Forester Became a Carpool... Help!

"Long Live the Longdoor" (victoryred08)
09/13/2015 at 18:13 • Filed to: Carpool

So my wife accidentally left the panoramic sunroof open on the Forester overnight, during a rainstorm ... opps. Opened it up the next day to find 3 inches of standing water in the cupholders.

Spent all afternoon and evening with a shopvac and a hair dryer trying to dry things out; and then left it all night with fans running. The headliner is pretty much dry, along with the seats. However, there is a ~1inch spongy sound deadening layer under the carpet that we can’t get dry without taking the carpet out and that we can’t seem to get out without breaking something.

I’m going to call our Subaru dealer in the morning to see if they can dry out or replace the spongy material or if I need to bring it elsewhere. Any suggestions on what to do next? Fun times...

DISCUSSION (24)

LongbowMkII > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:16

been there, i just toweled, but my cars weren’t as nice.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:21

You can end up with some long term problems (mostly rust) but if you don’t have any electrical faults you’re lucky. Definitely get the carpets pulled and everything underneath dried.

TTercel > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:21

Steam clean then toss a dehumidifier in there? I’m just guessing here.

Long Live the Longdoor > LongbowMkII
09/13/2015 at 18:25

Ya my wife was practically in tears. The shopvac couldn’t suck any water out of the form because of the layer of carpet... what a mess. Not looking forward to getting a quote to clean it up tomorrow.

f86sabre > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:30

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DampRid-64-o…

Go to Home Depot or Loews and get a tub, or two of descant and put them in there and see if that helps.

Long Live the Longdoor > f86sabre
09/13/2015 at 18:35

Good call, actually ran around today and found some. I’m going to give it a shot; not sure if it’ll dry out under the carpets but who knows.

TheRealBicycleBuck > f86sabre
09/13/2015 at 18:35

The crystal cat litter does the same thing and costs less.

http://lifehacker.com/prevent-car-wi…

thedevilinside > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:37

I had water in my GTO, not my fault but I pulled the seats so I coudl pull up the carpet to allow air to the foam/deadening layer. I didn’t completely remove it.

bob and john > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:38

if you dont have electrical problems consider yourself VERY lucky.

long term, the car is borked. think about a short term trade in and ‘forget’ to mention the open roof in rain.

at the end of the day, its a car. big shit

Tohru > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:41

Time to trade it in. The Subaru, not the wife. She gets one more chance before getting traded on a Miata.

f86sabre > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:46

I'd load it up. Yeah, not sure how quick it will act

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:53

Dehumidifier? That’s what I did for my Tercel when I left the windows down and suddenly monsoon.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 18:58

Kinja'd!!!

50lb bag of rice?

Do you have access to a dehumidifier and garage?

Long Live the Longdoor > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
09/13/2015 at 19:02

No dehumidifier or garage. I wonder how much dehumidifier would help; I can drive to my parents’ barn and use that.

M54B30 > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 19:37

Happened to my bmw a few years ago.

Not long after, my ABS, Traction Control, and Stability control light came on.

They’re still on - no mechanic can figure it out

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 19:39

Where do you live? If it’s somewhere usually dry (Arizona, etc) you’ll be okay. If it’s the east coast...well you really have two options:

1) sell it

2) pull everything out RIGHT NOW and let it dry.

I mean remove the seats, carpet, bolts, everything. The seat bolts will rust. The floor pan will rust. The car will stink. Subarus are more resistant to rust than most, but 3” of water is a big deal.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 20:03

I was thinking you could get rid of some of the moisture, by parking in a small environment and dropping the humidity. A barn might have too big of a volume for the dehumidifier to drop it.

That soggy floor insulation will be a pain to clean.

dogisbadob > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 20:04

must smell nice :p

Long Live the Longdoor > dogisbadob
09/13/2015 at 20:54

Doesn’t smell at all, actually... Yet!

Long Live the Longdoor > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
09/13/2015 at 20:58

Canada! I got fans it right now, calling Subaru in the morning for their best solution; regardless, at this point I’m going to take the car to a professional, the car isn’t even a year old...

wkiernan > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 21:15

I know from experience that no amount of Damp Rid is enough for a car that’s that wet. What actually will fix your car up is 1.) a long enough extension cord that you can run it from your house outlet to the car and 2.) an electric room dehumidifier, such as this one:

Kinja'd!!!

This one is like the one I bought from Sears for about $180. The one shown will suck 6 gallons of water out of the air in a few hours. I know that’s a largish investment but since I live in damp, rainy Florida and drive a convertible I have used it many times since I’ve bought it, both in my car and in my house, and I have definitely got my money’s worth out of it.

I originally got it when a water pipe leading to a toilet in my house broke, and we came home to find an inch of water over the rugs in a 900 square foot area of the house. My wife had just got new carpets in that area the month before and she was sure we’d have to rip them all up and replace them, but between my shop-vac, a couple of heat lamps and my dehumidifier, we got that carpet completely dried and good as new in about three days. We did have to come in every few hours or so and empty the reservoir. Think about that: six gallons of water sucked out of thin air in six-eight hours! Another thing I’ve done pretty often is, after surveying in a swamp all day, I can put my waterlogged boots on top of it and shut it in a closet while running, and by next morning they’re perfectly dry and wearable again.

Anyway, I’ve had my Miata’s interior get soaked as bad as your car two or three times (&^%#$ Florida!) and I found that 24 hours with this running in your car and it will probably be quite satisfactorily dry; 48 hours will leave it as bone dry as though you had parked it with the windows down in the Sonoma Desert in the summertime.

Long Live the Longdoor > wkiernan
09/13/2015 at 21:34

I’m going to go pick up my in-laws’ dehumidifier right now and run it over night to see how it works. Thanks for the tip!

Big Bubba Ray > Long Live the Longdoor
09/13/2015 at 23:06

Definitely get a dehumidifier. Close all the windows and have the cord hanging out of a slightly cracked window. Leave it all night and do it every night until the dehumidifier tank no longer has water in it. That’ll do the trick.

My spare tire well used to fill up with water after heavy rain until I finally diagnosed the problem. The dehumidifier worked wonders.

twochevrons > Long Live the Longdoor
09/14/2015 at 08:17

Sorry to be a downer, but while a dehumidifier will help, you’ll want to get the carpet and underlay out and dry ASAP. It depends on the car (it was easy on my Volvo), but it can often require fairly major disassembly of the interior – you’ll almost certainly need the seats out, and possibly the centre console and dash as well.

I’d suggest making an insurance claim – water damage can be very expensive to put right properly, especially on modern cars that often have wiring and electronics tucked into the footwells.