Back in 2002, the previous owner of my car had some rust repairs done on the front and back 12" of each rocker panel (around the jack holes and rubber jack pads).
Last week, I went to jack up the car to change the driver's side rear tire. I put the jack under the rubber jack pad, and started lifting up the car. The car didn't move, but the rubber jack pad did - it sort of squished up into the rocker panel. I stopped as soon as I saw this.
I pulled on the rubber jack pad and it fell out, along with a ridiculously enormous amount of damp debris. At least 2 cups of material in total. Some rust, some fine dirt, and some miscellaneous parts.
I cut away some more of the rocker panel to see how far the damage went. It seems that the thing that holds the rubber jack pad (called the jack fixture or take-up device, 201 616 02 47, in case anyone else needs to order this part) is supposed to be welded to the car at 3 points, but it had rusted apart and broken free in 1 place (marked with * in attached photo). So it just bent when I tried to jack up the car.
When sifting through the debris that fell out of the rust hole, I found remnants of some rubber grommet things that looked like they used to be drainage holes. The people who did the rust repair (Maaco in Rockaway, NJ) had filled over them with bondo and metal. I suspect that this is why the rust progressed to this point - water got in and there was no way for it to drain out. So the rust repair caused extra rust... Grr...
So, my questions:
1) Can someone with a 190D or 190E tell me if there is supposed to be a rubber drain hole at the rear of the rocker panel on the driver's side? I see one on the passenger side... If there is one, where is it positioned in relation to the rubber jack pad?
2) Does anyone know what part of the car drains into this area? It seems like there are actually 2 compartments - the rocker panel, and then a smaller area behind the rocker panel that extends up over the rear wheel. It's this second area that was the most damp.
If anyone has a picture of the bottom of the rear part of the driver's side rocker panel on a 190, it would be really helpful if you could post it or describe what's there.
Thanks!
