hi,
i just recently moved to maryland with my 88 240 and the car has been garaged for most of its life. but last night it rained really hard like a really humid hard rain and water soaked the battery terminal and junction box area and caused a no start. i have since gotten it to start but it's supposed to rain again next few days and a car cover is on order...what would you guys and gals recommend to keep out rain in the meantime? plastic bag over the battery? painter's tape to seal the crack between the hood and body?
thx for reading

 

The real problem is the junction box as you mentioned and the 25A fuse. Many people on the forum here replace the 25A fuse with a marine fuse holder which is waterproof. Battery shouldn't be a problem as the hood should keep it dry. I really haven't had any problem with the junction box either as it has a cover on it that seems to do a good job of keeping the innards dry. However, I have a '90 240 and maybe the setup is slightly different.

 

rain shouldn't get into the engine compartiment through that crack, the fender is molded to form a rain gutter so the rain runs off the front.

act1292: the only significant difference between a 88 and 90 240 is the first has LH2.2 injection, andt he 2nd has LH2.4, otherwise they are virtually the same, same chassis, same tranny, same engine.

 

maybe you are underestimating the severity of the rain...rain can get in through that crack to wet the battery if it falls hard enough and hits the right spot.
act1292: i'm not sure where that 25A fuse is that you mention, but i do have a fuse in that location for my amp

 

are you missing the rubber seals? I know my 745T has seals along both fenders, I think the 240 has them too.

we get torrential rains here on the central left coast in the winters, sometimes 6" in 6 hours. never had a problem with our 240 or the couple 7s', 9's we've had with rain getting into the engine compartment. driving too fast through big puddles can slosh water onto the lower 1/4 of the engine, this can cause belts to squeal and slip a bit, but if you've got the stock lower cover in place, it mostly keeps it off there, too.

anyways, all 240's with LH injection have a 25A main fuel injection fuse somewhere in the vicinity of the power steering reservoir, just behind the battery.. this fuse powers the ECU, the injectors, the fuel pumps, everything. the original fuse holders get pretty cruddy after 20+ years, and ours needed replacing, the plastic was so brittle it just crumbled. as act1292 said, many of us use marine fuse holders to replace this.

 

hm...i don't remember any rubber seals as part of the fender...it's all metal on metal where the hood and fender crack meet.

 

No, there are no seals along the fenders. Not on the 7 or the 9 either...

 

ah, went out in my driveway and looked. doy, the seals I was thinking of are on our 1991 Mercedes 300E, it has rubber seals on the lips all the way around the engine compartment. I guess I shoulda checked last night.

 

oh, wait, my 92 740 has a rubber seal/gasket along the front of the hood, and along the back of the cowl where the rear of the hood sits, but nothing on the sides, that was the benz.

 

yeah, i can actually see the junction box if i get the right angle from the outside with the hood closed...i think i'll try putting some weather stripping along the inside fender to narrow that gap

 

That's nor right: may be you are missing a piece or something... Hard to say without seeing it.

 

my 240 isn't here right now, but there should be like a 3/4" wide channel with a lip on the inside of the fender, and the hood should sit over this, that should pretty much block that gap, catch any water that dribbles in, and let it drain out over the headlight.

 

i'm pretty sure i'm not missing a piece...can't anyone else verify being able to see the junction box from an angle with the hood closed?

 

Just went and took a look at mine. I can (barely) see the junction box through the crack. However, the junction box, headlight relay, and 25A fuse are mounted on a piece of sheet metal that is offset from the fender so water flows down behind them. Also, the junction box has a black plastic cover to protect the innards (which are still nice an shiny inside). I live in the Chicago area and my car sits outside all year. The 25A fuse is really the only thing of concern since it has no cover on it and acts like a scoop for any water/snow/etc to flow right into it.

 

Just make sure the fuse doesn't get wet! The rest is academic--it can get wet all it wants.

 

Hmmm.....My 240 with LH2.2 lacks a cap over the fuse holder too; however I filled the holder with dielectric grease when I had the fuse out. That fills up the spaces and I think prevents any stray rainwater from entering the holder itself; water just rolls off.

 

as I think I said before, I replaced mine with a marine holder I got at West Marine, and yeah, filled THAT up with silicone grease.

 

well my neg. battery terminal does get wet too, i had to remove my battery disconnect which i think is ruined now after getting soaked and connect it directly to the battery before i was able to start it again. and yea the 25A is a problem too...it felt like my car was going to die after slowly accelerating from a stop sign after my junction box area got a little wet again

 

thought i'd share what i did...seems to work ok so far...just some weather stripping i bought from west marine on the inside fender to seal the gap.




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