car flooded tonight - need some guidance please
 

This seems so trivial compared to the flooding that is going on in IA and elsewhere, but I need some quick guidance please...

I had to run to work on an emergency tonight. It takes me 1.5 hours round trip. It was clear skies when I left... yeah, you can guess the rest of the story.:(

I left with the car just outside the garage, with the top down (Had to take the other vehicle to work). Just before I got home, the bottom dropped out of a storm where I live and my heart sank as I pulled in the driveway, only then remembering the car was outside the garage. What a mess... :eek: there was about a 1/4-1/2 of water on the floorboards. The seats and door panels are all soaked. I got it in the garage and pulled out the main floor mats. I tried to soak up as much of the water as possible on the floors and also several wipedowns of the other areas. I am afraid to turn a heater on in the garage as I wonder if it might dry things out too quickly, but I am not thinking straight right now. What else should I bee addressing to immediately, and what can wait until tomorrow. I am trying to decide if I should call my insurance company or not and make a claim.

Like I said before, seems very trivial to me compared to those suffering in the real floods right now. It is just a car. I just need a game plan to try to minimize whatever damage might occur due to this.

Thanks for listening and thanks for any advice you can offer.SmileWavy

Signed,

Almost Desperate in Jackson

Your computer is on the floor under the passenger seat.

Industrial vac on the carpets.

Pull seats

OMG. Sorry to hear about that Shane. Good luck.

Looks like I lucked out on the computer... it was just above where the water had levelled out on the passenger side. The driver's side was pooled up all the way front to rear, but the pax side was only the rear area as fvar as standing water. Seats are out and I am sopping up water best I can. With all the tools I have I do not currently have a wet/dry vac! Bummer, would have made this easier. Had not got around to replacing the last one. Anyway, I think this will all be alright, except for the leather and carpet. Of course, I am now to the point where I can think a little and I am wondering about the gages and dash. Should I pop them out of there recesses or leave them be for now? Any thoughts?

That's a bummer Shane.

As far as the leather... I'm sure you could fix things with a pair of women's black leather boots.

Thanks for the chuckle Dave:D

I guess it could have been a lot worse... The computer stayed in the dry. The seats, carpet and doors are all fixable/replaceable. I got to deep clean under the seats, AND I found over a $1 in change!:D

The only things I am worried about at this point are my insurance. I was so focused on the damage control, I only thought long enough to affirm both of my daughters are away at camp this week and so both digital cams are out of the house, and of all things, my wife's cell phone died on my way back home from work: I have no pictures basically. I will have to rely somewhat on my relationship with my agent I guess. At least the seats got soaked enough that there is no way they will be dry my tomorrow. Hey, bonus. I am also a little worried about the dash and gages. Hopefully it is for naught.

I guess I can do nothign but let the seats drip dry? Am I thinking clearly on this?

I would still want to disconnect the battery, take the ECU off the car, open it up and dry it completely before doing anything else.

If you can't get a shop vac, then I would take out the front seats, and the loose sections of carpet. Then I would lay towels in the floor to absorb any moisture that I could. Then I would let the sun do its thing. Surely a friend,or neighbor has a shop vac that you could use.
I think I would leave the gauges alone. Water will run downhill, and drip from the lowest point.
As for insurance, I think they will know that the storm came through. There will be a record of how much precipitation, in how much time, in which area.

Blowing air is your friend with water damage. Get big fans.

About using your insurance...
If you go to them for this wouldn't it show up as a flood on CarFax? That could significantly lower your resale value. Also I would be worried that they would raise your rates and it would end up costing you more...

once the car is dry, it will be fine. i had a 944 that "flooded" every time it rained. just get it dry via wet-vac and towels and make sure it gets plenty of air to dry out and not develop an odor.

Hey Shane did that one time when I was in Hawaii left mt top off nice rain storm about an inch and a half of water in the car. I would not do this now but then I pulled the carpets out took a drill and drilled a few drain holes in it and put it out in the hot tropical sun for a day and all was good. Just dry it out real good and nothing will be permanently damaged if your computer even remotely got the chance of getting wet take it out and remove cover and dry thoughly with blow dryer, heater and fan or even the oven on the lowest setting possible less than 200 F I do this with electronics at work that get too much moisture in it. Good luck.

Shane...I know it's 7-8 hours later but have a wet/dry vac I can run up to you if you need it.

that is a bummer Shane, but it sounds like you might have dodged a bullet. I agree, disconnect the battery ASAP until you get dried out. That will also let you leave the doors open to get better airflow down low. Shop vac with a squeegee will pull a lot of water out of the carpets. If not, removing as much of the interior as you can will help. Seats especially. You want to avoid having mildew set in so you want to dry out ASAP. You might even consider using one of the carpet cleaner/mildew killer products that work on damp carpet. I don't think you will do any harm by using your garage heater. Your door panels are probably fine since they are a vertical surface and the rain just runs off them. The top edge is protected by the arm rest. If your door panels or any other leather covered cardboard had got soaked, I would have not recommended using the heat to dry.

My 83 Cabriolet came in on Thursday and came with one of these:

[IMG]http://www.***************/aux_incl/images.ashx?i=ID+103550.jpg&partNo=103550&w=600&h= 600[/IMG]

I am seriously considering sewing a layer of a reflective waterproof mylar material on top of these to add a little extra insurance in case of an "elderly moment".

Good luck, and hopefully things will look better after a nite's sleep.

cheers
Michael

Ahh, the cursed double post - removed.

Shane,
If you plan on having this car for a long time, I would suggest that you go ahead and remove the rest of the wet interior, and the insulation so that everything can get really dry before reassembly. I know it's a PITA to do, but you risk rust, and a forever musty smell inside on hot days if you leave it as is. The doors, and the dash should be fine. We are just talking about the flooring and possibly the side panels in the rear.

Rusty floorboards suck! :mad:

I wonder if covering the car and using a small dehumidifier would work... if there is a way to circulate air at the same time that combo should work... just an idea. Remember that the vapor pressure of water goes up as temp. goes up so heat should help also... if it was me I would try and get all the water/moisture out as soon as possible.

Thanks. I did remove it last night just to get it out of the way.

Dave,

Thank you for the offer. I really appreciate it. My neighbor had one so got that base covered now. I may expedite my replacement schedule now.

I have one of those too Michael. Let me know how your project works out. May have to try it on mine as well. Not sure it would have helped on this one though as it was a true gullywasher.

I was concerned about the heat because my seats and door panels did get soaked.

Well, this morning, getting a better look at things... looks like my door panels may be fine. They don't look warped anyway.

About the insurance deal... has anyone dealt with insurance on something like this. I know they can all be different, but I do not want the flood label on the car if that is what they would do. I do not want to be dishonest either as far as a resale down the road. I think as long as everything gets dried out and replaced as necessary (carpets, upholstery) that there is no issue. Just looking for opinions. The car did not sit in 3 feet of water or anything.