I recently left passenger side window down during several torrential rains. Seems as though both sides got wet. Passenger side was puddled above and below the liner.
After getting all standing water out I am drying under the liners on both sides by exposing the jute pads to the air by holding the liners up with various props. I leave the doors ajar when possible and use damp rid when doors are closed. I also used various towels and sponges strategically placed as needed. I have not removed the seats. They seem to be drying out OK. Under the seats seems fairly dry around the edges beneath the liner.
The question is: “To what extent does it all need to be dried out?” I think that driver side may have been wet for some time from repeated door openings in the rain. Not sure just how it got wet on that side. A/C not leaking to inside compartment after letting it run until it was dripping to ground. Door seals may have been leaking at front corner molding on both sides. I used laminating contact cement to reglue. Seems to work fine now.
Couple of hard rains recently. No water in cab at all. Window drain seems to be working properly with no leakage to interior. I did clean some leaves, etc., from the drivers side drain terminus. How dry is “dry”? Seems like with the current design that when it is put back together that it would have no way to dry further. The current liner seems to be intact. I really don’t see how the liner could ever really stay dry even under ideal conditions. There are no drains and it is sealed from the air with minimal edge exposure. There is no rust on passenger side and drivers side has some near the door opening, but not too bad. It is a 2002 S10 Std. Cab pickup. Removing liner, etc. would require a mechanic.
Any advice would be welcome. Internet forums have not been addressing the drying issue, only the causes of water contamination.
I agree 100% with @knfenimore. I had this happen to a couple of vehicles of mine. I took them to a local detail shop and they did a great job. The remove everything and dry it out.
The rubber trim attached at the top of the door opening to divert water out of the cab can shift and divert water in. And leaves can settle under the vented fascia, plugging the drain, causing rain to spill through the heater plenum into the floor. Also, a poorly installed windshield is often the source of water in the floor of S-10s. .
I agree. I think you should really pull the seat out and take the jute pad out for drying in the sun as well as the carpet/pad. Mold can start in 24 hours and once started is hard to get rid of on porous surfaces.
Or let it idle for an hour with the windows cracked and the heat on high until dry, and hopefully pre mold. Pull the floor mats and sun dry those. Is the floor liner able to trap water and not breathe? If so it should be pulled.
I would remove the seats and strip the interior down to the bare metal to dry it out properly. The seats on my 2000 S10 Blazer were held down by T50 or T55 Torx bolts, once the bolts are removed from the floor pan the seat lifts right out. If I recall the bolts are under plastic covers at each corner of the seat. If it’s a power seat there the cable harness has to be disconnected.
Once the seats and some of the plastic trim are removed the carpet and underlayment can be lifted out and cleaned and dried properly. Otherwise expect electrical problems down the road.
I went through this with the Blazer after my first attempt off-roading came to a bad end. It ended with 6 inches of mud and water in the interior. I drove it for another 8-9 years by taking the time to strip the interior down to bare metal and drying it out properly.
Barkydog has an excellent suggestion about running the heater to remove any remaining dampness after the interior has been stripped.
I posted my experience on here before. The carpet was rubber backed. I lifted the threshold and propped up the carpet, using fans and heaters to try and dry it out without any additional disassembly. After a few days I gave up, it was still soaking wet under there.
The backing is like a sponge. Mine was limited to the passenger foot well but the backing was a single piece that spanned the width of the car. So I tore it off in the middle and pulled out the passenger side of it.
I wrung about a half gallon of water out of it even though I had shop-vac’d it initially and let it dry for a few days. It would have never dried out fully on its own and was already starting to smell like mildew.
Once the backing was out, it dried out pretty fast using the aforementioned method. But the jute backing had to dry in the sun before I could put it back in.