Smelly car and floodwater

[emilymat]

On Tuesday I did a favour for a disabled friend of mine by running him into Pattaya just as the heavens opened. My problem was that I had to drop him right outside his guest house in Soi Bukhow. (I couldn't drop him 100 yards away for instance as he needs a stick to walk very slowly aand the pavements were looking very dangerous with water).

Anyway, when I helped him out of the car the 'bow-wave' of an oncoming 4x4 vehicle caused a pretty hefty amount of water to enter the car.

When I got home I took out the detachable carpets and rubber mats and sponged down the main carpet so that it was only damp. (The main carpet in my Vios is glued to the bodywork).

Broadly speaking the main carpet is now almost dry after leaving the car all day yesterday in the sun with the doors open. The detachable ones are fine.

The problem now is I have this 'smell' like cats piddle in the car.

I would be most grateful if anyone has experienced this problem and can propose any solution to the smell. Or...will it simply disappear.?

Sods law the guy was disabled, as I wouldn't do anything as stupid as driving through 1 foot high water.

Thanks very much.

[NickJ]

Elbow grease, clean the carpets with a dettol solution and or a couple cans of carpet cleaner..........

[petermik]

Elbow grease, clean the carpets with a dettol solution and or a couple cans of carpet cleaner..........

Try leaving some small containers of bleach lying around with the doors/windows shut it will help neutralize it.

[thedemon]

Many years ago when driving through floods in Bangkok was unavoidable I would have skanky water incursions every rainy season.

From my experience that damp smell does go away. Just leave the doors or windows open for a few days so the humidity can escape.

[DavisH]

A place like Molycare can clean it properly and remove the smells. But if you have fabric adhered to the floor, that will need to be cleaned and dried properly. Molycare ozone treated my car carpet after it got water in it on time.

I needed my car so asked them to take it all out completely so I could still drive it. They had my car a week, but think it was done faster than that. I would think there is a big car cleaning company in Pattaya that can do a similar job. It cost me 2000 baht.

It will take ages to dry normally, otherwise. And you will get misting inside the car if there is any moisture left. If it is very wet inside, better to get somone else to do it. Ozone works to kill all bacteria / smells and it very effective.

Edited February 19, 2016 by DavisH

[Don Mega]

the carpet in your vios is NOT glued to the floor.

Remove the seats and plastic trims and remove carpet. have it cleaned properly.

[n210mp]

Leave it in the sun with the doors and windows open. The heat should kill off the smell which is coming from bacteria in the damp carpets

[emilymat]

Thank you very much for those replies. I have plenty of advice to follow. Very helpful people around.

[JESSVANPELT]

sell the car it will always have an odor

[onemorechang]

sell the car it will always have an odor

Total Rubbish

[NanLaew]

I reckon while the car was basking unattended in the sunlight with the doors open, a neighborhood tom cat did a spray job inside. There's some skanky cats that 'belong' to my neighbor that like to sleep under my sports lorry out on the street and every so often I get a waft of cat piss when I start up in the morning, especially after a night of yowling, cat shagging games.

As stated, the factory fitted 'carpets' are removable but to do it 100% correctly, the seats and plastic scuttle trims have to come out first. There's a car valeting service (forget the name but green and black signage) in the parking lot in front of HomeWorks on Sukhumvit just south of Tai that was reported in another thread as doing a proper carpet removal, washing, drying and reinstall on a more seriously flooded car. I think it was either 3000 baht for 5 days or 5000 baht for 3 days.

[moonseeker]

Ozone did the job for a friend's car that was badly flooded. Good luck. MS>

[emilymat]

Again, thanks for those responses. I'll try ozone etc.

juat to be clear, my freind had recently had a stroke and I helped him out of the front door of the car and then opened the back door to get his walking stick and bag. at that moment the 4 x 4 behind pushed the bow wave and I suppose the amount of water that 'bounced in' off the open doorrrrrr r

[emilymat]

Dunno what happened with the previous post. Gremlins.

Anyway, I suppose the amount of water that entered via the back door was equivalent to a largish bucketful. It just goes to show how 'polluted' flood water must be and I guess people need to be careful wading around in this mucky stuff.

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

A couple of years ago I had to walk back home through the same flooded area. I dried out my trainers when I got back home but I couldn't get rid of the smell and within 3 months they just crumbled to dust. The problem is not the rain falling from the sky but the stuff that comes up from the flooded drainage system. I shudder to think of the incredible amounts of poisonous waste lurking in the domestic drainage system here

[petermik]

A couple of years ago I had to walk back home through the same flooded area. I dried out my trainers when I got back home but I couldn't get rid of the smell and within 3 months they just crumbled to dust. The problem is not the rain falling from the sky but the stuff that comes up from the flooded drainage system. I shudder to think of the incredible amounts of poisonous waste lurking in the domestic drainage system here

my trainers "crumbled to dust" maybe due to excessive bacteria e.g.very smelly feet

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

A couple of years ago I had to walk back home through the same flooded area. I dried out my trainers when I got back home but I couldn't get rid of the smell and within 3 months they just crumbled to dust. The problem is not the rain falling from the sky but the stuff that comes up from the flooded drainage system. I shudder to think of the incredible amounts of poisonous waste lurking in the domestic drainage system here

my trainers "crumbled to dust" maybe due to excessive bacteria e.g.very smelly feet

Possibly the result of both bacteria and chemicals but not from my feet. All my other footwear was unaffected.

[mikebell]

I have been flooded twice in Pattaya. My Jazz incredibly kept going though the exhaust pipe was under water and I was calf-deep inside. I took it to a car-wash place near the Ambassador & they stripped it out/cleaned/dried. I took photos & contacted my insurance assessor and he re-reimbursed me 2500 of the 3500 cost.

The 2nd time my airbag light came on & wouldn't go off. Honda (again near Ambassador) checked it out and said it would cost 14,000 to fix! Again my Insurance paid.

When I come to buy a new Honda, I am torn between the reliable Jazz or other models with a couple more inches off the ground.

[Daffy D]

Brings to mind the old saying

"No good deed goes unpunished"

Hope you get it sorted

[Pdavies99]

the carpet in your vios is NOT glued to the floor.

Remove the seats and plastic trims and remove carpet. have it cleaned properly.

Quite correct!! The carpets are not glued down.

But the biggest problem is that if you don't remove the carpets and clean and dry thoroughly is that just the damp will rust through your floor pan within 18 months...I have seen this in the UK and definitely Thailand.

I had to weld many rusted through areas under the carpets in a Honda Jazz, 4 years old for a friend of mine.

[craigt3365]

My car was flooded. Luckily, we've got a really good car wash place near us and for a few thousand baht, they took care of the problem. Seats and rugs were removed, dried out, treated for odor also. A few in our village decided to try it themselves. Didn't work out too good. Still have smells.

[emilymat]

Elbow grease, clean the carpets with a dettol solution and or a couple cans of carpet cleaner..........

I followed your advice and scrubbed the carpet with a cleaner and bought a bottle of Dettol. I then used that, once I had dried the damp carpets, and the rotten smell has almost gone. It's worth paying for a good quality disinfectant and I'm grateful for your suggestion. Thank goodness I wasn't dealing with a completely flooded vehicle - that must be murder!.

For what it's worth while I am making this final post, I think that those who drive high level 4 x 4's at a faster rate than smaller saloons ought to be a bit more conscious of the 'bow wave' they create. Some are like min tsunami's!!

[Don Mega]

If you dont pull the carpet and have it cleaned properly there is a good chance the bad smells will return every time it gets damp.

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

Elbow grease, clean the carpets with a dettol solution and or a couple cans of carpet cleaner..........

I followed your advice and scrubbed the carpet with a cleaner and bought a bottle of Dettol. I then used that, once I had dried the damp carpets, and the rotten smell has almost gone. It's worth paying for a good quality disinfectant and I'm grateful for your suggestion. Thank goodness I wasn't dealing with a completely flooded vehicle - that must be murder!.

For what it's worth while I am making this final post, I think that those who drive high level 4 x 4's at a faster rate than smaller saloons ought to be a bit more conscious of the 'bow wave' they create. Some are like min tsunami's!!

Agreed,when driving here we should all exercise a greater measure of couteousy and consideration, like the locals do!

[marinediscoking]

I agree with the poster who had it done professionally. After a flood I had tried to clean it myself which didn't get rid of the smell. I took it to the 60 second car wash on 3rd road near the diving range and it came out like new. It wasn't expensive, took a couple of days and was well worth the money.