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Recently, we've had some heavy rain in SoCal and discovered that rain water is leaking in through a cracked 3rd brake light assy and or the rear fluid nozzle on the wagon S212.
Managed to get the part number on the EPC but struggled pulling up the WIS for the S212.
Is anyone kind enough to post the WIS for removing and replacing these two parts? Much appreciated.
Sorry to say I came up empty as well. Made two attempts to locate specific instructions for your potential leak areas in WIS. I am usually able to ferret out obscure instructions but no luck this time. I see that the Center Brake light does require 3 screws #210 to fasten it with. It may also have a snap in feature as well or not. Nothing even close on the nozzle. Start with the cracked ***'y first and hope that is your problem.
Sorry to say I came up empty as well. Made two attempts to locate specific instructions for your potential leak areas in WIS. I am usually able to ferret out obscure instructions but no luck this time. I see that the Center Brake light does require 3 screws #210 to fasten it with. It may also have a snap in feature as well or not. Nothing even close on the nozzle. Start with the cracked ***'y first and hope that is your problem.
Good luck,
Bob
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Thank you Bob for posting the EPC illustration. I was able to find that on my copy of the software. Need to sharpen my skills at pulling the WIS.
The latest is that the tech believes the3rd brake wire hardness was cracked allowing the two pin wire to fold up under the gasket and create a gap. He showed me that there are only three plastic trim panels all nested together in order leading up to the spoiler. All press fit fasteners. Requested that he not reinstall them and place in the trunk. Looked pretty basic to me.
Ordering the brake light as I don't know the plastic connector part number. Note item 903 is a "clutch" and supposedly NOT the broken connector. I am going to order it anyway because it is only a buck. Let you know.
Last edited by mercerized; 02-11-2019 at 12:23 PM.
This past weekend, I replaced the 3rd brake light assy and the windshield nozzle as it was cracked as well.
Took me a few hours and was fairly straightforward. Forecast for this week is heavy rain. Will update after the rains.
Where did this leak show up for you? Also, would you be able to post a picture or two of the crack on the taillight? I'm running down some leaks on mine as well.
Where did this leak show up for you? Also, would you be able to post a picture or two of the crack on the taillight? I'm running down some leaks on mine as well.
Sadly, I didn't take any photos. But I am now very familiar with the S212 trunk door (hatch).
Basically, the leak originated from the top of the door underneath the spoiler and 3rd brake light where the wire harness resides. There are seven openings that are suppose to be water resistant. Three holes are for plastic snap fasteners - each have neoprene gaskets. Two holes for securing the fasteners (with rubber gasket) for middle of the spoiler. Finally, two square openings for the brake light wire harness and nozzle (both have neoprene gaskets).
Water migrated in between the stamped metal pieces of the hatch and collected at the bottom edge of the hatch. It would only drain when I opened it as it was allowed to be inverted. The water would trail out of the corners because the hatch edge is rounded.
Removal is very straight forward. All you need to do is remove the three trim pieces in order because they nest together. Then, start looking for the leak.
That photo shows four of the seven holes. Access hole for the brake light harness, access hole for the nozzle, and two holes for two of four spoiler fasteners.
The other three holes are on the top of the hatch and they are for plastic snap inserts.
ALL seven of these access holes have either a neoprene gasket or rubber flat washer.
I don't know how I missed it, but thank you for the instruction uploads, konigstiger! I finally got WIS set up, so I ended up finding the instructions myself. I pulled the panels yesterday and immediately found the smoking gun: white tracks leading from the taillights.
Not surprisingly, the old seals were very thin and soft.
Fortunately I was prepared and had new taillight seals ready to roll. The old material didn't come off nicely, but some scrubbing with my finger got it off without too much fuss.
The new seals installed:
Once the taillights were reinstalled, I cleaned up the white tracks in case I end up having to open it up again. Considering the fact that both of them were in the same shape and leaking, I'll be replacing the outer taillight seals as well.
While I had the panel off, I noticed a number of sound deadening opportunities. Things definitely sound more muted when driving now, and the tailgate closes with a more pleasant thunk. Frankly I'm surprised they didn't put anything inside the tailgate, considering how much material they used in the front doors.
I highly recommend to all wagon owners!
Some pictures of the panels, in case it helps anyone:
My previous post ended up not being the end of the saga. After much fussing and experimenting, I finally got the leak completely solved (knock on wood). It ended up being the third brake light housing. The tailgate has 10 or so holes cut for the mounting tabs and bolts and pass-throughs for electrical and washer hose connections. I bought some weatherstripping from Lowe's and basically just cut it up and installed it at each of the points to ensure nothing was leaking past. Not surprisingly, all of the gaskets and seals were pretty worn out and compressed.
I'll post pictures of the brand and sizes of weatherstripping I used later, but the price for both rolls was around $10.
I cut squares in the middle of the wide one (gray) that were slightly undersized for a snug fit for the electrical connection. The bolts and tabs got the narrower stripping cut into squares. To punch a hole in the middle, I grabbed a small socket (6mm or so) and compressed it down onto the foam in a vice until it cut through. There's three mounting tabs and four bolts: make sure to install new seals on all of them. I skipped the outer bolts originally thinking they weren't needed but ended up having to go back and do them anyway.
Anyway, so far so good! Hope this helps someone who runs into this same issue. I was going to buy new tabs and bolts with new seals installed, but the tabs were prohibitively expensive and the bolts weren't available separately. Not to mention the only way to replace the seal on the brake light is to replace the entire unit at around $200.
Well done ! Replacing the third brake light and all the gaskets is exactly what I ended up doing. However, I am still experiencing an inner leak. I suspect that I need to replace the brake light neoprene gaskets like you did or perhaps the shaft seal to the rear wiper. I might need to remove the three trim pieces, drive to car wash, and sit in the back and have my son spray water at the hatch to find the leak. I have noticed a few drops of water returning from the car wash.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to do the taillights anyway. If they're not due now, they will be at some point. Just a heads up: the star emblem under the wiper also uses holes in the door. It's a pain but you can see them at a certain angle. The hardest part about all of this is so many of the spots can't be easily observed, if at all.
02-08-2019, 12:24 AM
