Box section under the front seats step

[Erich]

I don't know if others have encountered this issue. I am the new owner of a 1987 L300. No rust that was obvious. Today, I noticed small bit of rust next to the driver's step. Probing revealed a small hole. Behind, I removed two plugs, one at the front and one at the rear that is a drain plug. The cavity had sludge, basically water and road dust sitting in there for decades. Has anyone else opened their inspection holes to find this mess?

[lrp374]

Pictures??

[Erich]

I'll try to post photos in the next couple of days. Basically, the step under the door is a box section. Passenger's side has bolts to attach air conditioner unit. Driver's side has nothing. Both had inspection plugs at the front, and drain plugs at the rear. Both had very large amounts of fine silt, permeated with water. Flushing was really productive.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Are you talking about the skids? With the tread that protects the A/C on the left side and the tranny cooler on the right side if you have an A/T. I take it you drive a manual transmission if there is nothing there. Or are you talking about the step inside the door, just under the deck?

Falco.

[Erich]

Hi Falco, It is the step under the door and I do have a manual transmission. The door step is a hollow box section which appears may connect with the door pillar. The rubber inspection plugs are obvious underneath the car and looking up at the back side of the step. On the passenger side, the air conditioner unit is bolted directly to the box section of the step. On mine, the driver's side has nothing bolted to it, but on the AT vans there is a transmission cooler bolted to it.

Best,

Erich