GL Class (X164) 2007-2012: GL320CDI, GL420CDI, GL450, GL550

Gl350 battery compartment fills with water

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Old 01-06-2023, 05:22 PM
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Gl350 x164 Silverado HD f350 wakesetter
Gl350 battery compartment fills with water

Hello everyone I am sure this is probably common knowledge now at this point but is anyone else putting a bilge pump in the battery box JJ.

seems I have water coming in from driving when road is wet.
sun roof closed and no rain was a great thing to find after a terrible holiday travel experience.

anyways I sucked a gallon of water out of battery comp.
car would not crank and not recognize a gear or change gears.

pulled the floor up and took the control box out to try and ultrasonic it back to life.
mans acf50 the crap out of it. I still can’t see where water is coming from. I will need to have a friend pressure wash the underside while I do a headstand in the battery comp I assume.

going to get a new aux batter and plug it in and try when I get home today.
just wanted to share my findings with you all.

I am driving in this pic









Old 01-06-2023, 06:49 PM
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The water is likely not coming from UNDER the vehicle. Search the forum for 'water intrusion', the topic has been covered extensively and there are several potential culprits.
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Old 01-06-2023, 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Miguk_Saram
The water is likely not coming from UNDER the vehicle. Search the forum for 'water intrusion', the topic has been covered extensively and there are several potential culprits.
yeah that’s what I initially thought too. I still have more diagnosing but the compartment filled up 4liters in a 3 hr drive with no rain all hwy.
I appreciate the tip tho
Old 01-06-2023, 07:42 PM
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If you are unable to trace the origin of the water intrusion, you can mitigate the water accumulation by removing/displacing one of the rubber grommets on the floor in the affected compartment(s) to allow the water to seep out of the vehicle. Caution: this might allow water INTO your vehicle if you drive through water levels above 10 inches or so (creeks, off roading, etc.).

As a side note, you likely have water in the driver's footwell, as well as the spare tire compartment (under the carpet).

Also, I just noticed that scrolling down a bit further on this thread gives you a "RELATED THREAD" for your reading pleasure.
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Old 01-06-2023, 07:56 PM
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Gl350 x164 Silverado HD f350 wakesetter
Originally Posted by Miguk_Saram
If you are unable to trace the origin of the water intrusion, you can mitigate the water accumulation by removing/displacing one of the rubber grommets on the floor in the affected compartment(s) to allow the water to seep out of the vehicle. Caution: this might allow water INTO your vehicle if you drive through water levels above 10 inches or so (creeks, off roading, etc.).

As a side note, you likely have water in the driver's footwell, as well as the spare tire compartment (under the carpet).

Also, I just noticed that scrolling down a bit further on this thread gives you a "RELATED THREAD" for your reading pleasure.
hahah yes I was just about to explore the rear, I will have a peek at the drivers side as well.
and do some reading
thanks again
Old 01-06-2023, 09:23 PM
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Get rid of the car. The problems from the water leaks will start to domino your electronics and then there is the fact it's a diesel.
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Old 01-06-2023, 10:13 PM
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I can't imagine a scenario how a damp/wet road is going to put water into that compartment. Isn't there a plastic panel on the underside of the car in that spot?

I would think that it's more likely that water entered through the "normal" ways but you didn't notice it right away - till you started having an electrical problem (which wouldn't necessarily happen right away) and checked the compartment.

Since you've got the compartment open... pour water into the front, right side of the sunroof drain and see if it eventually shows up in the compartment and/or how much you see draining under the car.

Luv the diesel!
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Old 01-07-2023, 12:55 AM
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Now just one GL450 with EORP.
Sorry, but you now have a parts car. Water probably came in from a sunroof drain, a crushed bottle of Evian or through the cabin filter box, overflowing due to a stuck or clogged drain. In any case it has destroyed your fine vehicle and fixing this is not economically feasible. Hopefully you caught it soon. Enough to at least dry it off and drive it to Carmax or some other place where you can get rid of it.
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Old 01-07-2023, 02:08 AM
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Well thanks everyone for your input.
I will have some updates hopefully tomo.




Last edited by Waspjr; 01-07-2023 at 02:26 AM.
Old 01-07-2023, 01:30 PM
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Just for good measure, check what Max said - I forgot to mention that possible leak point. Open the hood and look underneath the cabin air filter on the passenger side - there is a drain in there that could be clogged. The tray at the base of the windshield drains into that.
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Old 01-07-2023, 05:12 PM
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Definitely water and a fair amount of rocks in the rear.
both sides
it appears to be leaking from roof or the rain seal on the top.
just a quick post I will have to look more into the normal leak spots.
thanks again for all the help and tips.


It’s raining today and I get a drip every half minute. Probably the panorama roof idk



Old 01-07-2023, 05:37 PM
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Now just one GL450 with EORP.
Originally Posted by Waspjr
yeah that’s what I initially thought too. I still have more diagnosing but the compartment filled up 4liters in a 3 hr drive with no rain all hwy.
I appreciate the tip tho
you might have something other than the standard means of entry going on here, since you have road dirt and rocks in almost every cranny.

can honestly say I’ve never seen that before.
did this car smack something and hole the bottom, perhaps?

still does not change the unfortunate outcome - you’ll be chasing electrical gremlins on this one for the rest of its life, which may limit itself to the om642. From those of us who have been there with these cars, this is when it’s best to walk away - part out what isn’t water damaged or dump it with due notice. The value of a running OM642 may be more than the rest of the vehicle…
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Old 01-07-2023, 07:29 PM
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OK, I have to admit, when I first read that you said you had "rocks" in there, I thought "OK, this guy is exaggerating and what he really has is maybe some silt or some calcification that broke off into tiny pieces." But, nope -- you have ACTUAL rocks in there! That's a new one, for sure! Can you remove the underbody panels and take a looksie? I could see some silt possibly getting in there from fording a stream... but how the heck to do actual rocks get in there?
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Old 01-08-2023, 12:37 AM
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Salt belt? Got rust in your wheel wells?
Old 01-08-2023, 01:22 AM
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Now just one GL450 with EORP.
Originally Posted by rapidoxidation
Salt belt? Got rust in your wheel wells?
username checks out
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Old 01-08-2023, 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by rapidoxidation
Salt belt? Got rust in your wheel wells?
no not much salt around here
I live in a desert so this rain thing is very odd. I had to park at the in-laws on the coast and that’s when it was noticed. I will get some UV DYE and see where it’s coming from. And start removing all the interior.
Old 01-08-2023, 02:11 PM
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Now just one GL450 with EORP.
Originally Posted by Waspjr
no not much salt around here
I live in a desert so this rain thing is very odd. I had to park at the in-laws on the coast and that’s when it was noticed. I will get some UV DYE and see where it’s coming from. And start removing all the interior.

Desert climates dry things out, and when it does rain over power switch left of the weatherstripping… I would look for a dried, perished or cracked seal or weatherstripping on the underside and the over side… May be a poor prior repair, weld crack or yeah, like we said this is this is news to the community.

in any case, put on your boots and walk away.
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Old 01-08-2023, 04:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Max Blast
Desert climates dry things out, and when it does rain over power switch left of the weatherstripping… I would look for a dried, perished or cracked seal or weatherstripping on the underside and the over side… May be a poor prior repair, weld crack or yeah, like we said this is this is news to the community.

in any case, put on your boots and walk away.
why would I walk away lmao
it’s a roof rack bolt the base pad seal must be compromised.
is that the norm for Benz ppl just walk away when things get tough lol



I will just take it apart and clean and dinitrol it and corrosion x it. Benz should have done in the first place.
It will get the pro seal treatment as well.



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Old 01-08-2023, 05:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Waspjr
why would I walk away lmao
it’s a roof rack bolt the base pad seal must be compromised.
is that the norm for Benz ppl just walk away when things get tough lol



I will just take it apart and clean and dinitrol it and corrosion x it. Benz should have done in the first place.
It will get the pro seal treatment as well.
The reason to walk away has been previously stated - this car will have electrical maladies for the rest of its earthly existence. If this is your DD or you are budget constrained, this vehicle will attempt to eat your wallet alive. If neither of those are the case, proceed further.
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Old 01-08-2023, 05:55 PM
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is it normal for gravel and rocks to get into the car via a loose roof rack bolt/seal?
I don't think so... Keep looking.
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Old 01-08-2023, 06:16 PM
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Originally Posted by chassis
The reason to walk away has been previously stated - this car will have electrical maladies for the rest of its earthly existence. If this is your DD or you are budget constrained, this vehicle will attempt to eat your wallet alive. If neither of those are the case, proceed further.
no we have other vehicles so it’s not a emergency situation.
I am not afraid of a little electrical work. Worst case I will just do some crazy swap.
Old 01-08-2023, 06:58 PM
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Now just one GL450 with EORP.
Originally Posted by Waspjr
no we have other vehicles so it’s not a emergency situation.
I am not afraid of a little electrical work. Worst case I will just do some crazy swap.
if that’s the case, then you have the leeway to do an everything delete on this one, and might actually come out the other end with something useful… Maybe a turning it into an Overlander or something like that, but understand there will be gremlins everywhere.

If this was your DD, and you got to be at work on Monday, the consensus was go buy yourself another car stat. When this occurs there have been GLs that are savable with minor water intrusion and a petrol engine upfront, but yours - with the worst water intrusion this board has ever seen; plus a diesel motor makes it like a that’s toughest case to date. We’re tough up to a point where it just isn’t economical. I can go get another one that’s dry for five grand.

It’ll be super interesting to see what you find out about how dirt’s getting in.

Last edited by Max Blast; 01-08-2023 at 07:02 PM.
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Old 01-08-2023, 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted by rapidoxidation
is it normal for gravel and rocks to get into the car via a loose roof rack bolt/seal?
I don't think so... Keep looking.
I did find a bunch of rocks in the cup holders from my kid.
I might have to ask her if she remembers all these new ones.
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Old 01-08-2023, 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Waspjr
I did find a bunch of rocks in the cup holders from my kid.
I might have to ask her if she remembers all these new ones.
Ah, the missing variable... kids!

It's possible they got into the battery compartment (and under the driver's side, too) through the floor heat vent. That would at least make sense, anyways. "Oh, look... there's some holes there under the seat. I wonder if these rocks that I have in my hand will fit in there. Cool, they do!"
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Old 01-08-2023, 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by DennisG01
Ah, the missing variable... kids!

It's possible they got into the battery compartment (and under the driver's side, too) through the floor heat vent. That would at least make sense, anyways. "Oh, look... there's some holes there under the seat. I wonder if these rocks that I have in my hand will fit in there. Cool, they do!"
hahaha how do I know you have kids!!
yeah that or she seems to hoard them around. They do look pretty smooth and like the ones she would pick up.
that or they have been rolling around the back for a while haha.
also rear Sam
totally soaked

The fuse panel was very clean tho so we will see



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