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Wet inside... should I tear up the carpet? 850 1996

posted by  someone claiming to be Shtoink on  Sat Apr 9 05:15 CST 2005 [RELATED]

I have a situation with the inside of my car. It just got through its first winter in upstate NY and what with the snow and all, the bottom pans of the floorboards are all damp. The rear driver one in particular, due to a window seal problem (fixed) and a lot of rain one night. I searched the forums but couldn't really find anything out about what to do in this situation. I was thinking of just letting the things dry out via sunlight and cracked windows throughout the summer, but should I be more extensive? I pulled up the rear driver carpet area and felt around, and the noise padding seems to act like a wick, where the carpet feels fine but the padding is damp. Should I (sometime in the summer when I get time) go all out and rip up the carpets and thoroughly make sure the inside is dry? If so, what should I do then? Taking the carpet out seems like a big deal and this is my daily driver.

Thanks!








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    Wet inside... should I tear up the carpet? 850 1996

    posted by  KlausC on  Sat Apr 9 06:52 CST 2005
    Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
    last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:15 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    Let mother nature dry out your carpets. It is amazing what 150F will do with water on the inside of the car. No harm done, rust wise, because that requires continueous moisture. Just leave the vents open, don't bother with cracking the windows, and use the A/C. In fact, the A/C switch should never be turned off, summer or winter.

    Klaus
    --
    98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)








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      Wet inside... should I tear up the carpet? 850 1996

      posted by  someone claiming to be mbmusgrove on  Sun Apr 10 13:45 CST 2005 [RELATED]

      Klaus-
      You say the A/C switch should never be turned off. Why is that? What about gas mileage, wearing out the system/parts quicker etc...?(I'm looking to learn)
      Thanks-
      Michael
      '96 855 112k








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        Wet inside... should I tear up the carpet? 850 1996

        posted by  KlausC on  Mon Apr 11 03:23 CST 2005
        Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
        last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:15 CST 2014
        [RELATED]

        Your A/C system is meant to run year round. If it is cold outside, it will not engage except at engine start. It is better for the compressor seals to be run once in a while, besides, when defrosting, the A/C needs to be on to be more effective.
        You will gain little in mpg by turning the AC off, but the R134a will leak more if the system is not used for months. It is called climate control and will cause no damage to have it on.

        Klaus
        --
        98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)








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    Wet inside... should I tear up the carpet? 850 1996

    posted by  bill d cat on  Sat Apr 9 05:33 CST 2005
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    last visit: Mon Aug 11 04:23 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    When my heater core sprang a leak, it drenched the DS carpet. The Volvo tech stuffed absorbant paper shop towels between the carpet and the foam padding which was good. Unfortunately, he also forgot about them and bolted everything back together without removing the towels, which was bad. I noticed that the carpet seemed awfully lumpy under the floormat. It took less time to pull things apart and pull out the towels myself than to go back to my dealer and yell. This was the LAST time I took it to my Volvo dealer for any repairs, BTW. (And it only took another 13 months for the heater core "O" rings to start leaking (the Volvo repair warranty was 12 months), so they likely screwed up that part of it, too.)

    So what would I do? Probably Shop-Vac the carpet and stuff some absorbant towels underneath. Leave the windows open and park it in the sunlight. Keep the AC on all the time. The foam padding under the carpet isn't awfully absorbant.

    -BTC

    '98 V70 T5 5-speed, Winter beater/RR station/NYC car, 157,000 miles, Michelin Arctic Alpins, IPD stabilizer bar, factory sport suspension, Bilstein HDs, Volvo tower brace and skidplate, e-code headlights, V-1, Mobil-1 always

    "The last time anybody made a list of the top hundred character attributes of New Yorkers, common sense snuck in at number 79." -Douglas Noel Adams (1952-2001)






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