knarfy

tried to search the forums and found no results. i have water leaking in the driver side by the parking brk and alot of it. all that i found on other forums was the gasket to the wiper shaft,and to a different model but that seems unlikely. help!

Darkmann

You should have found from your search that this has almost always been traced to a clogged sunroof drain tube.

knarfy

thanks for the tip, but after inspecting the sunroof i belive the problem is elsewhere. the sunroof gutter is clean of leaves or other stuff, just some surface dirt and very little of it. i decided to do nothing for now,"wait & see". thanks for the help and will keep posted if i find anything else.

fizzle

i had this problem only once when it snowed heavily, but hasnt come up since then. good thing for the rubber mats.

fizzle

just a question but where is the sunroof drain tube? and how do i acces it?

knarfy

if you open the roof and look at the front right and left corners you will see the holes about half the size of a pencil. i decided that i couldnt fix the problem so we took the car to the stealership ...1300$ with a 10% discount... im thinking of calling mbusa east coast and try crying .anythoughts?

Darkmann

Ouch!!!! Is that Jamaican dollars?? So, what is the $1,300.00 problem?

knarfy

most of the bill they say was looking for the problem. when the wifey took the car there she said something about the way the truck tracks and something about the brakes didint feel right to take a look. well when she went ther to pick it up they had an allignment done and brakes (adjusted?), we didint pay for that part of the bill. any help on what mbusa wants to hear to help them pay part of the bill or to pay all? ty

Crazy MB Rob

The dealer's don't have a magic water leak finder wand... If you don't know where the leak is, they don't either. They have to find it. Plus, if it was a sunroof drain tube, that can not be accessed from above. The whole headliner of the vehicle has to come down and out of the vehicle, which is pretty labor intensive...before the tube can be fixed or replaced.
A wiper grommit is the most unlikely thing I have ever heard of, what forum did you find that on??
Take a water hose at home (put duct tape around the hose end so you don't scratch your paint!) and with the sunroof and windows closed let the water run over certain areas. If from the other side of the car you can look in and see the water dripping INSIDE instead of out the appropriate drain underneath...that might be a clue in to where the leak is coming from.
Just because the part of the drain you can see might not be clogged, doesn't mean the drain tube didn't come off the sunroof bucket. Or the whole bucket could be leaking. Or the windshield could be leaking. Or the sunroof drain tube could be leaking at the bottom end of the tube where it exits the vehicle through the body, that end of the hose could have come off. There is not just one area that Always leaks.
That's the money issue, mostly labor. A lot of disassembly and water testing is involved in finding the problem before it can be fixed.

99ML320

Drain nozzles under the doors. They are located just after the front and before the rear panels. I had this problem last year and found TONS of debris in the nozzles. All was fine after a wire hanger was used to fish out the sut.

GOOD LUCK

ML320-99

My '99 M320 is also currenting suffering from a water leak. First thing the dealer said was sunroof drain tube most likely. Took it in today, they had it for around an hour and simply came back with its not that, we will need it for a day for diagnosis. Thats going to cost.

The water is actually coming in through the dash. It only leaks when it rains. It is leaking out of one of the screw holes in the bottom of the dash into the drives side footwell. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

I was going to attempt diagnosis myself. I haven't taken the dash off yet, but I presume there are electrics in the area and wondered if it should even be driven at the moment as we are experiencing bad weather. Can anyone advise?

Free of Sway

Was, finally, an aged (84 300D) windshield gasket. I use the trimmer line from my weedeater to keep the sunroof track drain lines clean, by the way.

dbrace

I had this problem in my 2000 ML320.

The drain tubes from the sun roof run down inside each front
piller.

They are rubber and about 1/2" round.
At the bottom they are fitted into rubber grummets that drain into the wheel well.
After time these rubber drain tubes shrink and retact and
pull out of the grommets.

If you remove the pannel under the dash in the foot well eaither side of the driver and passenger feet, and look up you can see the rubber grommet going through the metal through to the pannel.
These do get blocked with mud and muck.
You can pull these gromets out and clean them and push them back in.
But also and in my case both drain tubes have pulled up and out of the grommets.
So when it rained the floor filled up with water.
One side I was able to pull down and fitt back into the grommet
and secure with a cable tie.
The other side near the fan blower LH Side for me as
I am in Australia and Vehical is a RH drive.
This side was to tight so I used some heat srink.
I shrank one end of a piece of a small length (1&1/2")of heat shirk
Fiited this into the gromet and the unshrunk end over the
Drain tube making a funnel effect.
Then I used a hair dryer to shrink that on as well.

I also belive this problem cases a partial electrical problem as moisture gets into the electrical pannel on the RH side in my vehical.

All fixed

David
Australia

khom

I had a similar problem with a leak from the drain tube under the dash. $tealer had to fix it twice. the 2nd time, it was out of warranty, but I asked them to waive the charge because it was a prior problem.

they used a tie wrap the second time so it would ensure the drain tube would no longer pop off

abester

just wondering where the drain tube was coming from that caused the leak in your ml. i have water in drivers footwell and still havent located source. defo not from sunroof as my model does not have one. thanks

lucasbonilla

Ok I had the same problem in the passengers side, is very simple if you have the will to do it.
There is a hose attached to the hole by the sunroof that is probably Off from it. That hose runs down along the side panel between the windshield and the passengers window, removed it and you will see it be careful with the Air Bag in that panel, but the first thing is to do is to inspect the place where this goes out to, and you have to disassemble the panels on the side and under the dash board next to the door and make sure is secured in the hole going out, and if it is then you need to blow air in the hole by the sunroof, after put some water and if that fixed it then you are done.
My ML500 was leaking because the hose came off from the side under the glove compartment. hope this ill help you or if you live in the Los Angeles area i can tell you where to go get it fix for few $$ same person ho fixed my I just to carry a bucket all the time.

lucasbonilla

Ok I had the same problem in the passengers side, is very simple if you have the will to do it.
There is a hose attached to the hole by the sunroof that is probably Off from it. That hose runs down along the side panel between the windshield and the passengers window, removed it and you will see it be careful with the Air Bag in that panel, but the first thing is to do is to inspect the place where this goes out to, and you have to disassemble the panels on the side and under the dash board next to the door and make sure is secured in the hole going out, and if it is then you need to blow air in the hole by the sunroof, after put some water and if that fixed it then you are done.
My ML500 was leaking because the hose came off from the side under the glove compartment. hope this ill help you or if you live in the Los Angeles area i can tell you where to go get it fix for few $$ same person ho fixed my I just to carry a bucket all the time.

lucasbonilla

[quote=lucasbonilla;4311259]Ok I had the same problem in the passengers side, is very simple if you have the will to do it.
There is a hose attached to the hole by the sunroof that is probably Off from it. That hose runs down along the side panel between the windshield and the passengers window, removed it and you will see it be careful with the Air Bag in that panel, but the first thing is to do is to inspect the place where this goes out to, and you have to disassemble the panels on the side and under the dash board next to the door and make sure is secured in the hole going out, and if it is then you need to blow air in the hole by the sunroof, after put some water and if that fixed it then you are done.
My ML500 was leaking because the hose came off from the side under the glove compartment. hope this ill help you or if you live in the Los Angeles area i can tell you where to go get it fix for few $$ same person ho fixed my I just to carry a bucket all the time

shadyMBenz

In the past year I have had water leaks on the front left and right of my car (2003 ML 350). Its strange though, if my car is parked leaning to the left it will leak on the left, and if parked leaned right the water finds its way there. I just dont understand. so I am asking if anyone has had this issue and what they did to alleviate it. I would be grateful if someone gave me instructions on how to fix this. I live in new york city if anyone can even show me. I am quite smart and learn very quickly and very handy, you would not waste your time helping me. I thank anyone in advance for even attempting to help, looking forward to hearing from fellow forumers, have a wonderful day!!

Best Regards,

ShadyMBenz
2003 ML350

khom

I had the same exact problem with my sunroof. There is debris that have accumulated in the front drain tubes. I have to occasionally clear the drain valves/nipples at the bottom of the car, as described by messages in this thread.

What happens is that the tray around the top will get filled with water, due to the clogged tubes. Some will drain through a non-clogged tube in the back. The rest will overflow the tray and end up inside your vehicle.

Additionally, I have had to use a wire (thinner than hangers) to carefully snake it down each of the tubes to push out debris. If you open your sunroof, you'll see the drainhole in each front corner.

Good luck!

shadyMBenz

Thanks a million, Ok I was unable to find the drainholes, I took out the panels of the car, and have no idea where to look, Its gotten so bad that the inside of my sunroof gets filled with water,and the back interior lights have started leaking water, I have no clue what to do, does anyone have pictures they can send? or sometype of illustration. I would be so grateful, or if there is anyone in NYC that I can meet, Thank you in advance , have a great day everyone.

Maj. Dundee

1. Pull away the door sealing gasket in the area of the A pillar trim.

2. Starting from the top of the trim work your finger behind the trim and pull in the direction of the photo.

3. Working with a flash light, pull away slightly the corner of the headliner and look up and locate the end of the drain tube and see if it is disconnected from the attaching nipple.Remove the sun visor on that side to make insection easier.

4. If the tube is not detached from the nipple then the tube is clogged with debris and must be cleared.

5. Open the sunroof and go to the corner that is clogged and with a soda bottle full of water, pour water into the track and see if it backs up, hence not draining.

6. If so, buy a flexible plastic cable similar to a weed whacker (do not use a coat hanger or metal cable) and insert it through the opening to clear the tube. Withdraw the cable and pour water again and repeat as necessary until you see the water drain to the outside of the truck where the fender and door meet.

shadyMBenz

I will try it tomorrow and let you know how it goes, I cant begin to tell you how grateful I am, thank you so much!!!

shadyMBenz

Ok I did as you said, Now just patiently waiting for rain so I can test it out, but I poured water down the drains and it went right through to the ground outside, praying it works, thanks a million!!!!!!!!

Ljcml

For the tubes to be leaking wouldn't the seals around the sunroof have to be faulty? My girl's ml430 is leaking in the drivers side pillar right below where the tubes attach to the sunroof diagram. And I suspect it is when she washes it with a pressure sprayer.