hi sages- my 92 245 is developing mold in the right front carpet which is in otherwise good condition. in the past I killed mold with consecutive applications of bleach. is there a better way or product? car sits for a few mos in the summer due to heat and no ac. otherwise car is a trooper. associate recommended dawn dishwashing liquid, but don't see how that will annihilate mold spores. thanks tons oldduke

Mold and mildew thrive on moisture and they need to eat.

When your car sits, does to have some ventilation?

I do not like vinegar for your problem as it is food (I think - we eat it!)

I would try to put something in the car in order to see where the moisture comes from.

For basements, Consumer reports suggest taping some tin foil to the wall - if there is condensation on the wall side, it is coming through the wall, if it is on the inside, it comes from the air.

You might try this, or some paper towels on several places - check them for leaks after a rain.

As for the carpets, I suggest spraying them with something that would be poisonous to the mold/mildew, but does not add water as most diluted solutions would contain.

Thinking out of the box - something like spray silicone, or bug spray - sprayed above and below the carpet would be objectionable to the mold/mildew.

There are also chemicals designed for the purpose.

I like the idea of blocking the carpet up. If you are able, you could remove the front seats and store them in the back of your wagon.

hi js- good points. going to take a step by step process. vents in wagon are open while the car sits. ventilation is probably not good while the car sits in the driveway in the heat. will be driving it a lot more when it gets cooler. shysters wanted a mountain of gold to fix the ac. first going to try spray lysol on the mildew . will hold off on the vinegar, but have been told by more than one that that will murder the aberrant fungi. hopefully there will soon no longer be a fungus among us. sorry. been trying to find out why the car is leaking some water on the front right floor, which im sure contributes to the problem. no one seems to know if the 92 245 has flush and blow out ducts to clean out rain water accumulations and leaves in body cavities. this may be leaching rain onto the floor if clogged. american cars have these. thanks tons oldduke

Water getting inside.
As I posted above about the Rocker Panels and the Plastic interior plug along the Inside Panel.

https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1657204/old_moldmildew_killing_trick_bleach.html

You have to take off the plastic sill guard and then pull the carpet away from the inside of the panel. You will see one of the Round Plugs near the front.
Removing this Plug you will be able to see Inside the Rocker Panel.
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Here is another Post on the Subject

Leaves in my rocker panels 200 1984

https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/328502/220/240/260/280/leaves_rocker_panels.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you want to spend some time using the Search Function === Swedish Baklava posted Pictures of this.
By the way he moved to Florida...email him

Hey OD,

I remember discussing the leaking issue before:

Windshield seals are good and solid? Have you squirted with a hose to test them? Windshield leaks can leak onto floor.

I imagine you've cleaned the cowl out thoroughly, right?

If memory serves the rubber door seals are good, correct?

Did you check the little drains in the very bottom of the door above the rocker panel? Make sure they aren't clogged. These drains are hard to see. There is also a plastic film water protector sleeve inside the door panel which if torn can allow water to leak inside car. Checked the bottom of the inner door panel for wetness? You can test these two with a hose too.

Good luck finding it! I know how much water leaks suck - BTDT...:)
J

hi jw- do realize the correction of the rain water leaks to the rf floor is the solution. will try to flush out the cowl. is a strong stream of hose water into the cowl the way to go or are there hidden passageways elsewhere. the water appears to be trickling down the right front bolster panel beyond the rf door. door itself doesn't appear to be leaking or holding water. windshield rubber gasket surround appears perfectly sealed and tight, no openings or spaces. appreciate your ongoing insight. thanks tons oldduke

Uncle Old Duke,

Maybe some not too bad smellin' Lysol?

I had to pull the wall unit A/C in the rotting heck hole of a rental residence.

The inner cold air circuit was moldy. The outer condenser coils clogged - some self-service high pressure car wash time.

The lemon Lysol did not smell bad and the mold after almost two years has not return. Had a spray bottle and sprayed full strength. Gentler on the metal as sodium hypochlorite is a powerful oxidizer.

It may be moldy, yet you may have moisture intrusion. Maybe interior condensation somewheres and it drips on the area of your Volvo 240 carpet?

Lysol anti-micrbial action is a sustained one. Though it does not bleach out the carpet. It prevents the mold living at all. A brush of vacuum may help get the remaining moldy bits up.

Hope that helps!!!

Sure Happy it's Mundae (all day long)!!!!
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hi kit g- think i will try the lysol. does it contain hypo chlorite/ bleach . think oxydize is a synonym for rust. will lysol cause the floorboard to rust to hell? alternative plan b backup plan is vinegar. dont think that will cause rust. hope kit g or other chemistry sages can clarify. thanks tons oldduke

Hiya Uncle Old Duke and CB!!!!

Happy Sat-Your-Day!!! Sorry for the tardy reply. Long hours at the cGMP plant this week. Yet can afford double-fisted ale pints.

Lysol contains no chlorine or sodium hydrochloride (ite?).

Yeah, chlorine bleach is an oxidizer and denatures proteins them rotten stinky microbes are made up of. Yet bleach will probably not do the carpet all to good as it fades color and may even break down the acrylic (?) car carpet fiber.

Bleach will cause rust in carbon steal through the oxidizer action.

Vinegar has limited effect. Treats them stink-causing microbes to a brief rush of sort of low acidic PH. It is a useful cleaning compound. And I guess as it dries in the carpet it will leave for a time an acidic quality so as to limit microbial action when wetness happens again.

Don't care for the vinegar odor.

Lysol uses a few different antimicrobial compounds with the newer compounds, some sort of chloro-hexane-something (the compound has chlorine in it, in the lemon bottle you pour into a squirt bottle as I used with this through the wall A/C unit I had to cleanse). It does not have that chemically smell and the lemon fragrance is rather mild. Spray to soak and let dry. The cmpound sustains bettwe and offer a broader antimicrobial spectrum than does vinegar.

The issue I have with vingar is the smell. You use a white vinegar. Concentrate above the usual 3%. The smell fades as it dries. As with that lemon lysol, though more frequently, you reapply.

You may want to find the source of the moisture intrusion or collection. You have a garage to park in Uncle Old Duke, yeah? I forget. Yet water collecting like that on humid dry days in western or southwestern FL-state seems odd.

Do you have fogged windows on the interior side like in the cool mornings?

I guess you check the coolant level in the coolant expansion tank. Any variation?

Your A/C does not work .... so why you have a wet carpet that makes a smell is a mystery.

Yet Lysol won't cause the mold and mildew bits to disappear like bleach does, as it faed the carpet.

What I used:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lysol-Clean-Fresh-Multi-Surface-Cleaner-Lemon-Sunflower-40oz/11047260

Has Alkyl (50% C14, 40% C12, 10% C16) Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chlorides (1.1856%).

Spray it on. Let dry.

Happy Sat-Your-Day.

Hope that halps you.

Does not smell like a peep show or anything in 1970s Baltimore or St. Louis.




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hi kit g- appreciate your advice. have used lysol aerosol microbe killer a few times on the mildew on the carpet. has a fresh linen essence to it. no activity with the ac. may have taken a bullet during the last war. need to solve the rain leaking problem onto the floor. have seen it trickle down the right side bolster panel from the inside onto the carpet. cant find its source . would then block it or use plastigoop. will let you know of progress with lysol. if ng or stinko then to white vinegar. cooler weather will allow operation and open windows which may go a long way to assisting the lysol with the murder of the microbes. keep in touch. may need a pint of muscatel or ripple if this keeps up. thanks tons oldduke

Hiya Uncle Old Duke!!!

Welp, if leaking in the rain, the windscreen gasket, rust at the windscreen pincheweld / pan, or failed gasket at the bulkhead / firewall plates the wire harness bits travel through.

Though if the bulkhead / firewall plates the wire harness bits travel through is leaking, usually happens more so when raining and driving.

Continued moisture intrusion can cause rust. Also, use of anything to kill them microbes gets diluted and the microbe stinky can return.

As with my 1990 and 1991, original windshield on your 1992 245 wagon? If yes, the butyl rubber gasket dries and loses seal. Won't fix itself.

You can remove the interior trim bits around the interior windscreen side to reveal the A-pillars and such. Use a spray, or a pal with a big bottle of the ripple to spray and see if you can find a leak. You can get butyl gasket stuff in a caulk gun, and jam it in the dried up butyl tape gasket and see if that plugs the hole.

The factory butyl tape gasket on my 1991 remains pliable and sticky.

Sometime the windshield is replaced, and some windshield replacement technician does not remove the butyl tape (or they break paint removing the old windshield, causing a rust-though in time like on my 1992). If so, you'd need a wind shield replacement.

If I was near you, I'd bring some of the muscatel. Or maybe like Rumpole of the Bailey, some cheap claret wine as you like.

Hope that helps.

Questions?

Bland Pizza Boy (on a Monday).

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Hi Ho...Oh if I weren't overrun with deer(a recent - 5yearago Trend) I'd have another 2 or 3 cats. But then as they say, never let a cat into a crib with a newborn as it will steal its breath. I say never let a cat in your house from woods infested with deer ticks as it will steal your life...tiny tiny tiny ticks that do great damage to one's life system. Am I too paranoid after pickin off too many ticks that I probably missed....dooomed ....Bell's Palsey OMG>

However, as I posited a Rocker Panel Clog, and got no response from the OP, I would like to add...

How are all these other sources of leaks possible IF the car is a Florida car. Unless the SeaSide can have the same effect as the Salty North Country.

There in lies the Rub. I suggest Pressurized --- using a pressure washer drawing on a tank of Water----- Red/Orange/Indigo...choose a nontoxic dye

Post back Old Duke----get those Grey Cells working

hi cb- sorry on late to get back. have hose sprayed windshield and no leaks inside. rubber gasket seems good and intact. not original windshield though. prior owner(prior to 2011) must have replaced it. does not leak from windshield. have seen leak trickling down the carpet from under the right bolster panel and soaking the carpet. haven't gotten around to taking the panel off and plastic trim over the rocker panel under the door to inspect drains. have seen those get rust bulged in fords and dodges. no rust through on car. think it was always a florida car. hope I don't find bullet holes unrepaired from prior owner eluding coppas on tobacco road. worried you and kit g may think im too melodramatic.tnanks tons oldduke

By bolster panel do you mean the underdash knee guard/protector?

If so, that tells me it is probably leaking from the windshield, cowl or something else in that area. I’d make sure the drains for the cowl are clear. One of my 850’s drains clogged and I needed to use a large screwdriver to clear it out from the bottom. I’d also suggest poking around to try and find a concealed rust hole. Sure sounds like something isn’t right up front, OD...

G...luck,
J
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

jw- no its not the knee panel near the firewall where the leak is coming from onto the floor. the leak is coming onto the right side of the rf floor . it is a plastic panel on the right opposite side of the back of the rf fender. hope that is clear. thanks tons oldduke

Hiya Uncle Old Duke!!!!

Your 1992 Volvo 240 Wagon does *not* have a roof rack, er, rather has not ever had a roof rack.

Yeah, forgot to mention the cowl as a source of leaks as Mr. J Walker mentions.

The drain holes at either corner, or near them, at the bottom of the 240 windshield pan, drain into the same space the under the windshield and behind the hood vents drain into.

And you do not smell coolant smell as Mr. Michael Yount points out somewheres.

So, water is leaking into the right side of the passenger foot well, from under the kick panel the conceals the LH-Jetronic 2.4 fuel injection ECU computer, yes. Same side as the front passenger side door hinge?

The ignition and more so the fuel injection ECU boxes are not water tight.

Not ever melodramatic!!!!

Happy Wednesday!!!

Yoghurt Boyeeeeeee
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hi kit g- yes leak is from behind that kick panel. no roof rack ever. no coolant smell. just plain water.leak same sideas passenger door hinge. no problem starting or running so figure no water logging of computer, jetronics or ignition box. not clear on the drain hole and routing of the windshield pan drain duct.thought of dealer but was told to apply for a mortgage first for their charge. shocked, shocked that shystering is going on there. am i too melodramatic or accurate as hell. thanks tons oldduke

Happy Thursday Uncle Old Duke!!!!!!!

Not original windshield then. Any sign of rust at the lower corners or along the a-pillar moving upward on the passenger side?

The 1991+ 240 windshield flush mount uses a reveal, if I call it correctly, to hide the windshield pinch weld gap / pan. It is not water tight.

What should be water tight is the gasket between the windshield edge and the pinchweld / pan underneath. Would you know when the windshield was replaced?

You can remove the trim that hides the a-pillar on the interior. Though take care as the plastic part as a knob like thing that slides into a keyway or something to help secure it. You should see a blue or pink or black urethane gasket. Though in the early days of urethane gasket, the cheapo windshield replacement technicians would not remove the factory butyl tape thoroughly. Sort of scrape it away and than layer on the urethane prior to installing the windshield.

The chinesium windshield from autolite and like ilk have a metal stip reinforced plastic border to poorly appear like factory. You may recall me whining about windshield replacement in my 1992 with a made in chinesium pilkington brand with such a border. I used butyl tape. I had to as the prior windshield install broke the paint in the pinch weld and I had quarter sized holes of rust that used the POR-15 method to closed up. The rust went up the a-pillar both sides. There were water intrusion signs.

If it is merely a gasket sealing failure along the passenger side a-pillar, you could try removing the passenger side a-pillar trim piece (though be careful. I'll try and find a diagram of the piece (or someone else here can, please, gots to go to cGMP werx) and how it secures to the a-pillar. You may want to remove the trim piece along the top of the windshield on the inside.

Find the leak, use you caulking tool to stuff some butyl rubber in there.

If you find rust, however, you may want to have a windshield replacement service remove the windshield. You then treat the rust and seal up holes, remove all gasket bits to gety to a clean surface or factory paint, and what repair you have to do, and have them replace it.

You can bill you auto insurance, if your auto insurance coverages allow you a windshield replacement every so often. So, you cash out may be to repair any rust.

Yet I hope it is a gasket failure without rust. Remove the interior trim, find the leaking part, clean out with a plastic tool and some isopropyl alcohol with a lint or particle free scrubby, and stuff some butyl rubber or maybe urethane if it is all urethane.

You won't know until you take a look.

I'd be a little wary of them after market flush mount reveals. Though you should be able to peer under the reveal and see the gasket condition on the exterior side.

No, not melodramatic. Anything body work on a 1992 Volvo will be out of site unless you find an honest body shop. Windshield removal and replacement and any sort of pinchweld repair should mayb go into the hundreds or so, I guess? I'm unsure.

Does that help? I or I hope someone else will post the a-pillar interior trim piece so you know how to remove it.

I always break the trim piece knob thing as I remove it in the wrong direction.

Or the keyway is on the trim piece and the knob (key) is metal welded to the interior side a-pillar. I forget right now.

Stop by and take a look I would, and when figured out, some ripple to share for us. Says Yoda.

Maybe with a splash of Fresca or Squirt soda over ice? Probably awful. Used to make wine cooler that way with awful cheapo white, blush, and red wine. The carbonation gets you a little buzzed faster!

Whaddya think?

Oh-oh. Them 'caines gearing up out of Africa to travel across the Hatlantic?

cGMP Boyeeeeeee, making things.

Rather make energy storage systems or work at the Bonneville POwer Administration as I loves the hydro power.
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hi kit g- thank you for your erudite windshield analysis, but i dont think the windshield is the source of the leak which is not coming through in the front or the firewall which would leak onto the front of the rf floor. the leak is trickling down visibly from behind the side wall plastic panel just in front of the rf door. the seal and metal around the windshield looks very good, no rust or openings. have been all around it. windshield was replaced in 2011 or before by prior owner. uncle moe said probably leak was coming in the door and flowing into the floor , may be through a worn scraper on the door window. will keep you posted. bad men have said why dont you junk the old relic. my feelings are hurt. thanks tons oldduke

OMG, Kitty
Maybe some not too bad smellin' Lysol?

ooo what's that smell ... just a round the corner from the Balt City Hall...OOOOOOO it's THE BLOCK...home of Blaze Star and a ton of Peep Shows....Lysol....from my tour of Baltimore. time of Mayor Wille Don, when I first found myself here. 1975

Vinegar

In MD, which is Humid in the summer, I use a vinegar solution for the plastic and seat parts that get moldy sitting in my garage.

Another is Hydrogen Peroxide. which turns into H20(water) as it works...You can buy it H2O2 - used commercially food applications...way higher concentration than the 3% sold for medicinal application, I think it's 20-30%, can't remember the exact number --- think hair bleach strength. Don't get this stuff on your skin...dilute it.

I use the 3%, which can be bought in gallons, for cleaning around the house rather than clorine bleach --- Basically H2O2 is the Active Ingredient in OxyClean, heavily marketed cleaner/laundry additive that costs 20X more than the cost of the active ingredient.

Either way--- Vinegar or and H2O2 varient---You will need to extract the water from the car...running a DeHumidifier with the windows shut.

Best and safest is vinegar --- I've used it to clean up a coffee with cream spill unto the back seat carpet...cream the worst smell possible as it get sour/rancid

more than you want to know, I'm sure.

hi cb and MY- never thought of vinegar. do have a bottle of deodorized clear Heinz vinegar. think that would be best? thought of h2o2 hydrogen perox. didn't know you could get it in 20-30%. figure the 3% used for medicinal purposes wont do any good- too weak. where can you get the higher concentration- hardware stores? thanks tons oldduke btw there is a rain leak from somewhere but only when it rains like a nam monsoon. btw #2 does the 92 240 volvo have a flushout channel in the firewall where you can blow out clogging leaves, etc. with ahose. have heard that that problem can cause leaks onto the floor. many American cars have this flushout

Vinegar --- go the the supermarket and buy a gallon of white vinegar - about $3-4
Get one of those spray bottles at Lowes or HD. 50-50 vinegar-water is about as strong as you will need.

that and h202 are what I use --- do you have a septic system for your poop? Most commercial cleaning products when flushed or washed down the drain ....not so good...anything with clorine bleach.

Bar Keepers Friend - scouring powder....never ever use Comet if you own a septic system.

Hints from Heloise LOL

#2
when you dose the carpet, you should detach it and sitck some wood blocks underneath so it will dry out.

when you do that you will find on the inside of the rocker panel---are a couple of plastic plugs... 2inches plus in diameter, there will give you access to the inside of the rocker panel. One of these could be dislodged. so in addition to the rocker panel filling up with water the plug may be letting the water inside.

You do know that the drains for the rockers are along the seam under the car. Six of them (I think) running front to back. Small rectangular shaped slots. Shove a popsicle stick up the slot to find out if it's clear. If you hose water into the vent grill it should pour out of the front slots.

I think you've got to buy it online

Google for more

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-grade-hydrogen-peroxide

You sure you don't have a heater core or condensation leak over there?

Chlorine will kill mold - but also do a number on the carpet of course. Then there's all that insulation underneath....