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MB just "discoveredwarm water". Still, they do not know where the water is coming from, and we might need to drain out the vehicle occasionally. Unbelievable.
I just examined out 2014 ML350 4Matic. The area is dry with no signs of water ever being there. As I performed the disassembly and inspection I am perplexed. There has been talk about the liftgate seal but the design of the seal and the flange to which it is mounted, plus the fact that any leakage would have to seem upward over the rear sill structure makes me doubt that as the cause. From the language of the recall I suspect some joint in the body structure may be the culprit. Perhaps some sealant that was supposed to be applied by the robots during body assembly was missed on some cars. Just speculating. Anyway, the drain seems like an OK solution to me - it is actually done to low spots on most cars. It won't need to be serviced. It will just be there to drain anything that creeps in to well.
There seems to be a leak from above the rear taillights, not at the bottom of the liftgate perimeter bulb seal, which also has been a reported failure on this site.
For water to get into the liftgate, it would need to have some from a leak surrounding the glass (seal to liftgate or wiper arm), spoiler, high mount stop lamp, liftgate taillamps, or similar.
Our ML350 is part of this recall, and we had an interesting experience over the Christmas holiday. While driving though a heavy rainstorm on the freeway, we experienced a sudden loss of power. My wife, who was driving, said it was like the accelerator pedal no longer worked. We pulled along the side of the road. Turned the vehicle off, then back on. It took a little longer to start, but once started, everything worked fine. There was no "check engine" light. We received the notice of the recall a couple of weeks after. It leaves me wondering if the loss of power we experienced might have been related to the recall.
Has anyone else experienced a sudden loss of power while driving in bad rain?
Our ML350 is part of this recall, and we had an interesting experience over the Christmas holiday. While driving though a heavy rainstorm on the freeway, we experienced a sudden loss of power. My wife, who was driving, said it was like the accelerator pedal no longer worked. We pulled along the side of the road. Turned the vehicle off, then back on. It took a little longer to start, but once started, everything worked fine. There was no "check engine" light. We received the notice of the recall a couple of weeks after. It leaves me wondering if the loss of power we experienced might have been related to the recall.
Has anyone else experienced a sudden loss of power while driving in bad rain?
Todd
2012 ML350 Bluetec
Not a great feeling losing power anywhere, and worse under heavy rain in the freeway.
How many miles are on your vehicle? I am not familiar with Diesel vehicles, but the gas-fueled MBs are known to lose power when the fuel pump fails (regardless of rain) due to aging, or clogged filters. I would say, from forum sampling, the pump/filter combo fails @120K+ miles (some after, some earlier). Running the tank low tends to overheat the pump and lead to premature failure, and now you add water around the pump circuit, we are guaranteed it will fail. Not sure when, but it will.
Our ML350 is part of this recall, and we had an interesting experience over the Christmas holiday. While driving though a heavy rainstorm on the freeway, we experienced a sudden loss of power. My wife, who was driving, said it was like the accelerator pedal no longer worked. We pulled along the side of the road. Turned the vehicle off, then back on. It took a little longer to start, but once started, everything worked fine. There was no "check engine" light. We received the notice of the recall a couple of weeks after. It leaves me wondering if the loss of power we experienced might have been related to the recall.
Has anyone else experienced a sudden loss of power while driving in bad rain?
Todd
2012 ML350 Bluetec
I'm sure this is completely unrelated (except for the symptom) but:
My '05 E320CDI did not like to have the accelerator tromped on. Regular use, easing in and out of power normally, would be fine. QUICKLY flooring the pedal would result in the car jumping into limp mode - it's almost like the pedal sensors couldn't keep up with the input and it pissed the computer off. Turning the car off/on would fix it, but there would be a code hidden inside - something related to the pedal sensor output being implausible or some such.
My point? If you have a proper scanner, check for codes. They don't all trip the CEL light.
I'm sure this is completely unrelated (except for the symptom) but:
My '05 E320CDI did not like to have the accelerator tromped on. Regular use, easing in and out of power normally, would be fine. QUICKLY flooring the pedal would result in the car jumping into limp mode - it's almost like the pedal sensors couldn't keep up with the input and it pissed the computer off. Turning the car off/on would fix it, but there would be a code hidden inside - something related to the pedal sensor output being implausible or some such.
My point? If you have a proper scanner, check for codes. They don't all trip the CEL light.
Excellent addition (I have forgotten about it). Seen that as well on the W211. The dealer quoted other parts, and the Indy concluded it was the pedal sensor, Three years later the car is running well (though it went through the fuel pump issue about a year ago)
We have been having an unusual amout of rain here in S Cal so I checked my trunk spare wheel well on my 2015 ML and no signs of water. I was at the dealership 2 days ago and asked the SA about the recall and he told me they have no idea when they will fix the issue.
Well i just ran into this same issue. My car died on the way to work and would restart, run for a bit, then die again. The ride to work was awesome. Had it towed to my local mechanic, and he found water in the back as well as the fuel pump controller not responding and wet. All of this falls into this recall. It's not active! the recal isn't active, they won't do it. My dealer told me to have it repaired, and after the recall goes active i "may" get a refund. I called MB USA and they said under no way would they refund a recall done prior UNLESS its done by a dealer. My dealer is an hour away. I would have to pay my normal mechanic for the diag and work performed, pay another tow to transfer to a dealership and then dealership rate, in hopes it gets refunded. The pump controller is like $150 for MB Original from FCP Euro....
Best part is the problem remains! a drain plug? That would mean that MB had deemed it "OK" for water to run through the trunk area and spare tire well, as long as it doesn't puddle and drains, with this new drain plug they MAY install. I can't imagine this is good for the inside of the car.....mold, corrosion....MY ****? you know the stuff that you may put into your spare tire well? I am sure i won't relate with vary manny on here, but in my situation....i have a subwoofer back there.....thats right the custom box for my 4 8" subs in my spare tire well is soaked and junk. It wasn't cheap nor easy to get it done so thanks MB USA. i guess this means that AFTER i pay to fix my recall you may or may not refund, and eat my custom subwoofer box, im no longer allowed to put another in because water now runs through there.
My blind spot and...anti...rear end...system also went out recently, when it was scanned it appeared that the main controller was down, not just the sensors. I can't seem to find its location, but i now wonder if it's related?
2015 ML 350
Purchased late 2015
had a headliner and sunroof replaced 2016-2017 for wet headliner
no other issues till now
My darling wife drove home from work today in a blinding rainstorm. So it was a good time to check the rear of her '14 ML350. I removed the spare tire and the tools. I also opened up the compartment where the aux battery resides. Nothing. Dry as a witch's you-know-what. I took these to photos of the ball joints on the lift struts as maybe that's where water could get in. But not on her car. I'm going to pass on the recall if they ever get around to notifying me. Left strut Right strut
It would be good to check if you can hear water within the door.
ML/GL of nearly all generations (W163/W164/W166) has been known to leak through the seal around taillights, rear window seal (top brake light), seal around rear quarter glass, seal of the rear door, etc.
If anyone's ML/GL is not leaking water, be careful when someone works on the rear of your car such as: replacing a bulb, new glass, struts, etc and be certain nobody opens "the door" for the leak to start. Known $$$ parts to fail so far: fuel pump, rear SAM (weird electrical issues)
the carpet was peeled up on the passenger side and it’s wet head to toe. puddle in the battery box. under the rear battery the cubby was water. and now i know why the blind spot isn’t working, it’s under water someplace
the carpet was peeled up on the passenger side and it’s wet head to toe. puddle in the battery box. under the rear battery the cubby was water. and now i know why the blind spot isn’t working, it’s under water someplace
I have never taken the passenger seat of the W166, so I have not seen the battery box in full view, but in the R350 (W251), there is a pre-fuse box in the battery box. Once water gets in, your electric system is up for grabs. You can start with no-shifting issues, etc.
I checked my 15 ML. Took the spare out but not the molded fabric bottom under the spare. It was dry. If water was in there wouldn’t that molded bottom be wet or damp??
I checked my 15 ML. Took the spare out but not the molded fabric bottom under the spare. It was dry. If water was in there wouldn’t that molded bottom be wet or damp??
If you are looking for water in the rear of the ML, there are 3 places where the water sits: left bottom well (open the cover, check wire harness, and look down), the spare tire well (you already did), and the right bottom well where the rear SAM, some AUX batteries and modules sit (open the cover, look down, touch around for humid surfaces).
The water, as far as I have read, can come from the seals around the lift door/gate, seals around taillights, broken washer fluid hose at the top (in this case is not water intrusion but washer fluid intrusion)
When checking those 3 bottom wells, be certain there are no wet wires and no wire or connection sitting at the bottom. Tie them up such as they are not exposed to water at the bottom just in case.
Side note: watching a video on a Nissan Murano, the water was coming through the seal between two the body panels at the top (roof with "rear quarter panel"), near the hinges. Wonder if the ML is also prone to that kind of intrusion. Need to check the W166 to confirm.
Not necessarily. If water is coming from below somewhere, or fender-wells, or running down behind the side panels and collecting in the spare wheel-well area, the carpet sits a little above the metal, so it could be dry. I plan to take mine apart and look.
Not necessarily. If water is coming from below somewhere, or fender-wells, or running down behind the side panels and collecting in the spare wheel-well area, the carpet sits a little above the metal, so it could be dry. I plan to take mine apart and look.
Perhaps I do not understand your description, but water always sits at the bottom of any of the 3 wells. I do appreciate you mentioning the other entry points, and I hope it is due to rust through the metal (though I do not approve), and not because panel joints
Here is a video from Ivan (Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics)
Has anyone had the water intrusion recall performed? Were you able to watch or inspect the drain plug install? My concern is rust later after they drill thru the galvanized and painted steel to install a drain plug that will, by design, be wet frequently. Did they paint the exposed metal prior to installing the rubber drain grommet? (I presume that is what they will do anyway). Inspected mine, and didn't see any moisture, although I couldn't completely disassemble due to the rear airmatic tank being back there, not allowing removal of the foam insert without cutting. I felt down under, and appeared dry. Just nervous about creating a future rust problem.
loss of power is described in the recall as a concern in the letter i got. It mentions that accumulated water could come into contact with the fuel pump control unit leading to fuel supply being impaired and leading to a loss of propulsion.
I had photos attached showing the source of the water, but the photos look to be gone, maybe the imgur links are dead. As people have mentioned sometimes the source is via a tail light or the lift gate, but it wasn't in my case. Also, it was hard to track down because the water wasn't always there. I had checked multiple times after leaving the car parked out in the rain and even after driving in the rain, and sometimes it was bone dry, but other times i would find some water in that area.
I can't seem to find a good enough photo online of the trunk/spare tire area with everything removed (spare tire and carpet), but if someone can point me to a photo i still remember the 2 spots the water was getting in by and I can point them out. I had laid out a bunch of paper towels and left them in my trunk for a few weeks and then came back to check and found the source of the water intrusion by the wet trail of the paper towels. I believe my fix has prevented water from getting in there now because i check every now and then and havent discovered any water since ive done the fix.
Checked my 2015 ML350 4M. No water but still bringing it in anyway as there might be something there that maybe I missed. Getting my free coffee and loaner is always fun. Going to ask how many vehicles were actually affected by this when I go to the dealer
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