hey guys,

i got some water in my 123 - ive read through the archives and have a couple q's:

1.) does anyone know where to get chemical dehumidifier? (my local hardware store was clueless, home despot said theyd never heard of it...)

2.) is there any way to remove the sound deadening boards so i can completely dryout the space in between the boards and floorpan?

boo to trying to dry out water when its 47 degrees out...this would be much easier if it were warmer...

thanks,
dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Ask for silica gel or desiccant.

I've seen little blue buckets in grocery stores for a dryer/dessicant type of product (for under kitchen/bathroom sink/etc).
Or if you want to order from the internet, there is this site: http://www.drytheair.com/xcart/store/catalog/category_255_DRIERITE_Dessicant_page_1.html

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

on my TD it is mostly removed, and it is VERY hard to get it out and back in in one piece. maybe poke a small hole in it and use a shop vac to suck out as much moisture as you can. the stuff is like road tar coated with cement. I had none in the rear of the car, so I put in some Home Depot carpet padding. not bad. I gotta get all the cracked and flaking stuff out from the front of the car and replace it with the padding. maybe put some dynamat in... pricey!
John

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

i left the car open all day today with fans on circulating air. seemed to work ok. deadener is still wet. hopefully the dessicant will draw it out.

looks like i am going to need to work on the front and read window seals. sweeeet.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

A hair dryer can often be helpful in cases like this where ambient temps are so low that evaporation is not being helped. Of course the heated air can't really get directly to the trapped moisture, but heating up the floor should help some.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150

for those with the wet soundboard blues: i went to WalMart and got a $10 holmes mini fan with heater. worked really, really well in one night (its now in the 20's at night). just put it on the affected areas, cracked the sunroof and waited. fogged up the windows, a good sign that moisture is evaporating and escaping.

now i have to seal the leaks (i think its the windshield...)

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

If your AC works, use it.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

doesnt the a/c work as a dehumidifier also.as it will make defrosting more effective with it on.might work to pull some miosture from the interior.just dont set to frosty.BTW do you mean the padding between carpet and body ...or the very thin sheet stuff that is stuck to all floor surfaces?I ask only because when i patched my floor I had to pull some of that up...and while carpet and associated bits were wet,that thin sheet of stuff was still not even damp inside.I hung carpets in basement near furnace until dry.

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1984 300D turbo 155k

www.interactivepainmanagement.com

G'mornin',
I'm certain that Lowe's, ACE, Home Depot, and 84 Lumber all carry a dessicant product.....I think it's generally in the Paint Dept. but may be in the Closet Dept.......

SB

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

A/C is a no go as of right now...so thats not an option that's *sooo* far down on the repair list. But it was updated to R134 in 5/2005 (with a new compressor) so it can't be too far gone...

It's the stuff between the carpet and the body that doesn't come out easily. Water seems to have seeped under it, when I push on the stuff I can see moisture flow out from underneath it near the rubber grommets etc.

I'll go in person to home despot and look for the elusive dessicant.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

but i always thought that sound deadening insulation on the floorboards is what greatly enhances the rusting out of 300D floorboards! It really traps water and holds it there. Those floors are galvanized and shouldnt rust that easily.

I've restored my 300D and welded in new floorboards, but instead of installing insulation, I just put an extra removable piece of heavy Mercedes Carpet under there in the rear.

Not all 300D's rust, but when they do, its usually the rear floorboards that go first.

that certainly seems to be the case. the sound dampening material has already been removed from the rear (didnt know until now that it was meant to be there). luckily, my texas car doesnt have any rust on the floorboards, and id love to keep it that way.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Set up a basement dehumidifier in the car for a week. Set the thing all the way to "dry as toast". I did this with an old station wagon that had been left open during a really good thunderstorm. The dehumidifier took care of what the shopvac left behind.

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1984 300TD

I had a water leak in my '84 300D on the front drivers side. I dried it out best I could, used dehumidifier, etc. Leak was fixed, three months later when I pushed on the sound deadener water squeezed out. I ended up using a heatgun and a plastic scraper to remove all the factory sound deadener. I then replaced the factory deadener with Dynamat. The factory deadener is some sort of asphalt material that has a layer of foam between it and the metal floor. Consequently the foam absorbs water and is difficult to remove. The Dynamat adheres directly to the metal so no water will get under it if the leak reoccurs. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K