How to absorb moisture?

[Matt95GT]

Ok, here's the scenario... the interior is wet, specifically the rear carpet. It has been shop-vac'd as much as possible. Now I need to find a way to get the moisture out before mildew sets in, but I'm bound to the following parameters:

1. it's cloudy and going to rain all week
2. no garage
3. no electrical access (for hairdryer, etc)
4. no time for anything labor intensive (ripping out the carpet, etc)
5. the car cannot leave the parking spot since the water pump suffered a catastrophic failure. (to the point where running the engine = hearing a metal grinding ruckus + coolant doesn't stay in for more than 5 minutes)

Any homebrewed suggestions? Like something stupid that will absorb moisture out of the air, like rice or something? I know there's gotta be something I can obtain to do the job.

This is my 94 BTW, it will be parked until that backordered water pump arrives. It's been awhile since the 95 has been my daily driver... but I can't exactly complain. :burnout:

[Bjornboy81]

...start blowing! :P




sorry, I have no ideas :)

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by Bjornboy81
...start blowing! :P




sorry, I have no ideas :)

Hmm, think that fails parameter # 4. :lol:

[Bjornboy81]

...then hire someone to do it :D

You could put down sawdust...It'd work, but that'd be a bitch to clean.

[pokesmot]

I had the exact same problem, I had a huge puddle in the back of the car. I'm not sure if you have lots of water or if its just damp...

I ended up tearing out the seats and the carpet, as well as half the dash, and it turned out to be a hole that was starting to form in the firewall on the passengers side behind the glovebox.

for $20 I bought a fibreglass repair kit and patched the sucker, now its nice and dry :)

I think your main problem with getting moisture out is that the flooring is a chunk of rubber, and if there is water beneath it, its gonna be heard to dry aside from ripping out the carpet and hanging it to drip dry for a week.


if you have a leak, it WILL pool at the back of the car, there are groves in the body that act as channels and all the water will pass through them. I was baffled how a hole in the front resulted in a puddle in the back.

[rixGAphx]

It's a '94 GA with bad waterpump, prolly-blown head gasket, and major body leak.

Don't bother to dry it, just push it out onto the street and leave the keys in.

That way you can concentrate all your $$ and time on the '95. :D :D
* * * *

Seriously, you're looking for 'silica gel', the sand-like stuff that comes in tiny packets with cameras and electronic goods.

Get as much as you can (sorry, don't know a source for bulk purchase) and place on cookie trays, etc. around the inside of car, and rear parcel shelf, etc.
Close all the doors/windows/vents etc.

It is an absolute sucking MAGNET for moisture, doesn't need to contact the wetness.
But it requires that the atmosphere of the cabin reach high humidity, which can only happen if the cabin is closed.

As soon as one cookie-cheet of stuff is dry, place it in a hot (200*F?) oven and 'bake' the cyrstals dry. Then re-use as often as necessary.
* * * *
A 'poor man's' version is ordinary table salt.
Just as a salt-seller will clog-up on a humid summer day, the salt spread onto cookie sheets will suck moisture out of the air; and it can be 'baked-out' just as silica gel can/
But the table salt won't be near as quick or effective, pound-for-pound.

Good luck.
-Rick

edit - PS: Thomas Register has dessicants here:
http://www.thomasnet.com/products/packaged-desiccants-55540785-1.html

Also, apparently craft and hobby stores carry silica gel as a product for drying flowers. :confused:
All of my flowers dry on the plant whether I want them to or not :roll2: but apparently some people need help. :D :D

[Dexman1349]

Put a tarp over the car, and secure it so that the edges extend past the tops of the windows. Make sure any potential holes are protected by the tarp (top of door jamb, airvents at the bottom of the windshield. Roll down the windows a crack, just to the point they are still under the tarp. Let the thing air dry. Not sure how that'll work in NJ with any humidity, but it works in CO.

That way only costs about $15-20 for the tarp and some rope.

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by rixGAphx
It's a '94 GA with bad waterpump, prolly-blown head gasket, and major body leak.

Don't bother to dry it, just push it out onto the street and leave the keys in.

That way you can concentrate all your $$ and time on the '95. :D :D
* * * *

Seriously, you're looking for 'silica gel', the sand-like stuff that comes in tiny packets with cameras and electronic goods.

...

As soon as one cookie-cheet of stuff is dry, place it in a hot (200*F?) oven and 'bake' the cyrstals dry. Then re-use as often as necessary.
* * * *


Thanks Rick... I was thinking some type of desiccant like Silica Gel. Just a matter of obtaining some, I doubt the 2-4 tiny packs I found in some recent electronic buys will do much. Good to know it heated and re-used though.

Actually might not be a leak... the emergency coolant fill kit (aka iced tea bottles filled with water rolling around the back floor) may have dumped all over, not to mention the 9+ inches of rain dumped in Allentown PA while loading a sump pump and other stuff to help my mom out this weekend.

And I'm not ready to push it into the street just yet... it's one of only 3 HO/manual sedans in the N-body registry... never seen any others locally. I doubt I can get another 5-speed beater/daily driver for $2000 that will go 2.5 years (40,000 miles) only needing a water pump and shift cable, gets 28 MPG, and has 170 HP out of the box. Plus I don't give up that easily. :)

Headgasket should be fine... I kept temps in check and I'm positive it's leaking at the pump shaft seal:
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/09-15-05/DCP06745.JPG


Originally posted by Dexman1349
Put a tarp over the car, and secure it so that the edges extend past the tops of the windows. Make sure any potential holes are protected by the tarp (top of door jamb, airvents at the bottom of the windshield. Roll down the windows a crack, just to the point they are still under the tarp. Let the thing air dry. Not sure how that'll work in NJ with any humidity, but it works in CO.


I was actually going to do something like that, but it's currently 96% humidity here and isn't going to get much dryer anytime this week. :doh:

[Dexman1349]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
I was actually going to do something like that, but it's currently 96% humidity here and isn't going to get much dryer anytime this week. :doh:

I thought about that after I posted it. Perhaps moving it into direct sun would help.

[Tommy00GT1]

Florists and hobbyist's use that silica gel quite a bit. if you have a Michael's craft store near you, they would have it. I think they have it in a bulk 5 pound can (expensive though....).

Not sure if this would damage your carpeting, but regular isopropyl rubbing alcohol absorbs water like a sponge. It would also curb mold and act as a disinfectant too. I've heard of someone doing that before, but I honestly don't know if the alcohol might discolor the carpet.
But if you think it is ruined and gonna mold anyways, you've got nothing to loose.

Good luck; hope it dry's out for you..

[Matt95GT]

Rick, good call on the flower drying... didn't realized that was a use of Silica Gel. Scored 5 lbs at AC Moore last night:
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/10-10-05/normal_Dcp06842r.jpg

I have some plates pseudo-strategically placed inside the car. I don't have any cookie sheets... I'm a single male, the supercharger and widescreen HDTV were higher on my shopping list. ;)

:lol: For amusement:
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/10-10-05/normal_DCP06844.JPG
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/10-10-05/normal_DCP06845.JPG
I'll have to see if that works at all when I get back tonight.

Originally posted by Dexman1349
I thought about that after I posted it. Perhaps moving it into direct sun would help.

That would have been my plan, but it's been raining since Friday and if the forecast holds true (has been so far) than there won't be any sunshine until Monday. :(

[Dexman1349]

I would still put the tarp on it to prevent any additional moisture.

[rixGAphx]

Remember, keep the doors and windows TIGHTLY CLOSED!!
If a seal is leaking or windo won't go up, then tape it shut with plastic and the handman's secret weapon.

Otherwise, the silica gel will be absorbing all the moisture in NJ, rather than pulling the wetness out of your floor.

So for this process, a tarp would be of no benefit.

-Rick

PS:
I 'googled' "dessicants" and found a bunch of hobbiest links for flower and leaf drying.
I never knew about that, either.
Google is my friend :D

[Matt95GT]

It's sealed up.

Originally posted by rixGAphx

PS:
I 'googled' "dessicants" and found a bunch of hobbiest links for flower and leaf drying.
I never knew about that, either.
Google is my friend :D

Yea, I wasn't aware that such a hobby existed.

[radiosity]

I'm facing the same problem - due to a leaking firewall in our 94 GA. And I am at the leave it on the street with the keys in it stage but I'm thinking I might get some kind of trade-in on it if I can clean it up.

Anyhooo - re: dessicants they sell a type of cat-litter that is basically little balls of silica about 3-5 mm round. Might be an alternative? If I end up trying it I'll report back with results =) Thanks for the pics I feel better knowing I'm not alone with my pontiac wading pool.

[pokesmot]

its not too too hard to fix the leak, if your lucky where the rust forms.

it can be easy as sandpaper and a $20 bondo fiberglass repair kit.


the hard part is moving the crap out of the way to get in there to fix it. + drying out the car.

[4kQuad]

cat littler spread around like the gel, if the gel stuff don't work??

[IamChevyman5]

if there is ANY way you could get power down there, like if you live in an appartment building, find an outlet somewhere, and run 1000000 extension cords, you could rent a RUGDOCTOR, or something that does the same for cheap and use that. Shop vaccing it probably wont do anything, because there isn't any surface water that it can vaccuum up, all the water has soaked down by now. So basically your going to need something with enough vaccuum to get it out, so I'm going to think that blowing on it wont work.

I would recommend trying to get some power down there somehow, if at all possible in any way. Rent a generator along with the RUGDOCTOR if that's all you can do. RUGDOCTOR is just the one that I can think of though, I'm sure that there is better and different ones made better for cars.

Dan

[Rafael21]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
Rick, good call on the flower drying... didn't realized that was a use of Silica Gel. Scored 5 lbs at AC Moore last night:
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/10-10-05/normal_Dcp06842r.jpg

I have some plates pseudo-strategically placed inside the car. I don't have any cookie sheets... I'm a single male, the supercharger and widescreen HDTV were higher on my shopping list. ;)

:lol: For amusement:
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/10-10-05/normal_DCP06844.JPG
http://fazeshift.org/pics/albums/userpics/10-10-05/normal_DCP06845.JPG
I'll have to see if that works at all when I get back tonight.



That would have been my plan, but it's been raining since Friday and if the forecast holds true (has been so far) than there won't be any sunshine until Monday. :(

Sooo.. did it work? Cause i have a leaking sunroof drain that i need to clean up after

[Matt95GT]

It did initially... but I didn't bother continuing the drying process nor fixing the leak since it needs a head gasket and I'm likely junking the car. So yea... the car smells like dirty vag now, and I don't care.

[tenspeed]

A tarp, wieghed down with milk jugs and open windows, will do it. Winter is around the corner and the humidity drops like a rock. You may still have some odor come spring but the moisture will be gone.

[Rafael21]

you know of a good way to check and clear the blockage of a Sunroof Drain?