Guidance on drying out a car . . .

[Jim_No_Garage]

Hello:

I have a 2008 Toyota Yaris 4 door sedan that I stopped driving on a daily basis back in March when my job changed and I commute via train to the office instead of driving. It gets parked in the grass next to the garage since my side of the garage is full of "stuff" right now.

Yesterday I jumped into it to take it somewhere and it smelled of wet, mold and mildew.

I checked the interior and none of the footwells were wet - no wetness at all.

I checked the trunk and found that the carpet mat and sub-carpet mat were wet - soaking wet. I pulled them out and draped them over garbage cans and they were dripping. The cover over the spare well was wet but NO water was in the spare well.

There is NO rust or any indication that this has been a long term thing. I cleaned some junk out the channel around the trunk opening that might have blocked water from draining out. We have had some spectacular rains this week - 4 + inches of rain in huge deluges. No sunroof ...

Is there anything special I should do when cleaning the trunk mats other than get them dry as soon as possible? Carpet shampoo to get rid of any smell...

Cheers

Jim

 

[bannerd]

Heat helps.

 

[jbwilkins]

If they're still soaking wet I'd hit them with a shop vac to **** out as much water as I could .....then some time in the sun........

 

[MadMechMaster]

Rinse them off with the hose, then shop Vac. Maybe even some carpet shampoo.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Put a fan on it.

 

[My Old Tools]

Park it in my driveway. It will be dry by dark.

 

[CoogarXR]

Last time that happened to me, I pulled all the trunk liner out and laid it in the driveway to bake. Then pulled the bulb out of the trunk lamp and left the trunk open all day too.

 

[simpler=better]

It was probably a 1 time deal with the heavy rain.

2x put a fan in the trunk to get air moving.

If you're serious about long term, get a dehumidifier with external drain and leave it in the car

 

[6 & 7/8]

A fan works wonders on things that are wet.

 

[CNGsaves]

Make call to Debbie Does Dallas . . .
. . . . . . . she'll **** all the liquids right out of it !!! . . .

+1 to cook it in the sun all wide open with fans running in trunk.

 

[94EG8]

Pull everything out of it and let it dry in the sun. Your next step is figuring out where the water is coming. Get inside the trunk and having someone spray a garden hose over the car, keep trying things until you get it to leak, then trace the leak to a specific spot and figure out what needs to be done to stop it.

Also, don't park on the grass, that car will rust in no time. Park anything in the grass and you can almost watch it rust in real time.

 

[rlitman]

Rinse them off with the hose, then shop Vac. Maybe even some carpet shampoo.

I use a pressure washer on carpets. The wet vac gets out enough water that they will dry very quickly in the sun.

 

[Showkey]

After its dried out.........you do need to find the leak..........there is a leak.

 

[Chaznsc]

I've had real good success with Damp Rid. Lowes sells it as does Amazon. Put some stones in the bottom of the cup, however, so it doesn't tip over.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MPPYU2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Chaznsc]

For the odor, pick up a box of activated charcoal, put it in a sock, tie it shut and toss it in the back seat. It will remove that musty odor.

 

[J66442]

I can't guarantee a Yaris is the same, but on a friend's corolla the trunk channel filled with debris and it would breakdown and slip behind the tail light. When the debris would reach a certain level it would flood through the tail light openings into the trunk. All I had to do was unbolt the tail lights and clean behind them.

 

[JonnyMac]

Go to your local body/paint shop and ask them if you can hire the paint oven for a few hours.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

Thanks for all the responses . . .

I originally laid the trunk mats flat on the deck in the sun to dry but we got a quick rainstorm that dropped 1+ inches of rain on them over the course of 30 minutes. After that I hung them over the deck railing to shed as much water as possible.

I then brought them into the garage and draped them over garbage cans with fans blowing on them. They have been there for several days now and they are now dry.

During the rainstorm the car was in the garage with fans blowing in the trunk and interior to air them out. The interior was a little damp from the moisture buildup in the car before I realized there was an issue.

I will definitely pull the taillights and check behind them - that seems the most likely route of water infiltration.

The Damp Rid and Activated Charcoal are great ideas - the car isn't driven much so I want to dry it out as much as possible.

Cheers

Jim

 

[rlitman]

Thanks for all the responses . . .



I originally laid the trunk mats flat on the deck in the sun to dry but we got a quick rainstorm that dropped 1+ inches of rain on them over the course of 30 minutes...

Oh, sorry, didn't realize you lived in a rainforest. Perhaps carpet is just not for you.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

Oh, sorry, didn't realize you lived in a rainforest. Perhaps carpet is just not for you.

Yes - what little rain we have received recently has come in torrents.

I'm not sure you can get cars without carpet - it's getting harder to get them with the base accessory packages as the $$ is in selling fully tricked out vehicles. The Toyota Corolla used to be an econobox - now they have Camry-ed it up with leather, walnut and such. My last car was a commuting appliance . . .

Jim

 

[dadsEH]

Well Jim.....
this IS the GARAGE journal after all. Try parking it under cover.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I've had real good success with Damp Rid. Lowes sells it as does Amazon. Put some stones in the bottom of the cup, however, so it doesn't tip over.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MPPYU2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

DampRid is ice melter- calcium chloride. Make your own for pennies...

Tommy

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

LS6-Tommy - I did not know that about Damp Rid / Calcium Chloride being the same stuff. Thank you for posting that - that's the kind of information I was looking for when I started this thread.

The carpets are dried out and back in the trunk. One of the fold down rear seats is open to have air movement between the trunk and passenger area. There is activated charcoal in the car and tomorrow I will put a plastic bucket with some calcium chloride in the driver footwell to absorb moisture - so I have to move it before I can drive off.

I will leak test it tomorrow.

Jim

 

[SIX225]

I'd pull all the carpet out to dry. Bought a convertible years ago that previous owner must have left the top down in a storm once. Floor was nearly rusted out from the inside. Only found it because I did the same thing, left top down and storm came out of now where.