Hey guys,

Long story short, my keys were in my pocket and somehow the unlock button got held down while I was in my house, which as you all know opens the moonroof and windows completely. By my estimates, this was open for about 12 hours overnight, and we've been getting rain lately so needless to say the interior was pretty wet. By my estimates, there was about 1.5-2" of water that collected over night, judging from what was collected in the cup holder.

Are there any tips as to how to clean this up? I know that I'll need to air it out overnight, shop vac the carpet, but do I need to actually remove the carpet, etc? Also wondering if there's a good chance my electronics are screwed. From initial drive, the radio was working ok. Also, the car was on a driveway so the radio, car, and everything else was facing a downward slope.

 

Hmmm...I wonder if this is something your insurance will cover under comprehensive?

 

Step 1: buy less skinny jeans.

Step 2: man... I would have been VERY hesitant to start the car if the ECU and other electronics were susceptible to water damage. Just like phones and laptops that 'fall in toilets', first step should have been to dry it as best as possible. Dehumidifier perhaps? Leaf blower?


Good luck OP

 

Meh, ECU is probably just fine. I'd be worried about the amp under the passenger seat, if anything...

 

lmao i thought someone would mention skinny jeans...it's not so much of me wearing skinny jeans (i'm not), but a few things on my keychain bunching up in my pockets.

i'll probably try to shop vac and get a dehumidifier or something. you guys think taking a heat gun to the carpet will be ok as well, or should i stick to the hair dryer?

 

Maybe you need to take a break from the pocket pool buddy. LOL

Seriously, you need to gut the whole car and discard/replace the carpet jute padding and some how dry and disinfect the carpet. Hang drying is fine in a heated room with ventilation, maybe in the garage.

You can fine replacement carpet jute padding at any carpet store.

Dry and then disinfect the floor so it doesn't form mole.

If you don't do all of the above then you better love the smell of wet socks!

Basically you need to treat your car as if it was in a flood. You might consider claiming insurance on this.

 

Start the car, put it in drive and make sure everything runs okay...


Then, drive it off a cliff.

 

No insurance, so I'll have to do this myself. Would something like this work, instead of having to gut out the carpet?

DampRid 64 oz. Fragrance Free High Capacity Moisture Absorber-FG50T - The Home Depot

 

BTW the same thing for any wet seats. Dry or replace the cushions under neath.

Dry and disinfect the seat covers.

 

Don't know about that but I really doubt it bc you need to dry the jute padding. There's no way to get that stuff under the carpet.

As soon as it gets warn the germs will multiply and breed. The sooner you gut the car the better.

The car will probably take at least 6 months to dry out in summer time.

So do the math.

 

I had a bad water leak in a previous car when it rained hard. The only thing we could do to keep it from being funky was pulling the carpet up when it was wet and letting it dry out completely. Lucky for us, it was only the back carpet (leak was in the hatch area) and never got the seats. I got good at being able to pull the back seat and trim out and pulling the carpet up half way to dry.

If we didn't pull the carpet up, the funk smells started in a few days.

 

To add, each time I pulled the carpet, I usually bleached the solid surfaces and Lysol'd the crap out of the soft surfaces.

 

I think most of the water collected in the back, due to the car being on the driveway. Am I correct in thinking that to lift up the back carpet, I just need to remove the backdoor trim pieces, and remove the lower back seat cushion?

 

That sounds about right to lift the carpet but don't try to dry the jute. Just tear it out an junk it.

 

It's not under the seat. It's under the glovebox in the right kick panel.

 

 

Correct.

I would start removing stuff, front seats, rear bench, center console, interior kick panels along the side, then remove the carpeting and dry things out.

It shouldn't take you too long to do (around 1 hour) unless you haven't done it before.

I definitely wouldn't try starting it up just yet, the moisture inside may get to the MICU and cause problems.