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Soaked floors/damp A pillar after heavy rains **FIXED**
Posted this to the generic w211 forum but figured I’d try here as well.
So I got out to my car this morning after some pretty heavy rains last night and there was a good amount of water in both front footwells. Felt the A pillars and they were damp as well so the leak has got to start with the sunroof.
i poured water in the sunroof track and it appeared most of it poured out of the bottom of the car but then when I opened the door it was leaking out of the bottom outer edge of the dash and eventually wet spot appeared in the A pillar. There was also a spot of water at the corner of the sunroof so I may have poured water where it wouldn’t normally get when the sunroof is shut
so I’m not quite sure where to go from here. I’ve only had the car about 6 weeks and it’s definitely rained hard in that time and I haven’t noticed any leaks. Maybe the car was at just the wrong angle to drain properly? I did clear a few leaves from the cowl area but nothing really that seemed it could cause any blockage. Seems possibly the drain tubes are cracked? Is that common at all?
It’s forecasted to pour here tomorrow. Part of me wants to let it sit outside and see if it happens again and but then if it does I’d hate for it to cause some electrical issue
any help would be appreciated
Last edited by kiluminati616; Nov 28, 2018 at 09:51 PM.
Reason: Found solution
spoke to mercedes benz of manhattan and bulletin 2007010002 was completed back in 2012. forecasted to rain pretty hard this afternoon so i'll know soon if the other day was a fluke or if there's a larger problem to be addressed...
thanks! i went thru that thread but i'm not sure it's the same issue i have. most of the water is definitely draining down to the wheelwell but unfortunately there is some draining down the A pillar and into the footwell. when i bought the car there was a weird stain on the passenger side A pillar which i now fear was the result of this leak. seems a bit weird that the drain tube on both sides would fail tho. are there other seals in the sunroof that could have failed that are letting water leak down somewhere other than the drain?
Got home from work today after it rained for a few hours and the passenger side was soaked again. Not a drop of water in the drivers side - I’m guessing because it was leaning ever so slightly to the right. the leak is starting right where I’m guessing the drain connects to the tube. Most of the A pillar is dry then it gets very wet right near the dash again so I’m not sure if the tube became disconnected or it’s cracked
Found the issue. Hose attached to the drain is split. Thought I’d be able to zip tie it close enough together and then wrap it w some plumbers tape but it’s way too tight in there to do any sort of wrapping and the hose is just too far gone. So looks like I need to get a new piece that slides over the drain spout then mesh that to the existing hose. Any tips on how to go about that?
Last edited by kiluminati616; Nov 27, 2018 at 10:45 PM.
If you can't get a new OEM hose which is preferable...
1) Make a clean cut a couple inches back.
2) Take the split hose to a car parts store or the plumbing section at a Lowe's or Home Depot and match up some rubber hose that will mate with both the sunroof nipple and the hose in your hand.
3) Buy a barbed fitting that will slide in both hoses.Slide the barbed fitting in both hoses and wire tire, maybe glue and wire tire. Then attach the hose to the sunroof nipple and wire tire.
ahhh yeh that looks like just what i need, thanks. hopefully i get at least one side done tonight and i'll post some pics. surprising that this doesn't seem to be a common issue yet my low mile (48k) car has both sides shot
FIXED!! Here’s a quick write up of what you’ll need to do if you’re facing the same problem:
supplies needed:
a. 5/8” hose
b. Two 5/8” to 1/2” splicers
**you’re probably wondering why I used 5/8” hose when the original piece was 1/2”. Well I tried using 1/2” at first and it wasn’t even close to being able to slide over the spout. Probably why the oem one cracked in the first place**
Steps:
1. Take down A pillar
2. Unscrew sun visor & oh s**t bar
3. Pull down the headliner a bit. It’s tough to get much room to work with but if you pull gently down you should get enough
4. Cut the tube and slide it off the spout.
5. Slide about a 2.5” piece of the 5/8” hose over the appropriate end of your splicer/coupler
6. Next, reach on up there and attach the existing hose to the 1/2” end. I found it easier to do the existing hose first so that you could really twist it around and get it on there tightly
7. Slide the 5/8” hose over the spout
8. Zip tie at will. Everything oughta fit pretty snuggly and there probably won’t be much movement but a couple fasteners can’t hurt
So if your sunroof drains water to the wheelwell as it should as well as to your footwell as it shouldn’t, then your hose is probably cracked. Test out this diy — shouldn’t take more than a half hour each side.
for sure, thanks for the help! I soaked up what i could with towels then let the car run w heat blasting for over an hour so it's pretty well dry now. floor mats are getting the baking soda treatment right now and i'm gonna hit the carpets now that i know the leak is stopped. between sunday when i found the leak and last night (wednesday) i've probably got 12 hours in the job by researching online, tinkering and trips to the hardware store but once i diagnosed the issue and had the needed supplies it was really quite simple.
in hindsight i should've skipped trying to thread weedwacker line down the drain since it was pretty clear it was at least partially draining down the correct hose. and the attempted ziptieing of the cracked hose was a waste of time after i got a look at how bad it was.
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