Air con. problem 280SL 107 '81

[sean sherry]

Now that the humid weather is back the air con drips cold condensation on to my feet after a while. I read that there was a design problem with the eirlier 107s. and mercedes issued a mod. for this. But also that it was not 100% effective. I have the instrument cluster and the lower panel out but can't see wher it might be coming from. Maybe some one in Sydney has a fix or knows of one.,.......Sean

 

[6.9forever]

Unfortunately there is no system fix as this is typical of the 116 and 107. It can be avoided by not running the system too cold when humidity is high. This means not turning the dial past the small notch break in the blue marking around the dial which indicates recirculation point that is when excessive condensate forms on outside of box and drips into footwell and if not dried out, rust near accelerator pedal base eventuates. Also make sure small drain tubes are unblocked which are on right and left of console up under dash which drain to road. This has all been my experience in 116 in Sydney humidity.

 

[sean sherry]

Thanks for that , I'll put the car back togather and just work round it. If 40 thousand Mercedes engineers couldn't come up with a fix what chance have I !
:cool ....Sean

 

[Helmet]

Yes, the rear drains become blocked and allow water to overflow. Clearing the rear drains will solve the problem for this year .

 

[Styria]

Sean, the explanation as suggested by 6.9 forever can be traced back to the Air Conditioning Company (or individual) located at Knightsbridge, between Castle Hill and Glenhaven. He is a very experienced Air Con. technician and certainly cut some of his teeth on the 116s, in particular the 6.9. He is particularly enamored by the work involved in removing the compressor.

Helmet, I just can't quite recall, but are there four drains altogether, or only the two. I am not handy to the unit (tray) at the moment, so am not able to check physically. Regards Styria

 

[sean sherry]

I have now been reliably informed that there are 4 drain tubes accessed from under neath hanging down in the Transmissiom tunnel. I'll blow some compressed air up through them and hopefully this will improve the situation. Maybe an annual check as any rubbish will still be in the tray.
...... Sean