Hello,

I'm doing the infamous floor pan and rocker panel rust repairs. I have all the carpets and seats out. I see the hose that goes from the cowl vents and through the circular plug into the rocker panel. My question is, where is the water supposed to go from there? Is the water just supposed to drain into the rocker panel? The end of the cowl hose is just hanging in there. Is it supposed to poke out through a drain hole in the bottom of the car?

If the rocker panel is supposed to be a drainage channel, I'm confused why the bottom of the car has those oval shaped black rubber plugs in it. How is water supposed to get out of the rocker panel? It is just going into the drivers side passenger floor pan on my car.

Thanks,

Ryan

Look under the car at a point where the outer shell of the rocker panel joins the the floor pan.

There is a seam that runs the length under the car. It will have puckers every foot or so.

Most of the water that goes down the cowl vent should drain from the front area where the rear of the fenders attach on the bottom.
If they plug up everything floats in there!

Those plastic plugs pop out all, along the inside of the car to give you access to the debris inside. There will be plenty and sometimes as far back as the rear door pillar.

The same goes for the door panels as there are two of them along the inside shell of the door.

Phil

Does all of the debris get into the rocker through the black hose that carries the water?

Can I just drill a hole in the bottom of the car and extend the hose through it?

Interesting, that you are asking a question about a black hose and I'm asking, What black hose?

You have torn into some place that I have not!

The only actual hoses that I'm aware of are from the sunroof drains. They run into the roofs front pillars and and towards the rear door "B" pillars.
There are also two in the trunk under the rear window but they are clear vinyl to yellow viny when aged.

It has always my thinking that the front cowling had some sort lower pan construction that just dumped the water sideways over to the rocker panel area with holes.
This is why I said the most water comes out at the bottom of the "A" pillars. Like just under the rear of the fenders. If the car is tiled up in the front water can go more rearward where there are more outlets that can get plugged as well.

If you take a hose and pour water into the cowl water should come out there first unless they are really plugged! You have to use a hose to flush either way.
You mentioned rust, now you know how it started.

Look for pucker lips. You know, like those you make when you are sneaking up on a hot spoonful of soup! (:-0. (:-)

You will need something small like a coat hanger wire to get up in there but if you have some in there you might have a lot!

Pop the plastic plugs on the inside the car to gain access. It's the only way to assure you have a clean drain trough front to rear.
A small diameter vacuum hose can be pushed in both directions to suck stuff out.


Phil

Ahh, OK I do have an aftermarket sunroof so that probably explains the hose I see. There are two, one in the passenger footwell and the other in the drivers footwell that go through the most forward circular plug to the rocker panel. I'm not sure if the car came with a manual sunroof and the original owner installed a power one or if it was just installed in a car that didn't come with one.

Thanks for taking the time to explain it. I've read lots of other posts about rust repair and the rocker panels, I was just never exactly clear on how the whole system was supposed to work.

The rocker panel already has built in drain holes, you just need to keep them clean. Look under the bottom of the rocker panel along the seam where it meets the floorpan. There are about 4 or 5 slotted holes that are there for drainage. Take a small screwdriver or whatever else is handy and clean them, flush them or blow them if need be. No drilling is necessary.
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Bruce S. near D.C.