HELP - I've been a clot! UPDATE

S

Scrub01

Member
 Cirencester, Swindon
Morning all,

Desperiate for help.... I managed to leave the roof off my car last night. :headbang: The night we had have a months rainfall in one night!
As a result the car has collected more water than the butt attached to the drain pipes! The dealer has quoted approx £1300 to strip the interior and dry it out. :cry: Can't afford that and can't afford to loose the NCB on my insurance if stupidity was covered.

I'm sure I'm not the first and I doubt I will be the last but I could do with some help taking it to pieces myself. I have found the guides for seat removal but struggling with finding one for removing the carpet. The interior plastics around the handbrake and gear stick seem to be getting in the way. I have removed the screws by the seat but it still won't shift easily and I am concerned about breaking it.

Any help or links gratefully received.
Thanks
Chris
 
Try to find someone with a garage, a de-humidifier and electric heater. Id just dry it out in situ as Wodermike said. Id also disconnect the battery and not switch it on at all (Unless you already have!). You could use a Wet/Dry Vacuum to get rid of the worst of the water from the mats/carpets.

You may wish spray around some carpet shampoo also, as it'll prevent it smelling of damp and will be lovely and clean after :)

It should all be fine, id be most worried about water trapped in the seat sponge if it has seeped through.
 
DOH!

As the others say, I'd first attempt to dry it out insitu. Perhaps remove the seats as they're not that big a job, but access to a garage and a dehumidifier would be my first choice.
 
m44rrt said:
Have a chat with your local carpaint shop as they have big drive in dryers which are not always in use.
Click to expand...

Not had the misfortune to do this but this sounds like a god idea.... :thumbsup:
 
Thanks Guys,

I have started the car and driven it..... Everything seemed ok - Seats move, stereo works. I think I actually been lucky, so far (fingers cossed, touch wood) considering the amount of water and the issues I could have had. The only thing I don't know about yet is the headed seats.... Not sure if that might be damaged. Although the foam on the underside seems dry?! :?
I've wet vac'd it as much as I can but there are still pools of water pouring out of the foam backing on the carpet so I have felt is necessary to take it all out. I can't have the car off the road drying for any longer than necessary.... :(

The back portion is out now and drip drying on the line. It is the front portion that I think will be the most challenging.
Plan as it stands is to get hopefully get the carpet out and put drivers seat back in. Get the carpet and trim dry and then reinstall later in the week.

Any advice on taking out the centre portion? Other than don't.... :P
 
you will have to put both seat back in otherwise you will trip a sensor I believe needing a dealer to reset. jamiecarpenter has just posted a satnav retrofir post that details how to remove centre console. I also have more detailed instructions but an out of the country at present.
 
That's bad luck :thumbsdown:

As SR said don't attempt to start the car with one seat disconnected as it will trip the airbag sensor.

Personally I would not atempt to remove the carpet regardless of how wet it is. At this time of year it will dry out very quickly and rain water is clean (unlike flood water). Certainly don't apply any heat such as driers as they damage and distort fabrics and leather if done to any degree enough to dry water off.

Dehumidifiers possibly, but that means locking it in a garage for days while frankly it will dry 10 times faster in the open air. dorrs, open , roof down when possible.

Also don't run the seat heaters until the majority is out of the seat pads.
 
Get yourself a Carcoon - it'll dry it out in a couple of days - once dry - sell the Carcoon on fleabay for almost what you paid for it.
 
Or speak to someone at a body shop - most spray ovens sit empty overnight - ask to leave the car in it overnight at a low temp - can't see them asking for too much
 
Go to Wickes, buy a dehumidifier,( small one) leave it in the car plugged in,roof closed ( if you have no garage) and keep emptying the tank.Eventually you'll dry the thing out. Other than that,park it in the sun and wait........I paid about £ 50 for one,dried my dad's car out a treat after it got a good soaking one time.
 
Well. Despite all the excellent advice to the contrary - I removed all the carpet and all the trim bar the dash. Finally got the carpets and seats dried out. The removal was hard but the refitting was easier than expected. The carpets hadn't shrunk - not anything that caused any noticeable problems. I had managed to trip the airbag sensor by starting it with the seats out :headbang: Hadn't read the advice before I did it.

SO... Thinking I had got away with only egg on my face, and a trip to a friend with a laptop for the airbag light I discovered the Heater fan doesn't go. All the lights on the control unit work but there is no fan, at any speed. There were no error codes, other that the airbag light, in the ECU. There are no other faults coming to light so the conclusion is it has to be mechanical. Does anyone know how to get to the fan to inspect it - or hit it with a hammer! :wink:
 
All the fuses in the box are in tact. My guy who reset the ECU for me also checked 'all the fuses' and said they were fine. Are there any in line fuses we don't know about? :?
 
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