Drying Help & Tips

[Calavera]

Hi All,
I had a bit of bad luck and I'm hoping you guys can help.

I opened up the car yesterday and too my horror found the passenger side was flooded. I don't mean it was wet, it was under water.
It's never leaked before and there hasn't been much heavy rain lately so I think it happened during the heavy snow a few weeks back. It was buried under a good 8 inches for a week and the water must have been slowly seeping in as it couldn't run off the roof. (I'll know to clear it off next time)

So drying tips …
I took a litre or two out if it yesterday with a sponge, now there isn't free flowing water but it is soaked through. Any ideas on how I'm I going to dry it ?

Richard H

[dmcscott2002]

I had a simlar problem with my old astra. I took the vast majority of it out with a sponge then in the case of the DMC I would take the seat out (if your havent already) once again towel or spong as much as possible then use a hair dryer or heater to get the rest by moving it over and over. Also being careful you dont heat one spot for too long. It'll probably take a while. Patience is a virtue ... good luck

[Calavera]

I was looking at the taking the seat out. Is that hard ? I have never tried.
Or maybe renting a dehumidifier ..

[NickT]

If it was my car I would take the seat out and then put a de-humidifier in there for a couple of days. (Wired to RCD plug etc)

Good luck,

NickT

[Chris Williams]

Calavera Wrote:I was looking at the taking the seat out. Is that hard ? I have never tried.
Or maybe renting a dehumidifier ..

Very easy, 4 nuts (and washers) under the base of the car. undo-lift seat out. job done.
Chris

[Calavera]

Ok, I have ordered a small dehumidifier of Amazon, now all I have to do is run a really long extension cord from my apartment on the first floor down passed the neighbours and out to the car….

Cheer Chris, I'll have a look at the seat this evening if it's still bright out after work.

Rich H

[bozzzydmc]

Can I suggest the best way forward in my view is to remove the seat and the carpet. That way you can hang this up to dry and properly dry the car out. Apart from taking longer to do, i can see condensation forming as the car is drying out.

[Calavera]

I'm still in work so I don't have the car a reference point.

Are the seat bolts I need to remove external? As under the car, if so do I need a jack to access them?

[bozzzydmc]

The four nuts are on the underside of the car, I remember just jacking up the body slightly at the front jacking point and getting to them all easy enough.

BTW be careful taking the seat out so you dont catch your interior trim with the long bolts sticking out

[Dan6457]

I think removing the carpet and drying it out indoors is the best option, as when I drowned my 306 I had heaters and everything in there for ages and it would still mist up all over the glass after sitting for a few hours, even 3 months after it got filled up.

[Darren C]

Taking the seat out and the carpet out is the best option.

If you use a portable de-humidifier make sure the drain pipe runs down hill out of the car. If it has a drain tray dont bother using it unless you have time to empty it every day. (they cut out with a little water in the tray)
Also be sure to keep the doors closed on the car with the de-humidifier in there, otherwise you'll just de-humidify the UK.
An RCD is a must, some cheap units have been known to catch fire.

When I was a mere YTS lad working in a paintshop, I had a convertable VW beetle that usually filled with water, after a while we used to put the seats and carpets in the spray booth oven with the customers cars to dry them out :lol: 1 hour gas mark 4!

Otherwise it's an understanding missus and leaning them on a radiator in the house for at least a week :roll:

Good Luck,

And most importantly while there out.... go find and fix the leak :wink:

[A Van]

I expect you refixed the carpet in the correct manner everytime to Darren didnt you?, using the correct amount of adhesive ( not oversprayed) applied in a circular manner (not sideways) to ensure correct bonding?

[Calavera]

Thanks for the feed back guys, I'm going to tackle this first thing on Saturday morning, it's too dark when I get home during the week.

On the bright side removing the bolts from the seat might let some of the water drain out .... :|

[A Van]

Have you checked to see if the headliner is wet Richard?

[Calavera]

Hi Alistair, I have and it isn't but car doesn't leak in normal rain. I hadn't driven it in weeks so my working theory is that the leak is small and in rain it runs off the car before it has a chance to get in, however in the snow we had a few weeks ago the water was was held on the roof long enough to start to leak in. Distressingly this means the water has been in there a long time. My first priority is to get it dried out, I have a car cover so I might start using that but i read somewhere it can scratch against the metal work in windy weather. It's due an MOT in 8 weeks so I'll likely talk to PJ Grady about a service and fixing the leak before then.