How to manage a leaky car

Managing a leaky car

Assuming you don't have any electrical issues and your seat hasn't rusted away from the floor, we suggest you first address the mould issue.

Anti-Fungal Products

This is actually very easy because there are no end of products you can introduce to your car which are anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. The main issue is finding one without an overpowering smell. If there is a big puddle of water under your carpets, pouring on some Dettol, Milton Fluid or Zoflora will make it an inhospitable environment for bacteria and mould, but your car will smell like a hospital. You might actually like that, but there are alternatives.

There are plenty of products you can use, many available from your local supermarket. There are special laundry detergents for washing nappies or especially formulated for washing sports clothing, which contain anti-fungals and antibacterials. Read the labels, you want one that doesn't contain bleach.

We suggest you make up a solution in a spray bottle and apply it generously to your carpets. You will tend to find mould anywhere where there is dirt that the mould can feed off. So, it will be on the dust and crumbs around the seat runners, on the boot where the dog sits, the crisps the kids lost down the back seat and anywhere where you have touched. The natural oils from your skin is enough for fungus to feed from, so it is commonly found on seat belts and seat edges. It does prefer shady areas, so look up and check the headlining because it's often found there too. Give it a spray and that should be enough to kill the spores which get into the air and are harmful if breathed in, in large quantities.

Use the car

If it will be several months before you can get the car fixed and dried, you might be tempted to park the car somewhere and use your second car instead. There is some merit to this idea, and we certainly recommend parking it undercover if you can, but using the car will get it warmed up, circulate the air and stop it going stale. It also does all the other stuff that is good for a car, rotates the tires, gets the oil circulating and nocks the rust off the brakes.

If you do decide to park the car, if you can do it undercover. Park it in a secure garage if possible, that way it will keep the rain off, and you can open up the windows, so it can air out. Then give it a run every week or two, drive it around the block until the engine warms up.

Do not use a car cover. They make the car dark, which mould loves, and they stop air circulating. There are air vents around your car which help it breathe, but covering your car with a cover covers the whole thing, trapping in stale moist air and preventing any evaporation you might have benefited from and causing additional condensation. It's a great way to grow mould.

Water finds the lowest point

It really isn't unusual for water to leak in at the back of the car, run through the box sections to the back seat, pour down to the rear footwell, then run to the front footwells. At this point, you assume that because you have a puddle in the front, the leak is at the front.

This is important information to know if you are going to try and find and fix the leaks yourself, but also handy to know if you are trying to manage a leak.

For example, if you park on a slope, it might affect where the water ends up, and you can use this to your advantage. Most of the really important electrical stuff is in the front of the car, so if you can park with the car's nose up, you might be able to keep much of the water near the back. Of course, if you then get in it and drive it without removing the water, it will still slop around all over the car, so it is best to try to remove the water.

Extracting water

If you are seeing big puddles or your boot is full of water, then you can start with an extractor, otherwise known as a wet-vac or carpet shampoo machine. The chances are you don't have one, but if you do or know somebody who can lend you one, this is what we would recommend.

You may consider buying one. You can get a portable spot cleaner for £100-£150, or you can get a very decent Numatic Cleantec 370, or Karcher SE 4001 for as little as £250. Obviously, these things have other uses besides sucking water out of a wet car and might be well worth the investment.

The alternative is to use lots of bath towels, which we advise even if you do have a carpet extractor. They are highly absorbent and very effective, and if you have a bunch of them you can rotate them around. If you think that water is getting in at the back of the car and making its way to the front, you can place them at the point of ingress or somewhere along the route to head off the water.

Using a heater or dehumidifier

If your car has water in it, your car's heater is going to do little to dry the carpets or water under the carpets. So don't be tempted to put it on hot and point it at your feet. All you are doing is causing a bit of evaporation, which is making the air in the car moist, which will just steam up your windows more.

We have written a whole article on steamed up windows and what to do about it, but the bottom line is, you are best to set your heater pointed at the windows, turn off the 'circulate' feature, and put it on as warm as you can stand without cooking yourself.

If, however, you are keeping the car garaged, you may be able to an additional heater or dehumidifier in the car when you aren't using it. You will have to chose which is the best method for you, you could put it in the car, or next to the car with the doors/windows open. If you have a damp, draughty garage, this is going to be far less efficient. However, putting electric powered heaters in a wet car does carry some risks. I am sure we don't need to tell you that water and electricity don't mix, so you will need to be very careful how you set this up. You need to consider the cost of purchasing, of running, plus the risk of fire.

Mechanical dehumidifiers

Electric dehumidifiers are incredibly effective, if you happen to have a large one laying about, which you probably don't.  If you can borrow one, that's great, but there is an alternative which is surprisingly effective.

This is unlikely to do much if you have puddles of water in your footwell or four inches of water in the spare wheel compartment, but your leak is leading to a bit of damp, then the dehumidifier pots you can buy from any supermarket are rather good. We know they are good because we have tried them because they actually fill with water.

At the time of writing, they cost £4 for four at Asda , and about five times that amount on Amazon and eBay.  The problem with them is that they don't stand up very well and will fall over, leaking out all the water again. So, we recommend getting some electrical tape which is probably in the same isle, and taping a bunch of them together into a raft, and sliding it under your seat. You be able to fit 8-12 under each seat. So for £25 you could most likely pull a couple of gallons of water out of your car. Think about that, you could buy an electric dehumidifier for that sort of money which has a tray that only holds a cup full of water.

There is another trick which is not quite so efficient, but it works, and that is to use cat litter. It is designed to not only absorb moisture but also odours and so will pull water right out of the air. Not all cat litter is made equal, and so the expensive gel crystals may work more efficiently than baked clay or paper, but you pays your money and takes your choice. I have personally tested cheap cat litter and it works.

All you need to do is put a large bag of it in the boot of your car and open the top, every week or so you can give it a stir to bring the dry stuff to the top.  You will want to make sure it won't fall over and spill it's contents everywhere, and you don't want it sitting in a puddle of water as that would also cause a soggy mess. But it's that simple, and you should notice that your car doesn't have so much condensation.

Bungs and holes

"Why not just let the water out by making your own drainage holes?"

We have seen this a few times, where people have drilled holes to let water out, punched holes through floor pans with a hammer and nails, or removed rubber or metal bungs. Unfortunately, this is sometimes what lets the water in, as water can spray up from the road and get in that way. Also, making holes where holes don't belong is inviting rust.

With that said, we don't rule it out completely. You may find that the boot has metal bungs which you could be removed to let out water. You would probably destroy the bung getting it out, but if you are coming to us for repairs, we could replace it with a new one, once your car's leaks are fixed.

If you have decided that your car's value isn't worth the cost of the repairs, and you just want to limp along with it until it gets sent to the knacker's yard, then maybe it's a solution with few downsides. Just be aware that you will want to make holes as far away from the tyres as possible, and maybe do something to prevent rust.