Any advances on what else to call it?? 
MB2 & MB3 are recent purchases, but they've both had the same problem, which made me think just how many W116 owners are going through the same frustration....
After a bit of rain on MB2 I noticed that the container around the fuel filler wasn't draining properly. Thinking that it was just blocked with some dirt, or debris, I preceeded to feed a highly specialized tool down the drain hole (a piece of cut & straightened coathanger)! After finding what I thought was the blockage & discovering that it must've gone like concrete over many years, I applied an increasing amount of force. Maybe it was a wasp nest or something I thought? Suddenly the blockage seemed to clear, but to my horror, all I'd succeeded in doing was push the wire straight through the side of the plastic drain pipe! I finally managed to repair the pipe & get the wire all the way through, but it wasn't draining as well as I'd like.
After washing MB3 I discovered the same problem with the blasted fuel spill area filling up with water. Not prepared to risk putting another hole through yet another pipe, I decided to pull it out & have a closer inspection of the thing. Which is no easy task, as the pipe'd gone hard with age & I didn't want to break it... It might be cheap to replace, but maybe not knowing MBs..... Although I could push the coat hanger through, I just couldn't blow through the pipe. Which was quite odd, seeing as it had a largish diameter. After scratching my head for a while I decided to get out the big guns, in the form of a flat blade screwdriver with a very long shaft. Soon enough I found the blockage & after a little more frustration I managed to unblock the sucker. To my surprise I found the problem & it all made perfect sense.
One of the rubber stoppers from the fuel flap had broken off & fallen straight down the drain, to block it against all but a bloody big screwdriver! Unknowingly, previous owners had replaced the missing stopper without a second thought. Unaware of the horror to come......
MB2 & MB3 are recent purchases, but they've both had the same problem, which made me think just how many W116 owners are going through the same frustration....
After a bit of rain on MB2 I noticed that the container around the fuel filler wasn't draining properly. Thinking that it was just blocked with some dirt, or debris, I preceeded to feed a highly specialized tool down the drain hole (a piece of cut & straightened coathanger)! After finding what I thought was the blockage & discovering that it must've gone like concrete over many years, I applied an increasing amount of force. Maybe it was a wasp nest or something I thought? Suddenly the blockage seemed to clear, but to my horror, all I'd succeeded in doing was push the wire straight through the side of the plastic drain pipe! I finally managed to repair the pipe & get the wire all the way through, but it wasn't draining as well as I'd like.
After washing MB3 I discovered the same problem with the blasted fuel spill area filling up with water. Not prepared to risk putting another hole through yet another pipe, I decided to pull it out & have a closer inspection of the thing. Which is no easy task, as the pipe'd gone hard with age & I didn't want to break it... It might be cheap to replace, but maybe not knowing MBs..... Although I could push the coat hanger through, I just couldn't blow through the pipe. Which was quite odd, seeing as it had a largish diameter. After scratching my head for a while I decided to get out the big guns, in the form of a flat blade screwdriver with a very long shaft. Soon enough I found the blockage & after a little more frustration I managed to unblock the sucker. To my surprise I found the problem & it all made perfect sense.
One of the rubber stoppers from the fuel flap had broken off & fallen straight down the drain, to block it against all but a bloody big screwdriver! Unknowingly, previous owners had replaced the missing stopper without a second thought. Unaware of the horror to come......
