The simplest fix is park in a garage and wash the car once or twice a week to keep the drains flowing freely.

 

Hi all, further to my previous email listing my removed parts and awaiting for them to dry and replacing them next weekend (fingers crossed), I notice a post from gqmagic stating that their E class had a lights problem in which they stayed on and this also affected the alarm.

I have done a search for PSE pumps on the W220 forum and this seems to control the air vacuum for the Close Assist door and boot features and not lights etc?

I am confused...

 

Hi, is anyone able to identify the components in my above post #24.

These are from under the rear passenger seat, currently out of the car drying out in my garage.

I shall replace them this weekend after cleaning the conenctors etc as recommended on here.

Thanks in advance

 

snow is worse.. goes through the little holes and starts piling up in there

 

the second picture is deffinitly the rear SAM and that is what should be affecting your lights, i am not sure what the other components are to i will try to look in my w220 and see if i can figure it out ill let you know as soon as i do. also if you say the component is as wet as you say it is, then i will probably need to be replaced.

 

All components have been dried out and replaced into car.

All working and in order, thankfully.

Thanks to all who helped me with this, it is much appreciated.

 

Is it possible or has anybody attached a piece of mesh to the grill, to catch the debris?

 

hey guys when i do theses at work after am done replacing everthing i do the modification to the box and i drill two small holes in the bottom of the box for extra safety

 

my car has been in the shop do a week due to this. My drains clogged and now I need to replace blower motor for heater! But all in all it could have been a lot worse.

 

Thanks in advance TuneTime. You probably saved me from my own costly problem.

Did not realize this could be such an issue so when I refilled my washer fluid two days ago, noticed the impacted leaves sitting right there at ground zero. Cleaned it out right away.

 

Read your MB internal instructions. There are not supposed to be additional holes at the buttom at the box. The reason is easy, the water remains then below the box and it starts to rust.
Its clearly described that the EMERGENCY drain belongs to the SIDE, a little below the air intake.

Gee, now i know why you folks over there are having so much problems with your cars...

Cheers, Frank

 

This is just to update this thread and is taken from the thread link on my earlier post.

Well I took a good look at the car this past weekend (Saturday's weather was dry for the morning!!).

I looked at what would be obvious causes for my water ingress into the rear seat area. I first looked under the bonnet (raised into service level height) to follow what happens to the water from the windsheild and bonnet etc when going through the grated area at the top of the bonnet.

It all collects into a large plastic dish which spans across the grated area to catch the water. If the car is flat or leaning towards the passenger side (UK) then all water will flow into the large reservoir tank with the problematic rubber drain plug thing at the bottom. (Mine was blocked 3 years ago and flooded the front of the car which seems to be common). This was clear and has been since.

I then tested what would happen if the car is parked so that it leans the other way (drivers side - UK) and found that the large reservoir tank becomes redundant and the water goes towards the other side of the large plastic dish area. The design has a small rubber outlet to stop overfilling of this large plastic dish item, but with the car parked leaning towards the drivers side, this too becomes redundant.

I removed this large plastic dish item to get a better look.

Then it hit me, the drivers corner within the engine (UK driver side) is where all of this water will be directed and so upon looking closely with a torch, this area was choc full of leaves and mush (broken down leaves/dirt & sludge), and created a kind of small reservoir itself.

"This can't be good and must be the problem" I thought to myself. I vacuumed as much as I could and scraped out the crap which a long screwdriver, paper towelling, fingers etc and then vacuumed again. This area has the windscreen washer pipes running from the engine area to the washers themselves and so had to pull the pipes away slightly to get to this area.

I then retested and no more water collecting. It now runs straight out of the front drivers (UK) wheel arch area through a drain hole and some also came out of the rear drivers (UK) wheel arch area through a drain hole, so hopefully this is it.

I checked the rear seat area with all electronics and no water came through

I checked again yesterday and all good bar a small amount of water trickle which seems to be coming from the wiring tunnel from the front of the car to the rear (i.e. where the water is getting into the rear seat area from) which I am hoping is merely the water left from within this tunnel from before my fix and not fresh.

I am now planning to use a mains powered dehumidifier inside the car to draw off the remaining water/moisture as the weather sucks in the UK about now until April. Can someone recommend do I close all windows when this dehumidifer is on, what percentage setting should I use and I guess I will know when it has done it's job as no more water will collect?

Sorry if the above goes on a bit, but I am thrilled that I (hopefully) have found the culprit for my very frustrating water ingress problem.

p.s. It rained all day yesterday and was parked in the position that caused the water problem beforehand and all was good (apart from the small trickle which hopefully is what I said above).

 

KevinJ - I commend you for your due dilegence and perserverance. The dehumindifier will capture the moisture in the air, so if you want to be sure that all of the moisture in the car is captured, keep the windows closed and for optimum control keep the Benz in a dry area. As for the percentage setting I'm sorry to say that I can't help but you have the right idea...no collection - no moisture. When I get home from work I am going to check my drains in the wiper cowl. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" Ben Franklin

RC

 

Kevin - I spoke to a good friend of mine who's a MB mechanic and I mentioned to him about what you are going thru and his comment was - "yea, that a clogged drain plug is a costly problem for cars that are left parked under a tree" no s**t. I did ask about the percentage settings and he said he didn't really use it and that they just left it on all night long or untill whenever the moisture is gone and the vehicle is completly dry and he emphasized "DRY". Oh yea he offered to take my Benz in run a complete diagnostic and by the way I checked my wiper cowl today and find it clean. Amen!

 

Thanks, I shall obtain the dehumidifer from a colleague at work and run it as stated. I shall also lift the carpets as per another recommendation (Skylaw - Benzworld - thks).

Your mechanic guy maybe just refering to the well known water collection tank drain plug that is designed to collect rain water from the windshield/bonnet area and dump it under the car through the engine bay area.

This was not my problem of late, the area concerned was other the other side of the engine bay area in the corner, check for leaves and old mushy broken down leaves/dirt in this area. Shine a torch to check. It didn't look obvious that there was a problem at first...

Apologies if you did mean this and not just the original drain plug.

Thanks.

 

My 2001 S320 had an electronic fit last week, a real comedy moment with headlights flashing, seat relays popping and an amazing collection of faults showing on the display.

I found three inches of water under the back seat, flooding the SAM unit, entering through that wiring conduit. After I mopped up and dried the unit everything, amazingly, is back to normal. The rear carpets are sopping though and I'm struggling to find out where the leak is.

Last year the air intake under the bonnet (hood) was cleared out and I have no leaves in there, it's draining fine. I have been advised to check the drains in the sills as they get blocked and the sunroof also drains to these.

Is it only the known air intake problem that floods the S-Class (2001) or are there other 'drains getting clogged up' issues..?

Does anyone know how to check these 'sill' drains? as I'm struggling to find them without getting fairly major i.e. taking seats out etc.

Any help gratefully received...

Adrian

 

This is a common fault on the W220 design, i am suprised that so many are having these problems, it should be part of a normal check when topping up washer fluid etc


well tahts when I do mine anyway

 

The sunroof drains themselves could also be plugged. Two, one at each front corner.

Although I have not heard of this yet on an S-Class, my '78 450 SL leaked like a sieve until I found that the windshield seal was completely gone on the bottom and 1/3 of the way up the "A" pillars. One could easily see the windshield bow out when pushing on it from the inside.

 

Thanks for the advice and tips.

I checked the drain holes either end of the sills and found that the one on the driver's side (UK) just behind the front wheel was blocked. I took the plastic sill cover off and about two cupfulls of dried mud came out.

Having cleared this, and tested it by pouring water into the sun-roof surround, they are now fine and the car's dry.

I live on a steep hill and usually park the car nose up which I'm sure exacerbated the problem. In my experience, leaking vehicles and hills go hand in hand.

 

Hi, could you describe in a little detail exactly what cover you took off and where the drains are located. I would like to recheck my car again soon and wanted to check all avenues just incase.

thanks

 

In fact these are four. But as you said one in each corner.

Cheers, Frank

 

hahahahahahahha dumbass

did someone say new custom interior?! sorry to hear about your horror story man... lawsuit? this is a flaw in the car design... at least report it to the NHSA

 

Hi

The lowest outside part of the car between the front and back wheel is a plastic colour-coded sill cover. At each end of this are two drain holes, about 3mm in diameter and angled back towards the read of the car. I shoved a wooden kebab skewer up each one and found the front offside one blocked.

Inside the front wheel arch, near the bottom, there's a 10mm bolt attaching the front end of the sill cover. If you undo this then the sill is just held on with a number of black plastic push-fit gromit-like things (the ones where the centre of them moves independently of the outside). Pull these off (by pulling out the middle 'core' first) and the plastic sill cover comes away. That's where I found two cupfulls of mud and dirt, blocking the drain.

Hope this makes sense!

Adrian

 

Has anybody checked to see if their car or home owners insurance would cover this?

 

Use fiberglass "screen door" material...costs less than a buck and stops very small items from entering while letting air through freely