They're perfectly fine with regular maintenance on Water Drains, trouble is, by and large, no one gives a monkeys all the while it's running fine, then when an owner sees the grief it can cause, clearing leaves etc becomes a regular task :wink
It may well have been a smarter idea to mount them somewhere else, but then you wouldn't have designed in obsolescence
They're perfectly fine with regular maintenance on Water Drains, trouble is, by and large, no one gives a monkeys all the while it's running fine, then when an owner sees the grief it can cause, clearing leaves etc becomes a regular task /forums/images/BenzWorld2/smilies/tango_face_wink.png
It may well have been a smarter idea to mount them somewhere else, but then you wouldn't have designed in obsolescence <img src="http://www.benzworld.org/forums/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)" class="inlineimg" />
The problem is that water gets in through the front, via the HVAC Air Intake Plenum, Under Grille on Bonnet (Hood), and then the water runs back under the Carpets and foam through all the electrics etc and gets under the back seats.
Water Drains are well documented in the Encyclopaedia, there are also 2 in the Trunk Wells which need regular clearing or the CD Changer & Battery etc can go swimming :wink
"...I’m also thinking of drilling more under the back seat."
Should not be necessary, if you just keep the drain in the HVAC plenum clear, and/or drill a hole in the side of the plenum as suggested by Mercedes Benz. The rear seat drains will also not prevent water damage - the main power leads and some primary (high amperage) fuses are in the channels in the floor where the water from the plenum overflows.
The Trunk is not sealed completely tight, there are 2 rubber bungs with small (4mm ?) drain holes in them, but no one ever cleans them out and they become blocked, that's why I say pull em out of the hole they sit in, then you have a larger (12mm ?) drain hole that doesn't need as much clearing out !!
Or, just spend a half hour to hour once a month / 3 months (depending how often and near to trees your Car is left), and go round and clean 'em all out
As @wallyp says, MB actually recommend drilling the Heater Plenum, (probably since the USA Class action against them for FUBAR Electronics due to this issue) :frown
The Trunk is not sealed completely tight, there are 2 rubber bungs with small (4mm ?) drain holes in them, but no one ever cleans them out and they become blocked, that's why I say pull em out of the hole they sit in, then you have a larger (12mm ?) drain hole that doesn't need as much clearing out !!
Or, just spend a half hour to hour once a month / 3 months (depending how often and near to trees your Car is left), and go round and clean 'em all out
As @wallyp says, MB actually recommend drilling the Heater Plenum, (probably since the USA Class action against them for FUBAR Electronics due to this issue) /forums/images/BenzWorld2/smilies/tango_face_sad.png
No not under the seat, the plastic reservoir under the windshield that fills with water. During the recall the Mercedes suggestion was to drill a hole in the side of that plastic reservoir so that water could not accumulate and would dump out in the engine bay
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