So ummm, don't neglect small water leaks...

[Rovert]

Raincouver got to the inside of my car finally. LOL. Both vapour seals on the driver's side were showing signs of water leakage months ago. I didn't make time to fix it immediately so I used towels in the bottom forward corners of the door sill to absorb any water that made it into the cabin. Little did I know that even though I kept the carpet dry something under the carpet was brewing. The amount of water that can collect on the surface is TINY compared to the amount of water that can collected underneath.

My good friend brought it to my attention and brought over his tools as he's a former BMW tech and we took the door panels apart to learn that the black sticky stuff that sticks the spongy/styrofoam vapour seal to the inside of the door panel was unsticking causing water to leak out into my car's interior. A quick wand of a heat gun to all the glue goo with some manual labour to squish the vapour seal back onto the sticky goo was all that was needed. Literally a 20 minute job. But due to my procrastination and ignorance of how bad a water leak can get, I spent 4-5 hours using a wet vac and shammy to absorb as much water as I can from the dense sound proofing sponge underneath the carpet. As you can see from the below pictures, what's under the carpet holds so much more water that you won't feel from the surface of a dried carpet. Luckily it was still caught in time that mold didn't succumb to the sound deadening sponge. Looks like it's going to take a few days to dry up now....

Moral of the story? Don't procrastinate and learn the consequences of even the small problems.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_XE_Zul-myw/T0ddET9l1LI/AAAAAAAACN0/hCKsUbe5RX8/s1152/P1020908.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CtxgkkkANU0/T0ddCogY5wI/AAAAAAAACNs/rtf7jdGTMHc/s912/P1020904.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XM_pvvxCCOM/T0ddBvdNxHI/AAAAAAAACNk/SmOTe0TriaE/s912/P1020907.jpg

[kayger12]

Sorry to hear, Trevor, but some great info in your post, so thanks!

Heat gun is an easy and sensible fix that I wouldn't have thought of.

Check back in and let us know how the fix lasts over time.

[llll1l1ll]

Man, I should really get my door seal fixed...

[cakM3]

Thanks for passing along the info Trevor! Sorry to see you had to go through that though...

[Ryans323i]

This is karma for shoving water up your tail pipes!

j/k.....Kinda. :eeps

Glad you got things addressed and the heat gun is such a sensible fix. Thanks for passing the info on.

[midlandtech]

Throw some baking soda down under the carpet to absorb a bit and stop any smells like mildew from getting in there


~Steve
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[llll1l1ll]

Baking soda works really well to get rid of any odors. I usually sprinkle it on all four carpets and leave it overnight with some orange, lemon and grapefruit rinds. I vacuum it out the next day and then replace the fruit with coffee beans/ground coffee and leave that in there for a day. Car smells awesome afterward.

[midlandtech]

Baking soda works really well to get rid of any odors. I usually sprinkle it on all four carpets and leave it overnight with some orange, lemon and grapefruit rinds. I vacuum it out the next day and then replace the fruit with coffee beans/ground coffee and leave that in there for a day. Car smells awesome afterward.

My wife has a knack for spilling milk in her car so I have become a pro at ripping the seats and floor out of it and shopvac-ing the interior I usually make a paste of baking soda and water and rub it into her carpet pad then use regular dry baking soda on the actual metal floor board and on top of the carpet works like a charm to get rid of the god awful smell


~Steve
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

j/k.....Kinda. :eeps



LMAO

[Rovert]

Fortunately for me there are no funky smells!! Is there any other ways you guys know about to dry the foam up faster? I supposed once it's mostly dry it'll still completely dry eventually without mildewing when everything is back in place? At least my carpet is super clean now!! No funky stuff under the driver seat. LOL.

[Ryans323i]

I don't think I'd reinstall stuff until everything's dry. With everything back in the dampness will be trapped and things will mildew.

Maybe get in there with a blow dryer?

[Rovert]

A hairdryer would take ages to dry. This foam is super dense. I think maybe putting a heater in the car would help with my massive window fan to keep interior temps warm to promote faster water evaporation. My whole body is sore from manually soaking water up with a shammy. No more Cinderella for me. LOL.

[static667]

That sucks, Trevor! Better to get it dried up now than in a few months when there is a mold problem.



Brought to you by sci-fi level technology and Tapatalk.

[Rovert]

Just checked the progress of drying! After 12 hours of window fan usage and a cold 45-50F garage, the spongey stuff is dry to the touch and there's not even any moisture pooling where gravity would pull it down! I think the fan is doing an AWESOME job. It's gonna be dry in a short period of time! After that I guess I'm going to drive with my heat mostly on the floor and A/C turned on to keep the air dry inside.

One really good thing out of all this. I learned how easy it is to take out a front seat. Now I'll get to clean and condition the leather in a less constricting environment. And my carpet is super clean with no dust and outside needles stuck in any crevasses! You could just about eat a steak off my carpet. Just don't use gravy please.