So first I'll say I've spent a lot of time reading about this and searching it out in the forum. From all of the other posts, I am unable to find a direct answer to my question. My rear SAM had water get to it. I bought the new gaskets for the tail lamps, installed them, cleaned the corrosion off of my rear SAM and re-installed. All my issues seemed to be resolved. This was about a year ago. Yesterday, I washed my car and decided to just make sure than no water was in that area. I took the trim piece off and just put my hand down and could feel moisture. I know I'll likely have to go through cleaning the SAM again but was hoping someone could give a definitive answer as to where the water could be getting in. My 2007 ML320 cdi has the automatic rear hatch. I've seen some mention about a replacement part for the third brake light and also something about water getting in from the automatic tailgate lifter. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to remedy either of those and can't seem to figure out where it would get in from those spots. That of course doesn't mean it's not, I just don't know. Has someone who replaced the gaskets and still received water figured out how to stop it from coming in? I don't use a jet spray on the hose while washing my car but the "gentle shower" option. I didn't spray any water up from the rear tires so I don't know how it could get in from there. When I did the cleaning I also didn't pull out any drains from the floor as I thought the new gaskets should do their job. What are the next steps for preventing water from getting in? I feel like this is a very daunting task for a car I truly enjoy and am worried that it will mean I can't trust it in any type of adverse weather. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

Were the seals bought from M/B or were they aftermarket?

Were the new seals attached to the to the tail lamps or were they attached to the body opening?

 

I bought them directly from a MB dealership while in Oregon. I'm trying to remember a years time ago but I believe I removed the old ones and put the new ones directly onto the car. Spent a while with cleaning agents and a razor blade even to get all the remnants of the old ones off. I went out yesterday and tried pouring some water (out of a can, not the hose) onto the right rear light and trying to get it into the spacing around the lens and body and no water came in. I can feel the foam a little bit from the inside if I poke around the light openings but I haven't removed the light again to inspect the entire thing. It felt like it was still spongy and hadn't dried up or anything. I am also very aware of the problem so when rinsing the car during washes always try to make sure I'm using a light spray anywhere near the back...truly confused. Thanks for the reply.

 

I fill the cavities with sachets of silica gel. Seems that water always gets in and I rather they absorb it rather than the expensive electronics!

Take them out and dry them in the sun from time to time.

 

I thought about doing that as well. I guess I need to try and order a bunch of them from amazon or something. If they get wet, you can pull them out and dry them off and they are good again? Still disappointing that even with new seals it doesn't remedy the problem.

 

If you lift the tailgate and look at the plastic surround, that seals around the body. Is it cracking just above the rear lights?

Mine is, I carefully lifted it and silicon sealed underneath. There's so many potential ingress points though. I use the silicon sachets as a safeguard as water always finds a way, especially on these motors!

Buy a load of them and put them in your underfloor battery compartment front sam, rear sam area, under the spare tyre where the tail lift pump is. Just keep an eye on them.

 

Major - I'm really hoping you can help on this. I pulled my rear SAM back out and am unsure how to remove the towers. I saw on another thread where you said they can be pushed out the back but I have been unable to get them to budge at all. Is there a tool that would be good for doing that? I'm afraid of pushing too hard and breaking the entire board. I indeed can see some corrosion that is underneath one set of the towers. I'm confident I could get it better without removing them, but what's the point in going through this much work to not do it right. It looks like there are 6 black plastic pins/feet that hold all of them in. 3 larger ones and 3 smaller ones. One set of each for each "bank" of towers that are connected with thin plastic between them. In the mean time I plan on having someone shower the car from the outside while I crawl in and try to find where the water might be intruding from. Appreciate any help in advance.

 

I was also unable to remove the towers. I used corrosionX and a soft toothbrush to clean the board and a soft paint brush to get under the towers as best I could. Everything is working except the outer hatch release handle, which may be the handle itself. I also reinstalled the sam upright and not flat in it's holder, so water will not get inside again.

 

So it seems now I'm really screwed. This was a classic example of "if it ain't broke..." I took the SAM out cleaned off the little bit of corrosion that was on it. I was unable to remove the towers but sprayed underneath and got what I could with a toothbrush. Seems that the towers need to have a heat gun used to remove them. I both don't have the appropriate heat gun and seriously doubt the skill to have this be a first time project if I did. Reconnected it and as soon as I hooked the battery up it started to call SOS. Different than if I had hit the SOS button because I just get a message from Verizon essentially telling me that my phone doesn't have service. My rear hatch went all the way up (I had opened it manually because I left the car overnight and then closed it manually and latched it overnight) but will not close on its own. It also won't re-open. I again used the manual switch to open it and then it moved very little from all the way open to a few more inches down. I'd say maybe 3 inches of travel each time I used the button on the remote. The button on the bottom of the door seems to have no power. It's not illuminated (I think, pretty bright out today) and the car doesn't respond at all when I press it. I then closed the hatch and the light on the driver's door for the rear hatch is illuminated indicating it's always open even if the hatch is closed and latched. In the closed position, if I'm able to get it to do anything, it just reseals itself remaining in the closed position.

I used the CRC QD cleaner to clean the SAM. I totally made a problem worse by trying to fix it. Any ideas for salvaging this? I can't believe that I would have ruined it even more but it seems that way. To top it off, while it was removed we completely drenched the car from a number of angles and could find no water coming in. I doubting myself completely on everything with this now. I do see some grease that is left on the bottom of the well where the SAM rests and am wondering if by just putting my already dirty hand in from washing the car I thought it was wet when really it was greasy. On putting the SAM back in I did make it vertical though in hopes that if any more water did make it's way there again that it wouldn't come to rest on the SAM.

 

I just had to move my car so I reconnected the battery and started it. I'm also getting a message that my 3rd brake light is out. I can't confirm if it is or not as I was alone but I wanted to add that tidbit in. It still was trying to connect to SOS and giving me the verizon message. Liftgate was closing itself but the LED in the drivers door stayed lit up. I assume this will be needed for a replacement SAM...

My VIN is: 4JGBB22E77A213051

If you could help me out in the part number for the SAM it seems as if there were replacement ones given for all of the posts with these issues. Of course if there is something else I should try I'm happy to do that but I would like to get my car in shape again ASAP. Also, anyone have a ballpark for what to expect the cost of programming to be? I'll call my local dealership tomorrow and see but I'm also going to try and find an indy shop that can do that. What is needed for someone to be able to program the options and is that a normal procedure for any Mercedes mechanic? I usually don't go to the dealer for service but I'm not sure if my regular mechanic can program the SAM. I'll also call them tomorrow but trying to get everything in order for if I need and when a new unit would come.

 

The towers are snapped in and the pins are part of the towers. Those pins make contact on the board.

Watch this video where you can see that he shows that the towers are removed but does not show you how it did it.

 

Unfortunately those towers are soldered in place (not snapped in). In order to remove them, you need to carefully de-solder each of the pins individually (not just the pins on the corroded plug, but EVERY PIN ON EVERY PLUG) to enable the entire black plastic plug structure to be removed from the PCB. A de-soldering station makes this a fairly straightforward (albeit tedious) task if you know what you are doing. If you don't have access to a de-soldering station you can always use a copper solder wick and do it the old fashioned way. If you wish to remove the pins this way just be very careful that you remove all solder that may have flowed away from the pin during the de-soldering process as this can easily cause a short on the board.

 

Thanks for the info, didn't know that.

 

Yeah, I actually messaged the man from that video. I saw you posted it in other forum posts for people to follow. He was the one that told me I needed a heat gun to remove it. I'm not really confident in my abilities at doing that. It's weird that none of these issues were occurring before I removed the SAM though and they are happening now. Before I cleaned it the first time I did sometimes get my car trying to call SOS but never this issue with the rear hatch not opening. I feel as if I must have done more damage than good in spraying the board and trying to get underneath the towers with the spray as well. I'm wondering if there is another effort I should try or if replacement is the best bet. If there is something else you can suggest doing I'm game as at this point I think my only other option is purchasing a different SAM. If I need to purchase one can you please tell me the part number I should be ordering for my vehicle? Thank you.

 

That's what I thought as they appeared to be soldered in place. Not worth removing at that point!

 

Make sure you also clean the female pins in the car side of the harness.

The problem is the part number has been superceded so many times that only a dealership can tell you the latest correct number. This also means many old versions will work, but there's no telling unless you buy a used one with the exact same part number as your old one. Look on the label, it should start with a 164 ....

 

To clean the female pins do you just spray the electrical cleaner in the harness? Does that risk messing up the harness to the point where getting a new SAM might not resolve the issue as well? I suppose I could get a box and just spray the harness by putting it inside the box to make sure none of that cleaner got on anything else. This makes sense given the problem but was just not something I had thought of doing.

 

When I got my rear SAM replaced last year the total parts + labor cost was ~$775. I got it performed through a local Indy shop and I want to say they billed ~2-3hrs of labor to program the SAM.

 

Thanks Joe. I don't mind going that route if I have to but I'd really prefer to be able to order one on my own and try the plug and play thing. I'd really like to know the replacement part number for the SAM that works for my car. My VIN is: 4JGBB22E77A213051 if someone is able to tell me it would be much appreciated.

 

Here is the part # that you need.

 

Thank you Major. I have found one online where the seller says they will program it by the VIN before sending it out so it is plug and play. I'll post my results back here so everyone can use that as a resource if it goes well.

 

if you have a panoramic roof, that probably the problem. currently exper
eincing that with my 2008 GL450. i dropped the headliner and i can see it leaking from several location around plastic roof.

 

I have just the regular sunroof. I did try spraying the roof with water and seeing if it drained in and couldn't find any more water entering. Thanks for pointing that out though, I'll spray it down some more while I wait on the replacement SAM.

 

i have 2008 GL450 after removing the headliner and several hours of searching for water leak. i found the factory seam sealer on roof panel has dry rotted. also the luggage rack seal dry rotted as well. had to manufacture seals for luggage rack and strip old seam sealer and replace with new seam sealer.
THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL AS IT IS REDICULOUS TO SEE AN $80K BENZ THAT CANT STAND THE TEST OF TIME!!!

 

That is ridiculous, but I'm glad you at least found your water intrusion spot. If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? Or at least what climate(s) does your area usually see?