Wet Winter = smelly inside - how to rid smell

[phr1$k37]

Hi Everyone!

I drive a lot of children and Youths ... and adults well this winter is very wet (snow) ... and well it smells like MOLD inside Princess now :p
Usually I just use my heatgun to dry everything up but this winter I have been very busy (and lazy) so the smell is very bad. I thinking of renting a "Rug/Carpet cleaning machine" to clean it all but before I do I figure I should ask all the folks here what you do?

Normally I just use Simple Green, scrub a bit and dry. Probably good enough but I figured I should use a deep cleaning.

[kings-x59]

you might try something like carpet fresh. Seems to me that armand hammer makes a carpet deoderizer with baking soda in it, can't recall the name. sprinkle it into the carpet let sit a while and vacuum it out.
Febrize might help as well - neutralizes odors.

[blacknome]

twice a year I run the $200.00 carpet cleaner with attachment thru both cars and the van and it works great. Before that I have used a little 3gal shop-vac and just a little simple green ( a capful or 2 ) with a bucket of warm water and a scrub brush. Then suck it all up with the shop vac.

Another trick is to put a new dryer sheet in the air vents and change it every couple of weeks.

Nothing like fresh laundry !!!

[phr1$k37]

Thanks team!
I will probably stick with the Simple Green scrub and dry method as I usually do but by chance I have to clean out one of our rooms (previous renter smoked when they were not suppose too!!!) with the Rug Doctor, I will try using that

[astrozam]

Make positively sure you don't have a leak of some sort first, if its just water from slush and snow melting thats one thing,if you have a leak all the simple green in the world isn't going to help.

[phr1$k37]

Make positively sure you don't have a leak of some sort

Actually that is the problem ... the weather stripping on the dutch doors top part is gone and leaks water in whenever opening ... drips in some water when closed, the front area between driver and passenger seat the ground is often moist OR quite warm/hot :p and just this session I noted a water droplet from my head console >.<

The rear hatch is what I need to get fixed but I do not know where to get the seals new!!! Only the junkyard has them and the one good condition one I was trying to get off I butched it up :(

[crash]

one thing to consider is that mold smell is most likey coming from the bottom up. what I mean by that is, under our carpet (which has a rubber bottom to it) is a THICK layer of underpad. it's like a huge spongue with water/moisture. that rubber on the bottom of the carpet actually holds in and can create more moisture (like an empty waterbottle left outside with the cap on it). my wet carpet is also the dutch door thing but not necessarily the weather striping. I'll take a pic and post it later that shows the root of my issue.

once a year i pull the carpet and dry it out from the bottom up in the hot summer sun. anything less, or a cleaner that puts moisture back in to that underpad would only make issues worse, at least on mine.

[phr1$k37]

Hi Crash! I agree with you - which is why I use the heatgun :p where was the problem you had?

[crash]

i'll start by saying that I believe GM cutting corners is at fault for this problem. both my 94 and 93 did NOT have this problem, the rubber on them is 5 and 6 years older and more dried out than my 99, even falling apart on one spot on the 93, still they have no leaks .......

my problem is: with the lower doors open, follow the rubber seals on the outsides of the doors. they meet a plastic trim piece that lays across the back of the van finishing off where the carpet ends. under that plastic trim there is a lack of a lip. the water runs down the rubber, under the lower doors and gradually trickles in under the trim to the carpet. i feel this gets worse when driving due to the force of the wind creating a swirling effect and hense 'vacuum' right at the rear, almost pulling more water towards where the leak is happening.

as you can see in the pic (and it's the same left and right side), the rubber ends, then the body seam the rubber is on ends, then the seam itself ends leaving a canal or sorts. there is supposed to be a sticky gooey rubber seal sealer along the back but half of mine was gone due to moisture.

sorry for the width, i wanted it to be easily viewable

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Although I agree with the poor design and the partial lip, that is not the reason for the water entering. There is another seal that goes around the door that seals well outside this lip area that is supposed to keep the water out. I struggled with the wet carpet for about a year trying to find where the water was coming in. Finally after running a garden hose over the back side I could see where water was simply going under the door seal and soaking into the carpet where the lip ends. The fix was to have my local dealer install a complete set of new door seals to the tune of around $300. Of course this was back in 2002 or 2003 and I had the barn doors.

[Cobra]

i know i have to go to the stealership but...... now there are two things i need them to do this is going to suck come spring

[phr1$k37]

Oh bummer. Thanks very much for the post and the beforehand research. I will take a peek there this weekend and I clean. I cannot stand the smell right now! Arrrrgh!
$300US!!! OMG ... I think I will die when my local dealer tells me the cost

[crash]

Although I agree with the poor design and the partial lip, that is not the reason for the water entering. There is another seal that goes around the door that seals well outside this lip area that is supposed to keep the water out

like I said, "my problem" ... barn and dutch are different with the weather seals. the water running down from the roof of the van will enter where the two seals meet. meaning, the upper door (or hatch) seal and the lower door (dutch) seal. it will run on the inside from there down. inside meaning inside of your weather seal on the lower doors. it will then pool in the corner and seep in under the trim where there is no lip and no weather seal. i'd say it's a two part combination, bad design & crap seals

still doesn't explain why my two vans 15 & 16yrs old don't have the problem and my 99 does. seems the 98-03 models are the worst

[sfeaver]

This is an older post of mine:

For those who are getting tired of wet carpet due to the back doors leaking, I found a place that sells the seals and are OEM GM stuff. It is part numbers 15046999 - $82.50 for the left door, 15047000 -119.91 for the right. Since this last year I have had the seats and carpet out three times to dry, it is worth 200$ plus shipping to me!


Thats a lot cheaper then the dealership wanted around here even with a big discount!

The place is called Monster Parts Online, their website is: http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ ... atalogid=1

Scott


I think the shipping was about 30 bucks or so to Hamilton, Ontario. You will also need to replace that piece of tape under the trim piece too, I used some 3m double sided trim tape I believe it was called.

[Rileysowner]

I seems those parts are no longer available.