W124 welcome home - water leaks...rusty wings..books/manuals

adrianb

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W210 E320cdi Est. W124 E220Est, W124 230TE, W123 230TE (various) W123 200T.
Hi all,

Not been on the forum for a long while - I'm a "born again" Mercedes owner, having by pure luck just last Thursday come to own a slightly tired 1991 230TE auto - the newest Merc I've ever had. It also came with the three original keys (I've never had a "three key" car before), and all the handbooks and service books, from a friend of the family. It was cheap as chips, so naturally it has a few problems, so I can do something with all that spare time I didn't have. The engine runs smoothly enough, though the idle is a bit slow, and the auto box a tad jerky when cold. Main things are water leaks, a battery drain, no heat, iffy central locking, sun roof, oil pressure gauge, rusty wings. I'll post the battery/central locking, oil pressure gauge and other stuff in the electrics sub-forum.

I figure the water leaks are the first on the list cos I reckon they're responsible for some of the other problems, and the main leaky problem areas are the luggage area and the sun roof..

Rear luggage area windows leaks
There's plenty of water / damp in the luggage area, in both storage compartments (under the spare, and below the jack etc.) all of the mats, and when I unfolded the rear bench seat there was a lovely smell of compost and alot of fungus growing on the seat. Suprisingly little rust, given how much water there is. I can see water oozing down under both of the rear luggage area windows, and have read the threads I could find about these, but need a bit more guidance on how I should go about checking / removing the window seals. Do I need to remove any interior trim to remove the windows, and if so, how do you go about removing it?
As there's so much coming in from the rear windows, I'm not sure if there is any coming in from the tailgate seal, but looking at the damp in the rear seat well, it looks like it might be. The tailgate seal looks OK though.

Sun roof
I had leaky sunroof problems with my last 123TE so I had a head start on this one. Dripping from the top of the screen/headliner right from the off, it couldn' really have been much worse. I might have partially cured it now, as I took televisions advice and had a go at clearing the drains first chance there was over the weekend. The front near side one was fine, the front off-side needs a bit more attention to clear. How do you get access to the rear ones though.

Rusty wings
Not really something that needs an immediate fix, but as with most things, if I don't make a start now it'll never get sorted out. A big rusty hole above the bumper in front of the wheel arch on the offside front wing, and some big bubbles on the near side, but at least they look like the original wings. Assuming when I get a chance to have a closer look they aren't both about to crumble into dust, I figured I'd just try and stabilise the situation for now by removing the existing rust and applying rust treatment. Should there be plastic liners like on the 123?

Wheel trim
Has the standard steel wheels. Missing one wheel trim, but at least the other three are matching. I've not been able to find one to go with these on ebay etc. Not a priority right now really.

Useful books
I had a "Brooklands Books" manual for the old 123 230TE, and although that wasn't exactly perfect, it was pretty useful. Can anyone recommend something similar for the 124? Haynes?

Apologies for stuffing so much into one thread.

Anyhow, despite all the problems, it does feel good to be a Merc owner again. No "warm feeling" yet though, cos the heater still isn't working...

adrianb
 

television

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You should have my drain clearing paper,, the chances are that water has messed up the heater fan of the regulator
 
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adrianb

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W210 E320cdi Est. W124 E220Est, W124 230TE, W123 230TE (various) W123 200T.
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Thanks Malcolm - lightning response times or what! The drain clearing paper would be most handy. WRT the heater, the fan works fine, just no heat. I'll explain more in a separate post in the electrics etc. sub forum.
 

chopper_harris

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Wigan
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SLK 32, A124 E Cab
Hi all,
Useful books
I had a "Brooklands Books" manual for the old 123 230TE, and although that wasn't exactly perfect, it was pretty useful. Can anyone recommend something similar for the 124? Haynes?
adrianb

This is the only Haynes available for 124's - it covers the pre-facelift models, but apart from the 16v engines, should give you most of what you need.

Here is one on eBay, reasonably priced.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MERCEDES-BENZ-200-320-1985-1993-HAYNES-REPAIR-MANUAL_W0QQitemZ290404733331QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarParts_Vehicles_Manuals_Litterature_ET?hash=item439d789193
 

television

Always remembered RIP
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I will need an Email address. pleased the fan works :D
 

Top Cat

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(97) W202 C230 Elegance Estate
Once I collect my alloys, I'll have a full set of 4 matching 15" trims you could have if you want, PM me if so and we'll sort something out.
 
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adrianb

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W210 E320cdi Est. W124 E220Est, W124 230TE, W123 230TE (various) W123 200T.
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Hi Malcolm, have PM's the email. thanks yet again..Adrian
Thanks Chopper, I'll have a shufty at that one.
Thanks Top Cat - I'll follow up once funds allow.
 
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adrianb

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W210 E320cdi Est. W124 E220Est, W124 230TE, W123 230TE (various) W123 200T.
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Here is a pic of the beast, plus the wheel trim type I'm after. Rather grubby outside, but you should see the inside - "it's alive!". If I hadn't got her the alternative buyer looked like being the scrappy. Body work seems to be in very good condition considering. It's been used as transport for a pair of large smelly dogs and horse feed for the last few years, and though much loved, had swallowed too much dosh recently. No heat + leaks meant the "long walk" was inevitable...
 

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Top Cat

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I think those wheel trims are actually off an early C class Esprit model.
 

stumpy

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I have a haynes book you can have for free if you pay postage
 
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adrianb

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W210 E320cdi Est. W124 E220Est, W124 230TE, W123 230TE (various) W123 200T.
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Thanks for the offer Stumpy - I'll PM you. I'm offering my tatty Brookland Books workshop manual for the W123 series 200/230/250 on the same basis, for current Mercedes Club members. It's been in the garage for a few years, is in poor condition but all the pages are present (though a bit wrinkled and nibbled around the edges by mice), and legible. I'll also chuck in some copy pages from the MBNA workshop manual that outline the auto transmission fluid and filter change procedure, fluid quantities, special tools etc. for most auto transmissions from that era - models 722.0 722.1, 722.3, 722.4, 722.5 if that means anything. It certainly covered my UK spec late 85 230TE auto. And some pages covering diagnosis for W123 vacuum system problems (ref 80.4 - 260 x), which again probably covers most models from late 70's to mid eighties.
 

television

Always remembered RIP
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I have sent quite a few things to you,,you may have some duplicates,,the phone rang in the middle of it all
 

crossangle

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1995 280 TE
Hi
This is my 3rd. 124 estate I have owned over the last 20 years and the first that has leaked !!
I am looking for the definitive drawing/description of the drain system/locations for a 1995 280 Estate - particularly the front of the vehicle.
I see/know that Television used to send that info to members - is that still available ?
My 280 estate has a leak behind dash passenger side dripping onto footwell the obvious drain at "end of windscreen"
scuttle area functions correctly.
Can anyone help please ?
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
Hi
This is my 3rd. 124 estate I have owned over the last 20 years and the first that has leaked !!
I am looking for the definitive drawing/description of the drain system/locations for a 1995 280 Estate - particularly the front of the vehicle.
I see/know that Television used to send that info to members - is that still available ?
My 280 estate has a leak behind dash passenger side dripping onto footwell the obvious drain at "end of windscreen"
scuttle area functions correctly.
Can anyone help please ?
Television (Malcolm) passed away in 2017 sadly.
 

crossangle

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1995 280 TE
Yes, I saw that sad news when I was browsing the site. I remember his input over the years - very knowledgeable and helpful - a sad loss.
 

kid-jensen

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Ml320CDI 2007
The only way I managed to fix my W124 windscreen leak was when I "found myself" with a crack in it, and get the Autoglass man in. He resealed the screen and even did a bit of rubbing down to get the rust off.

No more wet front carpets and musty smell after that. Wish I'd caught it earlier.
 

crossangle

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1995 280 TE
I am pretty sure it is not the windscreen that is leaking ( I have treated the rubber seals around it in case )
I feel it is coming in somewhere else.
What I really need is the location of all drains for the front end that would cause a footwell puddle.
Does anyone have the definitive locations please ?
 
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