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My Jeep got rained in! X-/

14K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  DisturbedMaggot 
#1 ·
So, I had my Jeep at the dealer for warranty work for just about 3 weeks. Low and behold, the day they finally finish it, it DOWNPOURS when they leave it outside over night, and they didn't bother trying to put it under the service drive or inside even tho my front doors were off.

So, long story short, got it back yesterday, knew it was wet, didn't know how bad, had it sit outside today (106*) hoping that would get a lot of it, I go to bring it in the garage tonight, and there is over an inch of standing water on the driver side floor and a half inch on the pass side--- FUK!

Pulled the floor mats, and the drain plugs, parked it for the night. What do I need to keep an eye out for as far as problems go? I know I've lost my $500 radar detector, and likely some of the sensors in my Viper alarm, but as far as the jeep itself is concerned, what should I be looking out for as far as water damage?
 
#2 ·
Jeeps are designed to get wet. It really should air out and be fine. I have seen people pressure wash the interior of their JK's. I am not brave enough to do that or be like this guy at the carwash who ran through it with the doors and top off after mud bogging.

Your radar detector is probably toast BUT your viper alarm should be fine. I've installed a few over the years and if it's tucked up into the dash like it should be then it's fine.
 
#3 ·
Wow this is pretty screwed up. The dealer admitted fault here? How much warranty is left? If it was me, I'd be looking to offload it to the dealer. Or maybe consider reporting it to the insurance company? I don't know.

So I guess in the short term, electrical issues will appear. Who knows what manner of crazy will happen there. Long term, water and metal creates rust.

I'm sure it will start to smell bad inside. I'm sure others will chime in.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, they admitted it, and I got the service manager to put it in writing. My 3/36 is gone, hoping that it airs out with no problems though. I hope for a 1 time incident things will ultimately be ok. Can't afford a car payment at this point, so trade in of my paid off vehicle isn't really an option for me unfortunately
 
#5 ·
Sounds like the dealer's liability insurance should take care of all item. They made a mistake, they and their insurance carrier should make it right. That's what they pay insurance for.

Had a late friend's son years ago become involved in an accident and while it was at the dealer (parked in their body area) was hit by another vehicle driven by one of the techs. The hit was such that the Jeep GC could not be properly repaired. They settled on a replacement vehicle.
 
#6 ·
There's nothing inside a Jeep that's going to be damaged by even a downpour. As has been said, a lot of people (like me) pressure wash the interior of theirs. Do I mean holding the wand 3" from the dash or stereo and blasting full force? No, but hitting it from a couple feet away doesn't cause any problems. You *may* get clock spring issues if too much water gets down under the steering wheel (I never have) and after a good rainstorm without a tarp on top the display on my OEM stereo fogs up a bit. Once the sun comes out the seats are dry enough in an hour to sit on without feeling any moisture, and after years of leaving the top & doors off my Jeeps for 4-5 months straight I've never noticed any musty smells. Having dogs in them with the top on smells much worse.
 
#7 ·
I've left my top off in downpours a few times and nothing has happened and I also hose the inside out time to time
Got a little laugh after the first time it happened, I've got the alpine sun in the floor and it was full of water after I got out of work
Crank the bass and watch the water dance out!


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#9 ·
Other than the obvious fact that you need to dry the carpet and seats to keep them from mildewing, and the fact that any non painted metal will rust (it "should" all have some level of paint on it), I might check the steering wheel controls as I hear they have been known to go out after getting wet.

Your top probably kept the radio, etc from getting too wet.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the reassuring words you guys. Found another 2 inches of water in with my jacket today, carpets up front are still damp to the touch tho, hopefully after tomorrow it'll all be dry.

I will fully test all steering wheel buttons tomorrow, I didn't think to check those.

Thankfully it looks like the alarm is ok, minus maybe the glass break mic, that looks like it was totally soaked, the rest seem to be working tho which is good. Thankful for the extended clock spri g warranty letter that came!
 
#11 ·
I'll back up the guys here saying they're fine.

Left mine out in the rain plenty of times with the doors off and top down. Pulled the drain plugs and aired it out and absolutely nothing was wrong with it.

Power washed the interior too (obviously didn't blast the dash and steering wheel) with no ill effects.

You're good, bro!
 
#12 ·
It's a relief to hear you'll probably be okay. I feel a bit more confident about my ride now.

I'm not the kind of guy to point a garden hose at the inside of my $35k motor vehicle; I'll defer that to the pros!
 
#13 ·
Until the CJ-7 I don't think Jeeps were fitted with carpet and then it was an option up through the YJ (included in some packages). I am not sure about the TJ whether it was standard for the base level or not.

While I have not left my top on the TJ down nor has the hard top been off the JKU, I have left windows down on both of them in this past year when it rained heavily. Both times, I lifted the carpet and pulled the plugs and then put blocks of wood under the carpet to hold it off the floor pan to speed drying. For the TJ, I put the top down in bright sun and it only took a few hours, but it did have a funky smell for a few days which told me it was not the first time the carpet has been soaked. On the JKU I just left all the windows down and the rear glass up on the next day when it was sunny.

Of course since the dash did not get soaked, no issues there. Once the carpet was warm and dry I put it back down.

I have the Quadratec rubber floor liners in both (TJ came with them and I like them so first option on the new JKU) which were full of water as well. They had to be bailed and then removed before I worked on the carpet.

Back in the early '80s I had a '76 Ford 3/4 ton PU that had the rubber floor mats rather than carpeting. I really liked the fact that I could take the garden hose and wash out the floor.
 
#14 ·
The clock spring can and does get affected by water coming into the cab. That is a hit & miss type event. Most people will carry a towel to cover the steering colum if caught in a downpour. You would be experiencing electrical quirks by now if water damaged the clock spring.

I took out all of my drain plugs a couple of years ago after getting caught in rain storms with the top off. I only own a hard top so I gamble sometimes with the weather instead of putting the HT back on. I probably run a 100+ days each year without a top to include winter time. It sounds like nothing major was affected by the water entering into your jeep. Good luck.
 
#15 ·
I've been caught naked in several downpours and have no electrical problems whatsoever. Personally, the first time that happens each year I go ahead and pull the carpets completely out and leave 'em in the garage until winter comes. I like the spartan look of it and the functionality of being carpetless. It's not for everyone but I figure they made the Jeep with the carpet designed to be fully pulled out, so why not? Enjoy!


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#16 ·
Look at my profile pic, that Jeep was totaled due to water damage (no water got in the engine). Submersion is much worse than rain, of course. My first demand would have been a complete detailing job at the shop of my choice. Number two would be to call my insurance company, tell them what happened, and ask what they recommend.
 
#19 ·
So, I had my Jeep at the dealer for warranty work for just about 3 weeks. Low and behold, the day they finally finish it, it DOWNPOURS when they leave it outside over night, and they didn't bother trying to put it under the service drive or inside even tho my front doors were off.
If you take your fiat to the dealer and drop it off for 3 weeks with no doors and it gets rained in it's your fault bubba.
 
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