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Gasket in question How to access source of leak from inside Where the water is pouring in
Hey all,
I found the source of the leak and I thought I would share. It’s not repaired yet but I now know the exact issue.
Last week I noticed about 2 inches of water in my spare tire well in my glk’s trunk… since I bought this car used 6 years ago, the interior has always fogged up. I bet this problem has been ongoing since I got it and I never noticed!!
I traced the water marks to the passenger (Canada) side of the car.
I took out the interior panel that pops out where you access the back of the taillights to change the bulbs. Looking through this small opening with my camera and light on my phone I was able to get a good view of the rear quarter panel from the inside of the car to see where water was entering.
I then used a hose to replicate rain, I let the water gently run down the outside of the car near the problem area. I started from the bumper and slowly moved up as I looked through the small opening from the inside of the suv with the camera and light on my phone.
I noticed a TON of water literally just pouring right through where the fuel filler assembly is. It’s a plastic housing. It looks like the only thing keeping rain from entering the interior is a small thin rubber gasket.
What a terrible design… I’m posting this because these discontinued GLKs are aging and I’m certain many people will encounter this issue and I have yet to find any information on the problem online.
I have no idea where to start to fix this one. I may resort to just using black silicone around the rubber gasket on the outside of the car because it’s nearly inpossible to get my hand in there to repair it from the inside.
I would love to do a proper repair on this because I don’t want to look at silicone every time I open my fuel door to fill up.
Anyone encounter anything like this? Any help or insight would be much appreciated!
UPDATE*****
I found this YouTube video that shows the steps to remove the gas filler pocket. Link below… I think I’ll need to order a new gas filler housing from the stealership on Monday… I removed mine to inspect and the gaskets are in terrible shape.
Found this evening water in my trunk as well.
So I did follow this tail and managed easily to dismantle the gas cap cover.
But couldn't find any suspicious all sealings looked to be in good condition.
After all having cleaned and re-installing I found again some water in the trunk while I just cleaned it completely, It was on the raised edge at the back.
Next suspect rearlight(s), will take these from the car next weekend and hope to find a cause ....
Any other stuff to look at like the plastic covers around the hinges of the tailgate wherefrom potentially under the rubber sealing water can come down ?
Most of these filler ports have a drain that is supposed to prevent liquid (gas or water) from accumulating in the well and draining into the passenger compartment. The drain should terminate somewhere under the car, on the outside. If it is broken the liquid could end up inside, and if it is plugged the level could rise to the point where it leaks in through that crack in the rubber.
Hi all,
Just an update on my situation of leakage in the Trunk.
Removing the plastic inside wheel arch you can see the 'Filler Cap' is in the wheel arch and not inside the car, so even if these related 'sealing' is leaking it can never reach the trunk
Inside view filler cap
Cheers,
Huub
Merc GLK350 4-matic (X204) year jan-2011
@ John CC,
In my car it is just sticking out no pipe or whatever connected. If water/gas comes through it ends up in the wheel arch above the plastic inner arch so normally it is out of sight
Now I found the root cause
By dismantling the rear bumper I found the beams from the tow bar construction enter the hollow space in the trunk and being bolted from inside the trunk.
Water is flowing from the gutters from the tailgate down on the tow bar beams entering the hollow area's in the trunk, the sealing of these I think never were installed correctly.
Tomorrow will dismantle the complete tow bar, clean everything and will take care for a good sealing so water will stay out.
Hope this makes someone happy with the same issue saving time searching
In my car it is just sticking out no pipe or whatever connected.
I looked at my car and it doesn't appear that that nipple is open on the outside end. I wonder if it's a plastic molding that is used on different models.
Good work tracking that leak down. I hope I never have to deal with it!
03-05-2022, 01:51 PM
