11 replies to this topic

[MVFDV50]

Have had my v70 GLT for a month now, finally got up the courage to look under the padding to see if it was leaking. Yup, soaked. Got core from FCP, stripped the seats, carpet, padding. cleaned as much as possible for a 25 degree day as I could stand. took it to my master volvo mech today. He popped out the core while I was doing plugs, rotor, cap, gas filter. The core was good! had a build date of 10/05 on it. Happy that I could use the $130 for other parts, but pissed that the padding was not addressed.

So, the real point of this post is: what have you folks done to clean the front (both sides) AND rear pads?

The fronts are that thick rubber like material with dense foam bottom. It does not just hose out. How do you get the coolant out? ShopVac? Carpet machine ( rental ? )

And the back is soaked too! it looks like pressed clothe fiber. I would just trash it and replace with foil backed auto padding but there are the clips for the seat bolt covers. Do boneyards have these?

Thanks! (I searched but didn't find anything on this)

1st post!

[Detailsetc.]

Guess nobody has had this issue.

I threw away the front foam pads and replaced with carpet backing with plastic sheet on one side.
Used spray adhesive to provide a little stick. I washed out the rear pad enough to re-use it.
Didn't want to go without the plastic covers on the seat bolts.

Total time to do 1.5 hours. Have to remove the front seats and back bottoms.

Also put on rear mud flaps without removing the wheels.

Next: dash indicator lights....

Try and lift the carpets out and let them dry . If you can put it in a garage and try leaving the heat on for awhile with the carpets lifted it should dry. Try sticking a bottle or somthing to keep the carpets up off the floor and it should be ok. The only problem is bacteria growing and causing your car to stink. Best bet is while the carpets are up is to spray some anti bacterial spray under them to stop them from smelling in the future.

[MVFDV50]

Thanks for the reply. Whoever had this car must have just kept feeding coolant into it. I was able to hose out and dry the rear pad but the front padding doesn't dry out. It wouldn't vac out and won't hose out. My volvo tech says they cut out the front padding and order a dr. side replacement piece if it is warrenty work. They don't have the pass. side. I would say that they each had a quart of coolant in them. I am happy with the quick fix with padding from Lowe's.

[prasamin]

if the core you pulled was good, then where was the coolant leaking from and why was the carpet soaked?

[James A Sousa]

I have seen posts about leaks at the firewall connectors. Long-term leaks should show signs of dried residue from the coolant.

[thedriver]

In the past I have put a domestic dehumidifier in the car and shut the doors. Leave it over night or longer if necessary and the car will be bone dry and hopefully odour free.

Mark

[Drew]

When my Volvo core leaked I caught it in time and there was no mess. However, on my old Saab when the heater control valve leaked and saturated the carpet I used a hose and shop vac. Pretty much flooded the carpet with the hose and shop vac'd it out. I repeated this several times until I had nothing but water, no green.
Then I proped up the carpet with whatever I could find and used a garage kerosene turbo heater for the day.
Looking back I'm suprised I didn't catch the car on fire.... LOL

A good wet vac and some heat will do wonders. It will dry.
I have also heard good things about the dehumidifier as well...

[tendency]

<SNIP..>
So, the real point of this post is: what have you folks done to clean the front (both sides) AND rear pads?

<..SNIP>

Watch out our you could end up with a wicked mold problem and *much* bigger problems.

It's not TOO bad of a job to tear out everything in the front down to bare metal and replace the sound deadining material that's under the carpet.

Upgrade your ride while you're at it with some premo deadening material such as can be found at:

Second Skin Audio

[98V70BASEBOY]

I cut out the affected foam, soaked it in the tub (replaced water a number of times to get all the coolant out), put it out in sun to dry and then just put it back in. No problems, no smell, no nothing.