Water Drains - Summary Attempt

[Pawel66]

I am enclosing a summary of some of the basics I found on the Forum on this topic. Maybe someone will find it useful. If you care to look at it and find anything that is incorrect or if you can contribute - that would be lovely.

Just did that as I need to go around the car and make sure all the holes are indeed holes...

Perhaps it is just me, but going through old posts is sometimes difficult as links to "index" do not work. So I thought a brief compilation wold be useful.

[JamesL]

Good idea Pawel and a very important one for those of us who have rain...

[ja17]

Nice job Pawel, a lot of these drains are plugged up with undercoating since the cars were new.

[Pawel66]

Good idea Pawel and a very important one for those of us who have rain...

Thank you James!
Well, condensation inside the frame members may play a role... You also wash your car... Anyway - I was going ot have a look as car is raised on the lift now for some jobs anyway.

[Pawel66]

Nice job Pawel, a lot of these drains are plugged up with undercoating since the cars were new.

Thank you! There are some quotes form your posts there. And there are some pictures from your posts (!). Yes! You used to post pictures! 

[John Betsch - "SADIE"]

Pawel, this is a very worthwhile endeavor.  Thanks.  And a question-  Do you know if the attached picture is a cover that goes on the passenger firewall drain?

[mrfatboy]

I will jump since Pawel is probably asleep right now🤣

The rubber drain fitting as seen in your picture is only for the driver's side.

The passenger side drain tube is bent in on the passenger's firewall and is unable to fit the rubber parts.  Nothing is used.


Edit:  I found a pic of the driver side drain tube (circled in green) that needs the rubber part.  Its missing in pic. I needed one also at the time. 😜

[ja17]

Waite till you see what Mercedes wants for that little rubber part!

[mrfatboy]

Joe is correct 😀  Outrageous price.

There is a cheaper version for other MB's with a slight modification that looks nearly identical. I have seen them even cheaper.

https://www.authenticclassics.com/Rubber-Water-Drain-Valve-for-Mercedes-repro-20mm-p/auth-003773.htm

[Pawel66]

I think we concluded that this "ball valve" was not fitted on the passenger side. It is very close to exhaust, actually.

The part number is A 110 831 01 32, it is 72hrs availability in my geography and costs - please sit down on a chair or something - is ca $80 without VAT.

I bought it from SLS a couple of years ago.

However: the number of pieces needed for a car provided in the EPC is 2pcs for all 113042 to 113044. I am not saying correct/not correct - it is one of those discrepancies of system data vs. reality. Curious what old paper parts catalogues would say.

This "ball valve" is shown in Heating and Ventilation (where else! . Since we are there, the part number for the two under dash drain hoses from MB is N 073411 016000 (they are not on the picture). You order by meter. It is a generic part, but I remember Members were asking about it. You have clamps there as well (A 005 997 01 90) for these hoses - you get nice modern clamps with MB star if you are lucky, but obviously you will not get the correct looking clamps. 4pcs. are needed.

[mbzse]

Here a previous discussion around this rubber ball valve item:
https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=6092.msg37794#msg37794

Be sure also to root out this drain passage, so that water runs out in good order.
This is done from above after removing the air scoop hood in front of the windscreen.
See our Technical Manual section: Chassis and Body/Water Drains
https://www.sl113.org/wiki/ChassisBody/Drains

[Pawel66]

Enclosed amended material. Amendment is about asymmetrical location of box drains.

[doitwright]

Be careful what you order here. I received the rubber ball from an aftermarket supplier and found the inner diameter of the tube to be too large to fit my SL. I later parted out a 72 W108 and found it also had the larger diameter drain tube.

[mauro12]

Hello guys , I just cleaned and replaced the hoses that drain the water from the air scoop, they were cracked and I had water in my front carpets but I noticed another small issue . Yesterday I was cleaning the engine bay with a garden hose ( no pressure washer ) and a degreaser ,after that I noticed a small amount of water in the passenger carpet only . Is there a connection between the drain hole in the engine bay near the coolant reservoir area that could let some water go into the passenger carpet ?
Thank you

[Alex D]

Where on was it wet on the passenger side?  If it was wet by the passenger door under the dash where you right leg/foot would be, replace the rubber grommet between the antenna and body.  Worked for me.

[Pawel66]

mauro, I remember that when I was going through the posts on water drains, this place was described by one of the Members as leading to cavity that may, eventually, collect water that will spill over to inside of the cockpit. If I were in your shoes, I would blow some air into that drain, see what happens, try to dry it , put some cavity wax inside and plug it (that is what i did in my car). I think the general conclusion on this spot was that it better be plugged. Someone, actually, reported finding remains of some plug there. Check me by search, but I think that is what was said.

I have also other suspects for the place you are describing (other than antenna, which was mentioned):
- on some cars you may have some rust and the "basin" under fresh air inlet may not be water tight; some sealing there also may be missing
- you have a hole for antenna and radio power wires there in the fire wall, closer to the middle of the car
- there may be a hole for carpet holder that is open
- the wiper motor rubber plate may net be sealing the opening as it should
- wiper shafts

[mauro12]

Hi, the water was in the middle of the passenger side carpet. The antenna grommet is outside the engine bay and not inside. I'm almost sure that there is a small drain hole right above the water reservoir . I read the water drain file that Pawel wrote and there is a part where is written : ( I think these should be plugged ). My guess is that these holes are somehow connected to the inside cabin and here starts another question ;why some of this drain holes should be plugged? if mercedes created them there might be a valid reason. Would be great if you could send some pictures of the drain holes that you decided to plug. I don't want to have anymore water inside the cabin.
thank you very much for your help.
Mauro

[Pawel66]

mauro, you have the theory on those drain holes here in reply #5:

https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=375.msg39715#msg39715

The water outlets in wheel wells are shown in the pdf. Do you have them unclogged? If not, water spilled somewhere else. They are very difficult to be kept clean and clear.

There was some dispute over those drain holes, as I wrote before - plug them or not. You see what mbzse said there - that is what I did as it holds intuitively plus someone found remains of a plug, as I wrote previously.

Here, replies #13 through #16: https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=27908.msg200982#msg200982

There were more debates there, two schools. You can pour some water to that hole and see if it drips inside.

As I wrote, I plugged mine.

There are also other places where water could come in that I wrote about in my previous post.

[mauro12]

Hi, I think I have solved the issue . I took a torch and I have illuminated to drain hole and the light came out from under the dash in the exact position where I had the water leak . I will try to post a picture . Having said that , I’m trying to understand why mercedes decided to make this drain hole if water can pour directly into the cabin . What is the function ?

[Pawel66]

I have this one plugged as well. I do not know if it is a drain hole. I doubt Daimler would do it like this. I do not remember if I saw it from the other side when I was dismantling wiper motor.

The location would be strange for the drain hole... The actual drain hole is right below this one.

[doitwright]

Interesting you bring up this point. Last month I examined a 63 W111 Cabriolet in North Carolina. Although it was a pretty solid car overall, we found rust in this same area.

[mauro12]

Hi, it seems very rusted in the picture . Mine luckily doesn’t have any rust there . I was just wondering what was the function of that hole . Maybe is not a drain hole but can be used to pass some additional wires inside the cabin . Anyway I think that with closed hood it shouldn’t be a problem because water is forced to go somewhere else for gravity . You can look in your car too see if you have the same hole as me .

[sandcrab59]

I have seen these rubber drains on my 200D cars from 66 to 68.
So if you see any 200d's in the junk yard ( HA HA) look for these rubber drains.
I have saved mine. A little old but with tender care they can be used again.
Tom

[lreppond]

Hey Pawel!   Really appreciate you sharing this content with us.  For cars plagued with rust issues, knowing where drain holes are located and keeping them free and clear, is essential for the health of our cars. 

[Pawel66]

Good to hear! But I just pulled together a lot of insights from a lot of experts here, nothing more. I will also appreciate any additions or corrections to he material.