DaManJosh
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2020
- Messages
- 8
(Skip the first 2 paragraph if you don't care about my story)
When I first got my VERY used 2002 Chevy Avalanche 2500, I didn't know what kind of a water mess I was getting into. When I finally drove it up from Grants Pass, OR. I was ecstatic. It is the beastliest truck ever and I got an out-of-this world deal. The problem is, I live in Oregon. In Oregon, it rains a lot. Like, A LOT. So as it got towards winter, the windows would get extremely fogged up and this nasty smell of dewy, almost moldy, air filled the entire truck. My mom constantly told me to check it out and see if there is a leak, but I never did. I guess I was just too lazy and hoped it fixed itself (it never does).
Finally, it happened. Somewhere at the beginning of Spring, I let the car sit outside for about 2 weeks because I wasn't driving at the time. I decided I should go out to check on it and make sure nothings happened. I open the door and the first thing I smell is extremely strong and revolting mold and mildew. All around the entire interior is moldy spots. It covered every surface. That was my wake-up call. My family said it was useless and I would have to get a new car. But I wouldn't give up that easily. I spent the next 4 days trying to fix it. I read lots of articles and watched videos. I got vinegar water, cleaners, towels, a mask, glove, and got to work. I cleaned out the entire interior top to bottom, completely disinfected and it looked brand new. Then, I spent the next week airing out the carpets. I looked up probably almost a hundred videos on leaks and how I can fix mine. I found very little in that time. Over the next year or so, I slowly was able to find a patch a few leaks and bad spots around my Avalanche. I decided its time to share the knowledge so maybe someone can avoid some of the pain I felt.
OK, so here's my tips if you have a leak:
1) Get The Truck Under Cover and Clean It Out- Don't let it sit outside in the rain if you know you have a leak. Trust me, it will save you hours of work if you don't have to completely disinfect an entire interior of mold. If you do have mold, here are a few videos to help you clean it out:
,
. Just make sure you have a mask, gloves, 1/1 vinegar water mix to spray the surfaces (kills mold). Using a tooth brush for cloth seats works very well.
2) Dry Out Everything - Make sure that all the carpets and anything that is wet is completely dried out. If you don't know a good way to dry carpets, here is a video for help:
. The easiest way is to get a large fan, push up the carpets with something to hold it above the floor, and let the fan run for 1 or 2 days. It will take longer or shorter depend on humidity and temperature. You will have to take out all the seats to do this, but it is definitely worth the time and effort.
After you complete steps 1 and 2, it's time to find out where the leak is, and how to stop it.
3) CHECK YOUR WEATHERING - After a while, weathering likes to fall apart without any notice. Therefore, always check up on your weathering and make sure its secure around the doors, windows, mid-gate, etc. In my truck, the weather stripping above the mid-gate window was literally hanging on by a thread. I only noticed this when I took off the whole plastic cladding piece that goes along the top of the mid-gate, where the third brake light is. PRO TIP: I haven't heard anyway talk about this in a while, but one of the best ways to keep weathering from getting brittle and bad is to smear Vaseline on surface of the weathering and letting it dry. If you have found that your weather stripping is peeling off, here is how to reattach it:
. If you find yours is broken, you will have to buy new weather stripping and reattach it.
4) Still Leaking! - If your truck's weathering is all good, the leak is probably coming from somewhere else. At this point, you just need to check all around your car. The Avalanche has the very cool feature of an opening mid-gate, so check around that, open it and close it. Make sure it closes all the way. Make sure there is no leak coming from around the seals. If your carpets are getting wet, which carpets are getting wet? The back ones? The passenger side? The entire carpet? These things should give you clues as to where the leak could be coming from. Here are some helpful videos I have found that cover some problematic areas:
,
,
. On my Avalanche, there was a leak around the seal for the door electrons, so that's a good spot to check.
Those are all the tips I have for you guys, if you have suggestions or comments, put 'em below. I would love to answer them.
When I first got my VERY used 2002 Chevy Avalanche 2500, I didn't know what kind of a water mess I was getting into. When I finally drove it up from Grants Pass, OR. I was ecstatic. It is the beastliest truck ever and I got an out-of-this world deal. The problem is, I live in Oregon. In Oregon, it rains a lot. Like, A LOT. So as it got towards winter, the windows would get extremely fogged up and this nasty smell of dewy, almost moldy, air filled the entire truck. My mom constantly told me to check it out and see if there is a leak, but I never did. I guess I was just too lazy and hoped it fixed itself (it never does).
Finally, it happened. Somewhere at the beginning of Spring, I let the car sit outside for about 2 weeks because I wasn't driving at the time. I decided I should go out to check on it and make sure nothings happened. I open the door and the first thing I smell is extremely strong and revolting mold and mildew. All around the entire interior is moldy spots. It covered every surface. That was my wake-up call. My family said it was useless and I would have to get a new car. But I wouldn't give up that easily. I spent the next 4 days trying to fix it. I read lots of articles and watched videos. I got vinegar water, cleaners, towels, a mask, glove, and got to work. I cleaned out the entire interior top to bottom, completely disinfected and it looked brand new. Then, I spent the next week airing out the carpets. I looked up probably almost a hundred videos on leaks and how I can fix mine. I found very little in that time. Over the next year or so, I slowly was able to find a patch a few leaks and bad spots around my Avalanche. I decided its time to share the knowledge so maybe someone can avoid some of the pain I felt.
OK, so here's my tips if you have a leak:
1) Get The Truck Under Cover and Clean It Out- Don't let it sit outside in the rain if you know you have a leak. Trust me, it will save you hours of work if you don't have to completely disinfect an entire interior of mold. If you do have mold, here are a few videos to help you clean it out:
2) Dry Out Everything - Make sure that all the carpets and anything that is wet is completely dried out. If you don't know a good way to dry carpets, here is a video for help:
After you complete steps 1 and 2, it's time to find out where the leak is, and how to stop it.
3) CHECK YOUR WEATHERING - After a while, weathering likes to fall apart without any notice. Therefore, always check up on your weathering and make sure its secure around the doors, windows, mid-gate, etc. In my truck, the weather stripping above the mid-gate window was literally hanging on by a thread. I only noticed this when I took off the whole plastic cladding piece that goes along the top of the mid-gate, where the third brake light is. PRO TIP: I haven't heard anyway talk about this in a while, but one of the best ways to keep weathering from getting brittle and bad is to smear Vaseline on surface of the weathering and letting it dry. If you have found that your weather stripping is peeling off, here is how to reattach it:
4) Still Leaking! - If your truck's weathering is all good, the leak is probably coming from somewhere else. At this point, you just need to check all around your car. The Avalanche has the very cool feature of an opening mid-gate, so check around that, open it and close it. Make sure it closes all the way. Make sure there is no leak coming from around the seals. If your carpets are getting wet, which carpets are getting wet? The back ones? The passenger side? The entire carpet? These things should give you clues as to where the leak could be coming from. Here are some helpful videos I have found that cover some problematic areas:
Those are all the tips I have for you guys, if you have suggestions or comments, put 'em below. I would love to answer them.
