Thread: Drying out a vehicle

Stick domestic dehumidifier inside car with cord through window/door and let it do the work for you.

A wet-vac vacuum cleaner will suck a lot of wetness out of the carpet before you use the dehumidifier.

Originally Posted by akaroa1

You need to find someone with one of these
A builder or carpet layer would have one

I have one but it's a bit far away from you

Just blow the hell out of it with one of these and it will dry pretty well.
We use them to dry out Storm flooded houses etc

Attachment 274982

+1 for this. You can hire those from Hirepool or similar places.

clean fresh water or salty/dirty ?
either way disconnect the battery and get busy with wd40 on every electrical connection. not crc!

Trust me...from someone who has got water inside the 4wd many times over the years the dehumidifier is the deal, lave it going for as long as needed. I have no carpet on the floor. I cut it out but left the carpet around the gearbox tunnel.

I'm pleased to see that no one has suggested a fan heater...don't use one incase you were thinking of it, you'll create steam or water vapor in the cabin.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

clean fresh water or salty/dirty ?
either way disconnect the battery and get busy with wd40 on every electrical connection. not crc!

Curious why not CRC?

Wonder if you could take it to a spray booth with all the doors open

Originally Posted by Southcity

Curious why not CRC?

CRC is petroleum based so attacks rubber insulation , also it drys out gummy and sticks to terminals . Same goes for lubing locks wd40 is good and stays fluid till it washs out , can also be cleaned out easy with soapy water / brake clean etc . In the old days it used to destoy outboard harnesses .

what he said !
wd40 is a water displacer, crc is a displacer/lube. and it also goes sticky when dry.
i have repaired enough electronic boards to learn that crc will get you out of a bind but needs washing off asap

In the past I've used a wet vacuum to suck most of the water out of the carpets and then left a dehumidifier going for a couple days.

Came up so good that now I throw the dehumidifier in overnight every 3 months or so, it pulls out stuff all moisture but the vehicle always feels and smells cleaner.

if you haven't already done so you may want to check your gearbox, transfer case & diff's oils for water contamination.

Personally, I would like to see an re- enactment, This time with photo's

As others have said, remove carpet, pop out bungs depending on where your breathers are you might find transfer case feels gummy when shifting, if so, will need oil change.

Lift carpet to allow airflow or a dehumidifier.

My mums car had a water leak so bad that the rear foot wells were completely full of water.
Sucked most of it out with a wet and dry vacuum, then just allowed it to air dry.

The sound proofing holds onto water extremely well, but if you get air flow to the underside it dries pretty quick.