We finally had a nice weekend, so I washed, clayed and waxed the CLK yesterday. I noticed that water in the collector tray at the base of the windshield was not draining well, so I decided to check the drain tubes. Well, the right side was totally clogged. I ended up having to remove it to clear the debris from inside it. When I did this, I noticed water in the battery tray, so it had gotten pretty bad. So, you might want to check your drains! You don't want the battery tray rusting out or the front SAM getting flooded.

Also, I had noticed that my Escort radar detector would occasionally power off after starting the engine with a "low voltage" message. So I checked voltage and it was 12.4 at rest and dropping to 10.5 during cranking. The battery is onyl 2 years old, so while I had it out, I checked the water in the cells and all 6 were down. I had to add about 4 ounces (distilled water!) to each one. After an hour of driving today, voltage seems to be back to normal. Make sure you keep an eye on your battery!

 

the battery tip is definitely great. i'm gonna go check mine just in case now

 

Yeah I've seen a CLK at my friend's garage that came in on a flatbed. The driver never ever cleaned the drain tubes and sure enough water seeped into the battery bay AND the front SAM on the other side. That was one costly repair.

 

my cabriolet may be coming out of it's Winter slumber so this is timely information...as always, thanks Rudney

Bill

 

this is great! I've never checked out those tubes, but then again I never saw water collecting anywhere. Can somebody point out the different locations of the drain tubes so we can all do a checkup.

 

There are three drain tubes - one on each end of the water collector and on int he center. The center drain rarely gets clogged. The outer ones are the two to look out for.

 

Do you have any pictures to better clarify where to find them?

 

The ones attached to the tray are not hard to find. Just open your hood and look at the big black plastic tray under the wipers. There are drain holes in it. The drain tubes snap onto the tray under the drain holes. But if I'm not mistaken, there is at least on more forward of the tray. I need to look.

 

are there any other drain tubes around the car? towards the trunk?

 

There are drains for the sunroof that run down the A and C pillars.

 

Those are the drain tubes I never figured out where they run. Do you have any idea how I can access those? On BMW they were a major issue they would fill up and cause problems too all kinds of sensitive electronics. My car is 11-12 years old now I really need to look into them.

 

Those are the drain tubes that I have never figured where they run. Do you have any idea how I can access those? On some BMWs they were a major issue, they would fill up and cause problems too all kinds of sensitive electronics. My car is 11-12 years old now I really need to look into them.

 

They are rarely a problem on these cars. Any debris in the sunroof usually ends up in the tracks before it makes it to the drain tubes.

 

how did i double post, I just edited my spelling? sorry about that. Thanks Rodney, guess they aren't that much of an issue on our cars.