washer hose leak and repair
There has been a previous thread on this subject, but having had to do this repair this w/e, I discovered a few important details missed in the thread, (and Haynes manual!) which may be useful to the next person attempting the job! It seems to be a common repair on older W124 estates. Had I known these extra details, the task would have been so much easier, and would probably take about 40 minutes rather than 2hrs 40 minutes it took me! So no apologies for long post!
My car is a 1989 W124 250TD. The hose for the washer passes from the rear wash bottle up the C pillar, along the roof, through a rubber sleeve next to the right hand hinge and above the D pillar (rear view of car) and into the top of the tailgate to the washer nozzle. The hose wears and eventually breaks inside the rubber sleeve between rear opening and tail gate – just where it cannot be reached. An indication is water dripping from the seam between D pillar trim and rear headlining trim cover panel after using rear wash/wipe and is best detected on the extended rear blind, since carpet absorbs the drip quickly. No doubt a bad case is extensive damage to headlining and carpets!
I carefully removed the light cover in the D pillar trims on both sides of the car using a flat bladed screwdriver, then removed the top screw of the trims to loosen their inner edges. I removed all the screws along the rear headlining cover panel visible along the upper edge of the rear door opening, and the two screws forwards inside the car. The headlining panel cover can then be gently eased out over the D pillar trim on the right and its right hand side edge away from under the right rear side window seal, and the panel can be supported by placing a box or something in the boot. By doing this, the left hand side need only be loosened and not removed (this is handy since it takes ages putting the thing back – see later!). The right hand corner of the headlining can then be peeled away by pulling out the two plastic clips, and then detaching the support bar at its leading edge by gently stretching the lining towards you.
The hose can be seen along with the central locking vacuum lines (yellow & black pipes). There is a black connector in the hose just before the hose enters the rubber sleeve which runs into the roof section and tailgate hinge. I disconnected the rear section of hose from this (ie left black connector in end of tubing protruding from headlining from C pillar). The tubing is easily removed from any connection by painting on very hot water using a brush. Do not pull the hose out. Rather connect new hosing to this connector, which can later be pulled through the bodywork with the old hose (see later). The old hose will not come out via the roof section of the car, and instead must be removed from the washer nozzle of the tailgate. This is because there is a non-return valve in the top section of the tailgate which is too big to come out of the hole near the hinge. (The one way valve is used to ensure the washer delvers water at touch of a switch rather than primes the hose for 5-6 presses of switch!).
I then removed the small cover found in the top and centre of the tailgate inner panel to get to the underside of the washer nozzle. The washer nozzle can be loosened by un-doing the screw visible through this cover, and then pushing the nozzle to the left (there is a small finger which holds it into the locating hole). The hose can then be pulled off the nozzle connector.
I then connected 1.5m of new hose (I used approx 8mm (about 6mm internal diameter) PVC tubing from B&Q) via the black connector to the hose exposed in the roof section coming from the C pillar, and bound the join with 2 rounds of gaffer tape (not more otherwise will not go through rubber sleeve). Before pulling out the hose, I pulled the tailgate end of the rubber sleeve away from the body work to reveal the hose passing between car body and tailgate. Do not try to pull the roof end of the rubber sleeve off the roof bodywork, because this sleeve runs right through the roof section into the area revealed by peeling back the headlining! Given that the hose is broken (otherwise you would not be doing this repair!) care is needed to pull the hose just revealed to create slack at this 90 degree angle and to pull again from the washer end of the tailgate, for if the hose snaps, then you have a big problem which I have no idea how to fix! (note the hose is tight in the rubber sleeve but may be lubricated due to leaked washer fluid and a bit of mould). As the old hose comes out of the tailgate section, you should find a non-return valve sitting in a foam collar (probably to stop it rattling) about 30-40 cms along its length. I pulled the new hose through, and after inspecting the valve, fitted this (and its foam collar) to the new hose, such that the end with the offset connector, breathe hole and arrow head were all pointing towards the washer nozzle. I then added a further new section of 30-40cms hose, poked this through the hole to the outside of the tailgate, and connected it to the washer nozzle. I drew the hose back into the tail gate section and refitted the washer nozzle, and internal cover allowing some hose slack to sit in the tailgate section to make the job easier next time!
Care is needed to push back rubber sleeve in tailgate hinge. Refitting the (dried) headlining was easy, but getting the headlining cover panel back under the window rubber is not! I used a flat bladed screwdriver to very, very carefully ease this rubber back over the panel’s edge (took a good 25 minutes). The rest is easy. Hope this helps someone someday.
There has been a previous thread on this subject, but having had to do this repair this w/e, I discovered a few important details missed in the thread, (and Haynes manual!) which may be useful to the next person attempting the job! It seems to be a common repair on older W124 estates. Had I known these extra details, the task would have been so much easier, and would probably take about 40 minutes rather than 2hrs 40 minutes it took me! So no apologies for long post!
My car is a 1989 W124 250TD. The hose for the washer passes from the rear wash bottle up the C pillar, along the roof, through a rubber sleeve next to the right hand hinge and above the D pillar (rear view of car) and into the top of the tailgate to the washer nozzle. The hose wears and eventually breaks inside the rubber sleeve between rear opening and tail gate – just where it cannot be reached. An indication is water dripping from the seam between D pillar trim and rear headlining trim cover panel after using rear wash/wipe and is best detected on the extended rear blind, since carpet absorbs the drip quickly. No doubt a bad case is extensive damage to headlining and carpets!
I carefully removed the light cover in the D pillar trims on both sides of the car using a flat bladed screwdriver, then removed the top screw of the trims to loosen their inner edges. I removed all the screws along the rear headlining cover panel visible along the upper edge of the rear door opening, and the two screws forwards inside the car. The headlining panel cover can then be gently eased out over the D pillar trim on the right and its right hand side edge away from under the right rear side window seal, and the panel can be supported by placing a box or something in the boot. By doing this, the left hand side need only be loosened and not removed (this is handy since it takes ages putting the thing back – see later!). The right hand corner of the headlining can then be peeled away by pulling out the two plastic clips, and then detaching the support bar at its leading edge by gently stretching the lining towards you.
The hose can be seen along with the central locking vacuum lines (yellow & black pipes). There is a black connector in the hose just before the hose enters the rubber sleeve which runs into the roof section and tailgate hinge. I disconnected the rear section of hose from this (ie left black connector in end of tubing protruding from headlining from C pillar). The tubing is easily removed from any connection by painting on very hot water using a brush. Do not pull the hose out. Rather connect new hosing to this connector, which can later be pulled through the bodywork with the old hose (see later). The old hose will not come out via the roof section of the car, and instead must be removed from the washer nozzle of the tailgate. This is because there is a non-return valve in the top section of the tailgate which is too big to come out of the hole near the hinge. (The one way valve is used to ensure the washer delvers water at touch of a switch rather than primes the hose for 5-6 presses of switch!).
I then removed the small cover found in the top and centre of the tailgate inner panel to get to the underside of the washer nozzle. The washer nozzle can be loosened by un-doing the screw visible through this cover, and then pushing the nozzle to the left (there is a small finger which holds it into the locating hole). The hose can then be pulled off the nozzle connector.
I then connected 1.5m of new hose (I used approx 8mm (about 6mm internal diameter) PVC tubing from B&Q) via the black connector to the hose exposed in the roof section coming from the C pillar, and bound the join with 2 rounds of gaffer tape (not more otherwise will not go through rubber sleeve). Before pulling out the hose, I pulled the tailgate end of the rubber sleeve away from the body work to reveal the hose passing between car body and tailgate. Do not try to pull the roof end of the rubber sleeve off the roof bodywork, because this sleeve runs right through the roof section into the area revealed by peeling back the headlining! Given that the hose is broken (otherwise you would not be doing this repair!) care is needed to pull the hose just revealed to create slack at this 90 degree angle and to pull again from the washer end of the tailgate, for if the hose snaps, then you have a big problem which I have no idea how to fix! (note the hose is tight in the rubber sleeve but may be lubricated due to leaked washer fluid and a bit of mould). As the old hose comes out of the tailgate section, you should find a non-return valve sitting in a foam collar (probably to stop it rattling) about 30-40 cms along its length. I pulled the new hose through, and after inspecting the valve, fitted this (and its foam collar) to the new hose, such that the end with the offset connector, breathe hole and arrow head were all pointing towards the washer nozzle. I then added a further new section of 30-40cms hose, poked this through the hole to the outside of the tailgate, and connected it to the washer nozzle. I drew the hose back into the tail gate section and refitted the washer nozzle, and internal cover allowing some hose slack to sit in the tailgate section to make the job easier next time!
Care is needed to push back rubber sleeve in tailgate hinge. Refitting the (dried) headlining was easy, but getting the headlining cover panel back under the window rubber is not! I used a flat bladed screwdriver to very, very carefully ease this rubber back over the panel’s edge (took a good 25 minutes). The rest is easy. Hope this helps someone someday.
