S40 (New) Trim : Wet Carpet removal (Beware of sunroof)

[Wetbench4]

Hi all, i recently suffered from the dreaded blocked sunroof drains and thanks to this site figured out the problem.It would have been nice if volvo mentioned it in the manual and i could have prevented my carpet gettting wet in the first place.

Anyway i only discovered i had a problem when i got a dodgy smell from inside the car the other day. Searched everywhere for the source and that was when i discovered the carpet under the passenger seat was damp. Shoved my hand under where the carpet joins and its soaking under there.

So long story short, front left side drain was fully blocked( not sure for how long but at least 4 months), front right side was partially blocked, both blockages in the rubber elbow thing near the dash/window corner.Blew them out with compressed air. Couldn't find the rear drains so im praying they're ok. Now my passenger side under carpet is soaked but drivers side is fine.

Being from ireland, it could takes years before we get a long spell of hot weather, so i'm thinking it will never dry by itself and the carpet has to come out.

The front looks easy to remove but i'm looking for a guide to remove the rear carpet and cant really find any. Im worried about breaking the plastic trim bits and not being able to get it back in properly. Anyone have advice or point me to guide or something. Any help appreciated.

Shame on volvo, this could have been so easily prevented.

PS: its 2005 s40 1.8petrol

[MrRich]

Well at least you've discovered the cause of the problem!

Would it be possible to get a dehumidifier/fan heater and leave them going shut inside the car for a while? Should dry it out fairly quickly without the pain of removing all the carpets which I imagine would be a bit of a nightmare job!

[Wetbench4]

Well i made a start yesterday and actually the plastic bits aren't too bad but i need to get my hands on some torx wrenches to loosen the centre armrest/ console. The carpet only feels slightly damp to touch but theres about an inch of foam underneath thats completely waterlogged. And its the smell thats really bothering me. A lot of bits only need to be loosened to get the carpet out, i hope. I don't like the idea of leaving a heater in the car as id be worried about fire etc

Word of warning though, from doing some online research it seems to me that if you have a sunroof in these cars, its not a matter of if, but when the drains will block up. It should be part of regular maintenance. All you need is some compressed air, or failing that, a curtain wire also works to clear out the badly designed rubber elbow things.

In saying all this, i've had the car 2 and half years and the only money its cost me before this, was for dead battery(original 2005 battery), 2 new tyres, and the usual oil/airfilter/spark plugs service costs. Despite one or two flaws(show me a perfect car) its a great car.

[Proghound]

We had a soaking wet passengers side rear footwell in SWMBO's Yaris, due to a bad join between two plates under the NS rear light cluster. Being needed for daily use, rather than take half the interior out we used a different method to dry it.

Having sponged up what water we could, we put a whole newspaper over the wet carpet, with an old towel on top, all under a rubber carpet mat. Capillary action draws the water through the carpet up into the paper & towel. It helps to stand on the mat to start it off. You change the newspaper and towel every day until you're not getting much wet on the paper. At that point, find something heavy with a large flat base, that can sit on top of the mat the whole time to squeeze the water out of the foam under the carpet (a box of old computer paper did it for us). Carry on changing the paper every day until you're getting nothing up. The carpet should now be completely dry, with no damp coming through under pressure. The foam beneath may still be slightly damp but should dry up completely over time.

[nofinchance]

excellent tip. I will use that in the future if needed

[IainG]

Hi
Had a similar problem on another car. We used a wet'n dry vacuum. Spent about 15 mins and the carpet felt really dry. Completely dried out over the next few days, aircon helps.
Iain

[cwe489]

Hi Wetbench4

Got exactly the same problem with my S40 2005. Where do I locate the sunroof drains?
My problem so far -
I have had trouble with the carpet being totally soaked. took it to be looked at and told it was the sunroof drain that runs under the headliner. It would need to be cleared. Took car back to garage where I bought it who supposedly cleared drain but it has happened again. This time I could literally here water gushing out of the seat behind me on the floor as I was driving. I had the blowers turned on but not the a/c on. As soon as I turned the blowers off the water stopped. It seems that it is coming out of the fan shaped a/c funnel under the drivers seat. It is desperate now. Really do need to get it sorted. It is only a problem and happens when it has been raining .

First time on forum so just finding my way around. Any help with the above much appreciated.
Thanks.

[Wetbench4]

@cwe489

The sunroof drains are easy enough to check. Its simple to clip off the A pillar cover. Only tool you need is a long nose pliers to slide the clip out. Just be careful because they get dirty easily. You'll see a water pipe running down to the corner of the dash and windscreen. Mine was brownish green colour pipe, but it started out clear/see through i think. At the end of this drainpipe is a black rubber elbow thing which the pipe loosely sits in. This elbow shape piece is designed to stop water getting into the cabin in case you drive into a lake or river whatever, and due to poor design, this is what was blocked on my car. Its very tight space, really hard to get at so i used my old mans air compressor and a piece of old spare pipe to blow out the blockage. Just sit the sunroof drainpipe back in and check by pouring water into the sunroof drains and make sure it flows through, and should drip out just behind the front wheel. Just clip back on the A pillar covers and you're done. Have a look at these vids-->

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

But i think you're problem is the AC drain plug which is on the right side of the centre tunnel/console of the car under the carpet.




Now I'm not 100% sure its the ac plug, but i've done a lot of s40 wet carpet research over the last week, and its usually either sunroof drains or ac drain. Is it drivers side that the carpet is wet?? How often do you use the aircon?

[cwe489]

Hi,

Thanks for your super reply and vids. I will have a look at it tomorrow now. It is the drivers side both front and rear foot wells that are wet.
I use the air con occasionally. When I had just the blowers on though and a/c off and it was raining that was when I heard water gushing in and it sounded like to was back footwell which was then soaked through when I stopped to look.( really looks like it is coming from the fan shaped vent under the seat. the front drivers well is also wet though and seems to be mostly in the middle of the carpet.
I will check the sunroof drain first I think and then attempt the a/c as that sounds a bit more complicated. I may need to come back to you again.
Thanks again.
Love my car, 2nd S40 we have had.only got it in oct2012 and this started to happen about 2 months ago. My husband is really frustrated over it and wants to get rid but the car is fab other than this so I m not parting with it!
c

[mag]

Hi

I've had the very same problem wit my 2005 s40. The first time it happened it cost me almost £200 for the volvo agent to fix it. The next time I cleared it myself. I got a steam cleaner and attached a piece of aquarium airline tubing to the nozzle and fed the tubing through the tiny drain hole in the sunroof.
I now do this every few months and watch to see the steam coming out from under the front wing. I then pour hot water down the drain hole to confirm the water is draining.

Prevention is better than cure.

Hope this is useful. So far it's worked for me.

Mag