W201 190D rocker panels - Maaco rust repair disaster - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

cornblatt · #1 09-02-2006, 06:49 PM

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!

Hatterasguy · #2 09-02-2006, 10:19 PM

Yeah the jack points in the SD are like that. I bet if you started to look there are a lot more soft areas under that car.

I don't know how anyone can expect Maaco to do good work at the prices they charge. Considering what the PO probably paid for that "repair" thats the cheap way to hide rust thats for sure.

Time to evaluate the car, once rust progresses to a certain point, its not worth putting money into them anymore. The SD is past the point of no return, hence its name. It seems like there are rust holes every where I look under that thing. Just drive it until the rust gets to bad than junk it.

cornblatt · #3 10-02-2006, 11:28 AM

I found another 190 in my neighbourhood, and there is supposed to be a drain hole there. So, I ordered in the parts to do the repair.

This weekend, I finally got things all fixed up. It turned out really well.

The 'jack fixture' piece that the jack pad goes into was really rusted (see attached picture of old and new parts). I imagine that since it's the lowest part, it was the most submerged in water from the sealed-over drain. Fortunately, the pieces that the jack fixture attached to were in OK shape and didn't need replacement.

I ground away the rusted metal and coated the inside of the rocker panel with two coats of Permatex rust treatment and a thick layer of paint.

Then, I installed the new jack fixture (201 616 02 47, $20 from Germany via the dealer).

After that, I rebuilt the surrounding rocker panel area out of aluminum to avoid future rusting. In the new metal, I installed the formerly-missing drain spout (201 997 23 81, $3) that started this whole problem. Some filling, sanding, priming, undercoating, and painting, and it's done! I also put in a new jack pad (201 997 00 86) since it was less than $5.

So now the car is back in good shape, with no more rust (that I can see

) and it can be safely jacked up again.

This was reasonably easy to fix because the rust hadn't yet affected any non-replacable parts; if anyone has rusty jack points, fix them before they progress to a point where they can't be repaired!

Jim B. · #4 10-02-2006, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I don't know how anyone can expect Maaco to do good work at the prices they charge.

I was in a MAACO shop and the owner showed me several brand new Toyotas sent in from the local dealer to have damage that occurred them while on the dealer lot repainted and repaired.

From what I understand the Toyota dealer does NOT have to and doesn't, disclose this cheap fix to the buyers of these so called "brand new" cars.

JimZ · #5 10-04-2006, 05:37 PM

I'm having the same problem with the front driver side jack hole. Except judging from your pictures, mine is way worse.

There's basically nothing left of the hole where the jack pad screwed in except a thin, spring-like coil. And there's not much left around the jack hole either.

I'm have no experience with body work, so my question is: is this fixable? Should I just cut away all the rust and not plan on jacking the car up with the MB jack on that side?

Again, it's basically hollow up where the jack pad was and the jack hole part looks like it would break off with one tap of a hammer. Boo.