Drenched carpets and Mould nightmare in CX!

[Marion]

Hi guys,
I uncovered my precious project car for the first time since feb on the weekend and was horrified to find the cabin full of condensation, and mould, the carpets are drenched thru to the metal (mostly on one side for some reason), there is mould on the steering wheel, seatbelts, carpets, ceiling. the electronics hub above the speedometer was full of moisture under its little removable hat thing. Ive been storing it outside under a cover for 4 years and have never had any problems until now. Ive probably never left it for for several months like this time though, could that be the problem? There is also a mysterious drip landing just next to the accelerator pedal on the carpet when it rains, maybe this drip has slowly drenched the whole carpet over a few months?
So Im planning on removing the front seats and taking out the carpet from the front and back so I can dry them all properly. Ive never done this before, any traps for young players I should know about?
Cheers, Moe.

 

[ARCHRIVAL]

Taking carpet out is a challenge as it extends across the car and the centre consol has to come out .
water would in all likelihood be thru the windscreen seal as the car flexes so much and it is just a mastic seal could also be thru the heater with a blocked drain in the engine bay .

 

[Bruce H]

That drip is highly likely to be Archrival’s second suggestion - leaves and dust get into the air intake tower and block the drain, so eventually the rain drips through the flap system. Look under the car for a rubber pipe jammed inside the right front wheel arch below the air intake and squeeze it to see if it is blocked.
If it is Archrival’s first suggestion you may well discover rust once you lift the carpet. You may also have rust forming at the bottom corner of the windscreen, and in worst case scenario it may be breaking through half way up the back off the wheel arch.

 

[Marion]

Thanks so much for the advice guys, ill go ahead and have a look at all of those things. I lifted up the carpet under the pedals and found no rust, so hopefully the rest will be the same!
Cheers, Moe.

 

[shibuichi]

Hopefully it is just a blocked drain.
White vinegar kills mould (makes the cells explode so it doesn’t spread). I’ve used vinegar to wipe down leather with no issues. If you’re worried about marking, patch test or just use the vinegar then wipe down with clean water and dry thoroughly.
Good luck!

 

[DoubleChevron]

Yeah, white vinegar works like magic on carpet too. In our bedroom we have an alumimium sliding door as a window. We ended up with a line of mold down the carpet, as the alumimium frame is wet due to condensation all winter .... leaving the carpet against it wet. I googled "how to clean mold from carpet". And vinegar was amazing, the mold wiped right off.

 

[pugwash]

Crystal cat litter from Bunnings is great for absorbing moisture ,if you can get the carpets up spread this stuff around leave for a while then vac out ,have Used it to dry out a wet cavity when the tiles leaked in my shower ,worked well

 

[Bruce Llewellyn]

Take your time and pull the whole thing apart. The Haynes manual is sort of Ok, but...

Front seat bolts can be accessed from underneath where the exposed thread rusts and gets damaged by stones - A wire wheel on an angle grinder usually cleans these (and seat belt bolts) nicely. Don't be afraid to grind damaged ends off and replace the bolts. The inboard seat bolts may be holding the exhaust heat shield on, and the lock nuts will make these impossible to unscrew from the inside, (505 pugs are the same) so it's important to get underneath for a look before you try to pull the seats out. (See sticky on working under Citroens) The underlay is sisal or similar, it will be rotten by now as well as mouldy, so remove it all, re-paint the floors and replace with new. The carpets are synthetic. Be careful getting them out as they have a thick moulded foam section underneath that will tear and fall off if it's full of water. Getting the front carpets out may require two people. Impact screwdriver is recommended for the tread plate screws. It's probably a good idea to pull the sill trims off at the same time as there may be rust holes underneath.

Good idea to pull the grille out and the anti theft shield on the bonnet catch as the bonnet release lever may have to come out to get the carpet out. That way you can still get the bonnet open.

I have had to drill the head off a seat mounting bolt, drill through the rest oversize after the seat was out and replace with a bolt and nyloc nut the next size up, expect it to fight back. Get penetrating oil on everything for at least a week. Little bits of rag help to soak various bolts.

The heater knobs pull off, best done when it's nice and warm inside the car. There are all sorts of bit, such as heater box flap seals, which should be replaced. The heater core is always hot in a CX and leaking flap seals mean weak to non-existent AC. The heater assembly looks like it's the size of a small bus, but isn't hard to work on once you get it out. It has to be pulled backwards into the cabin. The heater fan in a CX can be quite weak, so worth getting it apart, re facing commutator and new brushes, because of the difficulty of fixing it later. A more powerful fan is recommended.

Some cars had rear air added. The hoses run under the car inside the left subframe rail. These get porus in their old age and let the gas out.

If the air intake stack drain is blocked, pull the whole thing out (allow half a day) and you'll find all sorts of muck between the cross member and the bulkhead. While you're in there- There's a not very convincing seal between the intake stack and the cabin fan. If it's not sealing it lets hot oil smells in. Some cars had a re circulation system added (in the engine bay above the steering wheel/ below the coolant tank) which can also leak both oil fumes and water... There are also the bits of cloth ribbon which are supposed to hold the handbrake cables in the right place. Easy to get the cables out with the heater out. It will be really quite dirty down there.

Check the rubber Tees in the return hydraulics. There's one near the steering which can be a real pain when it lets go. Replace suspect ones with brass Tees. Be prepared to replace various bits of rubber return hose. There's also the rubber steering coupling down under the intake stack. The procedure for replacing it is quite involved though. The Haynes manual covers it.

You will need quite a bit of storage space, and to take photos and videos and make diagrams.

If you catch up with all the age and wear related nasties, the CX is a really nice car.

 

[Marion]

Gday Bruce!

Thanks for the comprehensive advice. Just to let you know where I am at now > I have realized that only the drivers side was flooded, so I have taken out the drivers seat and front and rear carpets on the same side. Now I am just have to figure out how the water is getting in. for starters it only leaks after rain. It's something to do with the seal at the bottom of the outside of windscreen. Just waiting for a dry day in Ballarat so I can try and figure it out! Ill start with cleaning out the little canal in front of the windsreen and then look for cracks in the seal.

All the other non-leak related things you recommended checking may have to wait however. My main goal is to get the engine running at the moment. all in good time.

Cheers, Moe.

 

[RINGER]

Odour lingering ~ look @ ozone machines & notice the health warnings.
Seems they are good for getting rid of bedbugs! & add to that cigarette smoke smell as well.
A real benefit if one buys a vehicle really cheap because a smoker has polluted it for years.

From experience a muffler fitter welding a bracket under my car caught the carpets etc. inside alight, while the vehicle was on the hoist.
Didn't notice the smoke inside until he & the apprentice were sitting down eating lunch when the apprentice saw the smoke inside the vehicle. They lower the car pulled out the carpet & put out the fire.
Months later after trying everything there was still a foul fire burned carpet, plus electrical wiring smell permeating the car.

I was distraught, but bought one of these ozone machines for about $100 & with a couple of good doses ~ voila the smell was gone.

 

[andrewj]

Gday Bruce!

Thanks for the comprehensive advice. Just to let you know where I am at now > I have realized that only the drivers side was flooded, so I have taken out the drivers seat and front and rear carpets on the same side. Now I am just have to figure out how the water is getting in. for starters it only leaks after rain. It's something to do with the seal at the bottom of the outside of windscreen. Just waiting for a dry day in Ballarat so I can try and figure it out! Ill start with cleaning out the little canal in front of the windsreen and then look for cracks in the seal.

All the other non-leak related things you recommended checking may have to wait however. My main goal is to get the engine running at the moment. all in good time.

Cheers, Moe.

Hi Moe,

I had a strange problem like the one you describe many years back. It was a later model ('85) and the extra rubber seal attached to the door was directing water through a gap in the bottom of the door seal. It was only a problem when rain came from a certain direction. It took me ages to work it out

So this might be a possibility if you have the rubber seals on the bottom of the doors?

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[cresco750]

Hi Moe,

I had a strange problem like the one you describe many years back. It was a later model ('85) and the extra rubber seal attached to the door was directing water through a gap in the bottom of the door seal. It was only a problem when rain came from a certain direction. It took me ages to work it out

So this might be a possibility if you have the rubber seals on the bottom of the doors?

Cheers,
Andrew

I’ve experienced that same problem on both of the CX’s that I’ve owned. Did you find a solution?

 

[Marion]

Hi Moe,

I had a strange problem like the one you describe many years back. It was a later model ('85) and the extra rubber seal attached to the door was directing water through a gap in the bottom of the door seal. It was only a problem when rain came from a certain direction. It took me ages to work it out

So this might be a possibility if you have the rubber seals on the bottom of the doors?

Cheers,
Andrew

Hi Andrew,
The drip in my car is coming from two places. 1. above the accelerator pedal (not near the door) and 2. from the bottom of the central console next to the brake pedal. Im guessing that your leak would have been coming from the bottom of the Drivers side door? If so it doesnt sound like the same problem...?
Cheers, Moe.

 

[Bruce H]

Above the accelerator pedal on my CX was the blocked air intake overflowing through the recirculating duct. You can see the duct clearly if you look inside the engine bay to the outside of the air intake tower, and the corresponding inside hole if you have the lower flocked part of the dash off.

 

[andrewj]

Hi Andrew,
The drip in my car is coming from two places. 1. above the accelerator pedal (not near the door) and 2. from the bottom of the central console next to the brake pedal. Im guessing that your leak would have been coming from the bottom of the Drivers side door? If so it doesnt sound like the same problem...?
Cheers, Moe.

Hi Moe, yes, sounds like a different problem.

Hi Cresco, fit was a long time ago but from memory, someone had been inside the door, and the vinyl patches over the apertures in the door weren't sealed, the rubber underneath was also full of muck. I cleaned and sealed everything and the problem went away. But I can't say I worked out exactly how the water was coming in.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[Marion]

Hi all,
for anyone still wondering. I found that the leak stopped when I tightened a bolt which was holding the bonnet to the car just below the drivers side of the windscreen (accessed with the bonnet up). The bolt is in the middle of a drainage cannel. I sprayed the whole car with water and there was no leak, so am pretty sure its all good!
Cheers guys, Moe.

 

[andrewj]

Hi all,
for anyone still wondering. I found that the leak stopped when I tightened a bolt which was holding the bonnet to the car just below the drivers side of the windscreen (accessed with the bonnet up). The bolt is in the middle of a drainage cannel. I sprayed the whole car with water and there was no leak, so am pretty sure its all good!
Cheers guys, Moe.

Hi Moe,
Well done! Thanks for letting us know what you found.
Cheers,
Andrew

 

[DoubleChevron]

Hi all,
for anyone still wondering. I found that the leak stopped when I tightened a bolt which was holding the bonnet to the car just below the drivers side of the windscreen (accessed with the bonnet up). The bolt is in the middle of a drainage cannel. I sprayed the whole car with water and there was no leak, so am pretty sure its all good!
Cheers guys, Moe.

I'd never have thought of that one! It might be worth putting a thread sealer on that bolt.

 

[cresco750]

I assumed that those bolts were forward of the firewall?