Help! Car carpets are soaking wet after leak

mzara

Hi does anyone know the best and quickest way to try the carpets and sponge underneath? So far I've put towels on them to soak up most of the wetness but is there anything quicker? Is there a place in Galway that can vacuum the water (car valeting)? The wet patches are in the front passenger and behind? Any tips would be appreciated

Zebrano

Leave the car running for a few hours with the heating on full and the windows open a bit.

SoapMcTavish

Volkswagen Passat by any chance ?

Sam Kade

mzara wrote: »

Hi does anyone know the best and quickest way to try the carpets and sponge underneath? So far I've put towels on them to soak up most of the wetness but is there anything quicker? Is there a place in Galway that can vacuum the water (car valeting)? The wet patches are in the front passenger and behind? Any tips would be appreciated

But the leak will still be there, surely you would be better off to take out the seats and carpet to dry it and find the leak.

mzara

the mechanic found the leak it came from windscreen and travelled all the way back! he fixed it so now its the clean up that needs to be done

mzara

nope its a ford focus

renofan

To be honest the only way to dry the foam out completely is to take the carpet out. You'll be very surprised how much water the foam will hold and towels will only soak so much up. The rest will turn stagnant over time and the car will have a fusty smell.

madfcuker

Had this problem earlier this year. Mechanic fixed the leak and the fastest way was to take out the front seats and remove carpet and the other materials. Took 3 days to get everything dried.

mzara

renofan wrote: »

To be honest the only way to dry the foam out completely is to take the carpet out. You'll be very surprised how much water the foam will hold and towels will only soak so much up. The rest will turn stagnant over time and the car will have a fusty smell.

Is it easy to take the carpet out??

renofan

It's not too bad if you know what you are doing, the seat'll have to come out along with some trim. I'm sure your mechanic would do it for a small fee. Once the carpets are out let them dry for a while and put the seats back in so you can drive in the meantime.

It's the best way to get them dry imo.

biko

Go to one of the car cleaning places. They may have a wet vac they can use to dry the carpets.

mzara

biko wrote: »

Go to one of the car cleaning places. They may have a wet vac they can use to dry the carpets.

thanks I might do that

renofan

biko wrote: »

Go to one of the car cleaning places. They may have a wet vac they can use to dry the carpets.

As someone speaking from experience no vac will soak up all the water from a leak as the water has been soaking from the bottom up, not top down and the foam holds a hell of a lot of water.

Plus the advantage of taking out the carpet is letting the floor of the car dry too.

biko

Yeah, it won't get rid of everything.
Parking overnight in a warm garage with windows cracked should help, stick a heater in too.

Hal1

Get a dehumidifier, plug in and leave it. If that's the early focus you have the seal around the pollen filter is where the water is getting in.

Have a look at the plastic cowl under the passenger side window wiper. There is one screw holding it down. Chances are it's not bonded to the window properly.

mzara

Hal1 wrote: »

Get a dehumidifier, plug in and leave it. If that's the early focus you have the seal around the pollen filter is where the water is getting in.

Have a look at the plastic cowl under the passenger side window wiper. There is one screw holding it down. Chances are it's not bonded to the window properly.

Yeah it's a 03 focus and that's where the mechanic sealed the window! Buying a dehumidifier tomorrow in argos

slimjimmc

mzara wrote: »

Yeah it's a 03 focus and that's where the mechanic sealed the window! Buying a dehumidifier tomorrow in argos

A dehumidifier only extracts moisture from the air, you still need heat to help evaporate the moisture out of the carpet. If you intend to run a dehumidifier keep the windows/vents closed and the cabin warm to maximise extraction. It could still take days.

Mech1

Carpets / foam underlay out is the only way to do this right. Someone above said a mechanic will do this for a small fee, he is wrong.

It takes heaps of time to remove seats / center consul / sill trims / pillar trims etc to get the one piece lump out then you gotta store the car somewhere while the stuff is drying and after that refit it all and probably clear airbag warning faults cause someone turned on the ignition while the seats where out!

Diy this is much cheaper just will take you a full weekend to sort it.

Edit : while you have it stripped recheck for leaks!!!

Hal1

Probably best to disconnect the battery before removing the seats. To prevent the warning lights etc coming on.
I think it's a T45 torx bit for the front seats.

dr.fuzzenstein

biko wrote: »

Yeah, it won't get rid of everything.
Parking overnight in a warm garage with windows cracked should help, stick a heater in too.

Heater is the job!
Dehumidifier, you might as well try to dry the car out through the medium of expressive dance.
Extension cable, blower heater, windows open a tiny bit and leave it running overnight. Be careful and make sure the heater can't fall over and set your car on fire.
Though you could consider taking the carpets out, it is a pig of a job, seats and a lot of trim to come out, but if it was really soaked would be worth it.

mzara

thanks

scamalert

had similar issue,well not me but my bro,basically he was bringing back home can of wall paint 3l bucket,and shop forgot to seal the lid with the tape,anyway on last turn home can bursted full open ,flooding whole passenger area. after buckets of towels and trying to drain it,next day he rented industrial steam cleaning hoover-costs around 20-50e for the day.Anyway after 6h hours of steaming,replacing water and sucking whats left the result was as nothing happened,not a hint of smell or any left overs. So id say try water hoover,only trouble is you mention foam,now i know most cars have them around doors sills and other places,but most can be taken out without much as diy manual,as dont believe there would be a lot of stuffed under seats themselves,as its mainly used for noise insulation.then again every model of car is different.

dr.fuzzenstein

LOL!
Was it like this:



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336779/Family-overcome-emulsion-Car-crash-covers-white-paint.html

scamalert

LOL ^^ took me a minute to notice people behind the car.
and no it wasnt like that as said only passenger area,lucky enough most panels around doors where easy to come off to get all the stuff cleaned.

given that its winter now its a bit more complicated,since sucking most water out of the carpets should to the trick,but not knowing how much foam is under there and is it water absorbent,it might start to mold.Where if it was summer and car was on direct sunlight for couple days most of it would evaporate fast.

dr.fuzzenstein

Ford Focus there is quite a bit of foam. Had a leaky one and they are bastards, had to get rid of mine in the end. Also, the insulating material turns into absolute sludge if wet. Heater will take days to dry that out, if there was a puddle of water above carpet level, carpet out is the only way.