General Drying things out

[Shelxs]

Here's what the garage say...

"Michelle,The warranty we supply is a mechanical warranty only.We looked at the ingress of water into the car as a goodwill gesture,unfortunately all convertibles are inclined to leak!To strip out the interior is very time consuming and ties up the workshop for a long period.
However we would reduce the cost to £100.00 if you want us to sort it out.Regards Steve."

What do you guys think? I'm tempted to have them do it. I think another garage might charge more and be less experienced with the car. Although I am worried I might pay to have it done and then water will get in again at some point...

xS

 

[RnRollie]

getting some water ingress is inevitable,

it can only be avoided by never driving in the rain and keeping it locked in a garage... (like the Doc )

If that is not possible, then all sealing rubber must be (kept) in good condition, vaseline applied on certain known ingress points, the (hard)top not strung too tight (or too loose), the windows aligned very well, ...
and one must never park nose down,... .
Even then, when parked outside, open to the elements, rain and wind blowing from a certain direction can still find its way through the gaps. A full-car cover might be helpfull here.

 

[TDMB]

Here's what the garage say...

"Michelle,The warranty we supply is a mechanical warranty only.We looked at the ingress of water into the car as a goodwill gesture,unfortunately all convertibles are inclined to leak!To strip out the interior is very time consuming and ties up the workshop for a long period.
However we would reduce the cost to £100.00 if you want us to sort it out.Regards Steve."

Ooh, well he's not too condescending is he?! Having said that, given all the headaches it's causing you, for £100 I'd be inclined to go for it, assuming you can stop it happening again as badly?

 

[Shelxs]

Well its not really causing me any headaches at the moment. It's the effect on the car body long term I'm worried about if I leave it damp.

I wonder if lots of you have the same problem without knowing?? If you put your hand under the bottom of the cover over the bulkhead behind the seats you can feel the foam lining. That is what is damp on mine. You can also put your hand under the little plastic flap in the passenger foot well where the number is stamped and feel the lining in there. I'd be interested to know if others have the same problem. If so then maybe it is something I should just live with?

xS

 

[Dave-M]

I would take there offer, Its quite a job to take it all out, and at least they have the space dry the mats .
I don't think the garage is right to say that you should expect that amount of water to be in the car, over time it would start to smell.
Regards my car, under the seats there are some wires that come from below the mats I find that a good place to check for water ingress. Thankfully I'm dry.

 

[Alan.D]

Well its not really causing me any headaches at the moment. It's the effect on the car body long term I'm worried about if I leave it damp.

I wonder if lots of you have the same problem without knowing?? If you put your hand under the bottom of the cover over the bulkhead behind the seats you can feel the foam lining. That is what is damp on mine. You can also put your hand under the little plastic flap in the passenger foot well where the number is stamped and feel the lining in there. I'd be interested to know if others have the same problem. If so then maybe it is something I should just live with?

xS

Mechelle I thought you got this done under waranty at FIAT? what waranty did you get with the car? If nothing else you got £50 off for an e-mail....

 

[Shelxs]

Morning Alan, no it wasn't a fiat warranty just the 3 month one from the garage i bought the car from - they specialise in sports cars. I'm going to go for it, like you say at least asking got me 50quid off!
xS

 

[Alan.D]

If we were closer I would have done it for you, you'll need to move back up to the lakes. BTW still haven't been able to get to that pub

 

[LittleRedB]

Defo get it fixed, one of the buying tips for a b is to pick up the VIN flap in the passenger footwell, if its damp it could mean the car is rusting from the inside out!!

For £100 (with your £50 off) I would give them the hassle of fixing it, while its not too difficult to get the seats/lining out it takes time and can be a pain in the ass...............

 

[Shelxs]

If we were closer I would have done it for you, you'll need to move back up to the lakes. BTW still haven't been able to get to that pub

Thanks for the thought anyway. I'll contact the garage and get it booked in this week as from all the comments I think it really needs to be done. Re the woolpack, I looked on the map at the pub and its actually right at the bottom of hardknott really before you get into boot. Chris and Miriam I think it was who ran it but its a long time ago! I used to go to the Brook House Inn as well, especially for a glass of mulled wine after getting down from scafell!
xS

 

[Alan.D]

Finally got past Boot earlier on my way back from Millom, it's called Boot inn and is about 100yrds up the lane from the Brook hse....

 

[Shelxs]

Finally got past Boot earlier on my way back from Millom, it's called Boot inn and is about 100yrds up the lane from the Brook hse....

I'm sure I must have been to it but for some reason it's just the other 2 I remember! I'd know it if I saw a picture. did you ever catch those burglars? That was a lovely cottage we used to stay in. There was a lot of family stuff there including albums of photos of them in the early days of motoring, the opening of the autobahns and them doing a grand tour through europe. some great pictures. I think the family are mostly buried down at st cathrines. My ex was a kayak instructor and he used to paddle down the river from there and i'd pick him up lower down, apart from the time I got the van stuck in the mud and left him stranded!

Will be booking the car in for next week. I finally got a quote back from the local fiat people and they want 265 to do it so 100 sounds like quite a bargain now!
xS

 

[Alan.D]

If I remember there wasn't any antiques or things of that ilk stolen, they were just after cash n cards whilst the walkers who had rented it were out walking on the hills.

 

[Shelxs]

Well the b goes to be stripped out tonight. Yet another trip to the garage in Leicester! She will be there till I can collect on Friday night. We've decided to stop for a nosh up at a services on the way home for a treat! Or should I say it will be my treat for Mike for all this ferrying me about he's had to do and the loan of his car while mines away.
Fingers crossed this will be an end to the damp problem!
xS

 

[silverbarchetta]

Shel, Sounds like you're doing the right thing. It'll be worth being without the b for a few more days to get it properly sorted, especially if you want to keep the car for a long time. All that damp would do no good at all.

 

[LittleRedB]

Funny enough my b had been parked up for 5 days in the rain, out of paranoia I decided to have a poke around under the flooring (thanks Xs for another reason to be paranoid about the b) - glad to report that all is dry!

Good luck with the drying out, take a couple of piccies while you have the interior all stripped out, would be interesting to see what it looks like with the flooring out!

 

[Alan.D]

Robot's put up a lot of interior pics when he stripped his out.

 

[LittleRedB]

Ah, I forgot about those..........

 

[Shelxs]

After a horrendous drive to Leicester on Friday after work my b is back home!

We set off for the M1 about 7.30, it was dark, windy and raining. Not long on the motorway and we saw lots of blue flashing lights in the distance, all 3 lanes of the M1 north (our route home) were blocked by police cars and there was what looked like an undamaged car and a shape that could have been a body in the middle of the road. We spent the rest of the journey planning a different route home, got the car and then set of back. Luckily we found an exit of the m1 just before the tailback otherwise I think we could have been there all night. Anyone know what happened?

Everything seems fine with the car, all dry. It all feels a bit strange, everything has moved around a bit. They'd changed the position of the steering wheel so now I can only just squeeze in, but at least I can see how fast I'm going! And no leaks even with the wind and rain we've had over the weekend (touch wood!)

xS

 

[Alan.D]

Glad it all sorted, steering wheel is adjustable so just move it to where it suits best.

BTW after waiting all that time to drive to Boot, got a call sat/sun night to the Boot inn, coincidence or what?