Water in drivers side floor board

[rhoadrw]

I have a 1985 Mercedes 300CD that is leaking water in the drivers side floor board. At times there is a 0.5 inch of water on the drivers side! I have checked all the external drains and they are clear. It seems to occur when the A/C is used but I may be mistaken as it may be the front windshield seal going bad. It doesn't look too bad but though.

Anyway I have also checked the drain coming from the evaporator on the passenger side and it appears to be working ok, but not much water is condensating out. Is it possible the evaporator is leaking?? This job looks like a job for superman.

Anybody experience this?

thanks in advance

Robert in Hot Humid Houston
robert.w.rhoades@conocophillips.com
281-797-6767

 

[NormanB]

Rob

Whenyou say you have checked the external drains - I just need to confirm:

Lift the bonnet vertical check each side drain (here ours block with leaves etc) also there is a central drain - you may need to remove plastic around windcreen wiper to access. All must be clear.

With your aircon running on a previously parked and hot car look under the car you want to see a stream of water coming from the evaporator drain - if you do not then you have a problem upstream (or your aircon is fecked) and the drain water is getting'diverted' into the cab.

It is not impossible that with the age of your car you have a corrosion problem at the evap drain area or the firewall AND the windscreen sealing may be a problem as you mentioned - do you have screen cover on the insurance? :wink:

 

[Mikesmerc]

I know that the 123series sunroof drains that run through the windscreen pillars are prone to rust and leak but usually drop water on the front edge of the seats.
Regards
Mike

 

[rhoadrw]

Norman B and Mikeemerc:

Thanks for your replies. I am re-doing the seals, cable etc on the sunroof and have been throughout the assembly. No apparent problems here. It was a California car all its life and no rust. Norman's idea about the center drain is a possiblility though we are having lots of rain and no water is penetrating the windshield or other drains. I purposely have not run the AC (yikes!) for several weeks and there is no more water. I shut off the AC to allow the floor board to dry out. Now the likely problem is the evaporator drain. I looked at the rubber hose on the passenger side and it seems ok. I connects to a plastic male port, so it can't be corroded. I will be there is some sort of problem with the evaporator under the dash in the center. Thoughts? Will I have to remove the dash? Seems so. Honestly I don't understand why the water would be coming from the passenger side over to the drivers side unless it is from the center region under the dash. I am thinking of buying another video from RepairFlix.com. These are very good for novices like me.

thanks to all again!!

Robert

 

[NormanB]

Reviewing what you say I believe it is the evaporator drain that is the route cause of your problem.

I am not sure how you access on your car and sincerely hope it is not a major dashboard decomstruct job.

Try posting here - http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/index.php3

It is a very active forum and many of your compatriots will have experience of this I am sure. Plus in UK I suspect many would not bother fixing and just not use the aircon (which we rarely need here :wink: ) whereas life must be pretty uncomfortable without it for you.

Please post back with the outcome.

Good luck m8