Car Rotting at bottom of rear rocker area

[Rolm]

The old 99 has started to rust at the rear buttom of the rocker rear "door area". I poked my screwdriver through the rust and the base was full of sand salt and crud. Question; How do I flush this stuff out do I have to remove the wheel well liner to get at it. thanks

[99intriguePA]

Originally Posted by Rolm

The old 99 has started to rust at the rear buttom of the rocker rear "door area". I poked my screwdriver through the rust and the base was full of sand salt and crud. Question; How do I flush this stuff out do I have to remove the wheel well liner to get at it. thanks

Check out my post here: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=970371

That post didn't generate a lot of interest but I think many Intrigue owners will be finding out the hard way like I did. I suggest you remove the plastic rocker covers and check the extent of the damage along the entire rocker panel. When I was finished removing the bad areas there wasn't much left for any crud to accumulate into anymore, basicly the rockers are gone. I did manage to re-mount the plastic covers so that all the damage is covered.

[panzer dragoon]

With this thin unibody sheet metal you can't let moisture trap itself with dirt and even worse road salt.

These cars are 2002-->1998 = 8yrs-12 yrs old. Everybody should be searching for these hidden moisture (rust) traps.

+under the front floor mats (typical) -could be the blower fan vent or the foam seal under the wiper plate gets stiff or rots. Clean, repair, paint and wax.

Everytime I add oil etc I wipe off the dust and get any debris off the engine area and wipe it down with an oily rag etc.

I looked for that dam blower fan vent tube and could not find it last year. I had the pic from here and everything.

[Rolm]

Thanks for the info. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO REMOVE THE PLASTIC PLUGS THAT HOLD THE PLASTIC ROCKER COVER

[99intriguePA]

Originally Posted by Rolm

Thanks for the info. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO REMOVE THE PLASTIC PLUGS THAT HOLD THE PLASTIC ROCKER COVER

Normally you just have to pull the smaller center pin outwards and then pry or pull the whole retainer out. My panels were so bad that most of the retainers just pulled through the rotted metal. Thankfully the panels have holes drilled on the door sill area and that's what I used to re-attach them as there was almost nothing left on the bottom to attach to.

There should also be screws holding the panel on at the wheel well areas.

[Rolm]

Originally Posted by 99intriguePA

Normally you just have to pull the smaller center pin outwards and then pry or pull the whole retainer out. My panels were so bad that most of the retainers just pulled through the rotted metal. Thankfully the panels have holes drilled on the door sill area and that's what I used to re-attach them as there was almost nothing left on the bottom to attach to.

There should also be screws holding the panel on at the wheel well areas.

Ok I removed the platic roker covers and what a mess, holes and rust everywhere. I used a screw driver and scraped most of th rust and paint off. I also used the hose to blast out the rest of the crud out. I am going to use Tremclad rust paint and paint the rocker panel what is left and I was also thinking of filling the rotted out roker panel with the expendable foam. I want to do this to keep crud from filling the holes. Once I put the platic cover on and it should look ok.

For the guys that have newer Intrigues I suggest you drill holes and spray the inside of the rocker with oil and do this at least 2-times per year.

[Tobey]

I just pulled mine off of my 2000. Guess I'm lucky, everything's fine. A lot of dust, but the paint is still intact and no rust that I can see.

[sparcx]

Anyone having this problem in 2000 and later intrigues?

i notice all the reports are from 1998/1999 vehicles, so just checking if there's any changes in later vehicles.

[99intriguePA]

The reason I first posted this info a while back was to possibly save someone with a newer Intrigue the headache of dealing with the mess. If I had a newer Intrigue I would pull the covers and rinse it all out well and check that all the drain holes are open. Even if it looks intact that doesn't mean that its not plugged up with gunk and rusting from the inside out. Lightly tapping on the rocker area will tell you a lot just by the sound.

I'm afraid that its probably too late for most with the '98's and '99's - at least those in areas that are subjected to salt and cinders.