Dakota woes: Soggy carpet/floorboard AC

[UncleS2]

It turns out that, at least for 97-04 Dakotas, it's a common problem for water to get back into the cab from the AC water drain tube. With my black carpet, I never saw anything amiss- until I left some things in the passenger floorboard!

And since our humidity has been terrible lately- ~65% to 75+%- my new 02 Dakota has given me the soggy passenger floorbloard blues.

I've found the problem, & the cure, well described on a Dakota/Durango forum- right now I'm concerned with drying things out.

Padding/insulation is glued/bonded to the underside of the factory carpet, & it's open cell foam: = sponge!

Luckily, *No* smell of mildew yet. Of course, the best thing would be to gut the interior & remove the carpet, then let it dry out for several days outside. Say, after pressing all water out possible, put it upsde down on sawhorsed out in our hot Texas sun. But it's a heckuva lot of work when the current heat index is running ~105*F & up.

I've removed the passenger door sill trim strip- may also remove the pass kick panel. Probably the pass seat too & then 1. Slide some folded dry towels under the pass side carpet, walk around on knees, squish some water out of the padding for towels to soak up, repeat a time or two, then: 2. prop things under the carpet/padding

Of course, Best would be to remove seats, rear storage comp's, big 1-pd center console/drink holder/tray, kick panels, then pull carpet out. Refit driver seat & drive for a few days. Go racing with lighter weight truck!

Or at least come to appreciate the sound-deadening properties of carpet & padding.

Any & all suggestions gratefully accepted.

 

[addyguy]

May sound crazy, but I wouldn't even go to that much work.

Leave the truck parked in the sun on a hot day, with the windows cracked 1-inch. Water should evaporate out.

Or, sit the truck in a sunny spot, and leave the engine running with the heater on hot and high, and the floor vents on, again, windows cracked 1-inch.

I'd imagine that would dry the water out???

 

[UncleS2]

Thanks AG. That was pretty well my original plan. And so long as the dreaded mildew smell doesn't appear, that would probably work. Right now it's parked with sun coming through the windshield(black interior), with the pass side window down about 1/2". Today's nice & dry by our standards, humidity only about 50% as of an hour ago! Think I'll still try the towel trick though.

 

[SLCraig]

Whenever you are driving use the floor air vents as much as possible. They do just as good a job as anything else out there you will try. I use the floor vents all the time in the winter (in conjunction with defrost) to help dry up the floormats from snowy shoes/boots. It works.

 

[Papa Bear]

This may be the perfect time to clean those carpets....
Scrub with mild carpet cleaner and use a wet vac to get up as much as possible. Then place in sun with windows cracked as mentioned above.

 

[Jim 5]

Buy some "Concrobium" from Home Depot. It will kill the mold/mildew before it can start. I had the exact same issue with my BMW before I sold it (left the sunroof open overnight in a rainstorm).

Concrobium left no residue and the car never ever smelled. Do it ASAP.

 

[01rangerxl]

Unless there is standing water, I doubt you will have mildew issues. Removing interior parts may cause more problems (broken clips, pieces not fitting as good when put back) than it solves. Just take a shop vac to it, spray some Febreeze, leave the windows down on a hot day, and call it good.

 

[den]

The Air conditioner is what takes the moister out

 

[mechtech2]

Park it with the windows open, and leave a portable house fan running - aimed at the area on high. A sunny day in Texas is perfect. The fan is the key.
Plain old newspapers mashed down first will suck up a great deal of the initial water. Cheap, and works great!
Febreeze or other sauce will kill odors.
Get after it right away, and you may not have smell problems.

 

[mopar_monkey]

Originally Posted By: Stuart Hughes
It turns out that, at least for 97-04 Dakotas, it's a common problem for water to get back into the cab from the AC water drain tube. With my black carpet, I never saw anything amiss- until I left some things in the passenger floorboard!

And since our humidity has been terrible lately- ~65% to 75+%- my new 02 Dakota has given me the soggy passenger floorbloard blues.

I've found the problem, & the cure, well described on a Dakota/Durango forum- right now I'm concerned with drying things out.
so what is your fix to this problem? i have an 04 dakota and don't yet have this problem but if i can fix before it happens that would be great, this is the second dakota i've have, the first was an 02, i bought the 04 because i wanted a quad cab and i really like the 3.7 compared to the 3.9, these are great trucks and i've had no issues at all with them, but i have replaced upper ball joints on both before they were an issue.

Padding/insulation is glued/bonded to the underside of the factory carpet, & it's open cell foam: = sponge!

Luckily, *No* smell of mildew yet. Of course, the best thing would be to gut the interior & remove the carpet, then let it dry out for several days outside. Say, after pressing all water out possible, put it upsde down on sawhorsed out in our hot Texas sun. But it's a heckuva lot of work when the current heat index is running ~105*F & up.

I've removed the passenger door sill trim strip- may also remove the pass kick panel. Probably the pass seat too & then 1. Slide some folded dry towels under the pass side carpet, walk around on knees, squish some water out of the padding for towels to soak up, repeat a time or two, then: 2. prop things under the carpet/padding

Of course, Best would be to remove seats, rear storage comp's, big 1-pd center console/drink holder/tray, kick panels, then pull carpet out. Refit driver seat & drive for a few days. Go racing with lighter weight truck!

Or at least come to appreciate the sound-deadening properties of carpet & padding.

Any & all suggestions gratefully accepted.



so what was your fix for this problem? i have an 04 and am not having this issue but if i can fix it before it gives me problems that would be great. hope all turns out well with yours, these are great trucks, this is my second one.

 

[UncleS2]

MoparMonkey, ck your PM, sent link to the problem & fix thread I found on a Dakota/Durango forum. It's my 2nd Dakota too- the first, a 94 CC 3.9 V6 ATx 2wd, bought new 9/94, regretfully traded off end of July 97. Only 13 yrs between 'em!

And thanks for all the input, folks- I did buy a spray bottle of Concrobium from Home Depot today, & will squeeze & sop up, spray, etc. If it'll keep nold & mildew from forming it'l be the cheapest $9 ever spent. So far it's been parked where the sun shines in the windshield all afternoon(remember, black interior = Hot!), with the carpet propped off the floorboard an inch or two, with pass side window cracked about 1/2". Whenever I open the door my glasses steam up badly! It's true, heat is the key for drying thngs out. Will put doors open again for a few hrs once sun drops.

 

[mechtech2]

Just to repeat - We have had a bunch of flood cars, and a fan is the key.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Would you be willing to share the link to the solution with everyone? I have a friend with a Dakota of that vintage and I'd like to pass it on to him in the event he experiences the same issue.

 

[UncleS2]

Sure! It's a good Dakota & Durango forum, you may want to sign up- I did, post as UncleStu there. Link: http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57831&highlight=drain