Wet 3rd Gen Interior

Providing you plan never ever to return to Dunkin' Tacos, when you have the seats, floor mat and fill out, it might be a good time to put in some sound deadening if you want to lower road noise when "onroading". OK, I know that has nothing to do with accidently running the vehicle into deep water, but I couldn't help myself.

What actually did occur to me however are all the scenes of people driving through intersections during torrential rains and thinking, they likely need to get home, sure, but do they really wish to damage their vehicles in the process? I mean, do they know that water is not really compressible?

Anecdote: when I was a kid, I lived on a lake in Western MA, and it happened every other year or so, that someone's truck ended up going through the ice because well, they were trying to haul their huts off the ice, but they waited a click too long. Either that or they were drinking and parking too damn close to the fresh-water inlet to the lake flowing through the causeway.

I remember thinking to myself, there can't be anything more boring than fishing by jigging for fish, sitting in some hut. Much more exciting - I was the youngster that was made the runner, and when a school of fish passed through a pattern of tip-ups with flags going up wham wham wham, they sent me out to check while they stood around drinking whiskey and talking about when they were young. Yeah, I heard them laughing. But that was real ice fishing. And augers? Hell, we had no stinking augers. If we couldn't chop a hole with a heavy a$$ pole chisel, we didn't fish.

Ahh, those were the days.

 

Experience with folks in my off-road club shows it's more likely to get your vehicle totaled in your daily commute than on the trail, my own experience included. That's why I daily a 13 year-old 4Runner that costed me less than the mods I have on the Tacoma...

 

I’ll Never forget, one of my coworkers daughter had a 2000 VW beetle with a sunroof that she left open in Chicago all weekend during a torrential rain storm. When she got back and open the door Water was running out… There is quite a bit of wiring that goes under the carpet that was ruined.
At the bare minimum, I would take the carpet out and maybe spray whatever wiring you find. Good luck.

 

Fair enough but if it's totaled on your commute insurance covers it.

Totaled because you sank it in a mud hole, you're just shit outta luck.

 

^Why would the truck be totaled if you sank it? Hasn't happened to anyone in my club yet. One guy with 2nd gen did hydrolock his engine a few years ago. He pulled the spark plugs and changed the oil. Engine cranked fine and he's still driving it today. Hypothetically if you were to bend the rods and require an engine change, that still wouldn't total it.

 

I have flooded my truck 3 times (had a leak in the cab). Only way to dry it out is to remove all of the carpet, and take the insulation padding out and let it air dry. It takes about 24-48 hours for that stuff to dry out properly, and you’ll need to cut it to get it all out. It’s a huge effing pain but it’s the only way to properly dry it out. Mine stayed wet for 4 months before I found out the source of the smell

 

Little update for everyone: I ended up pulling the interior about two days after flooding it. I was able to save the black carpet by drill brush and extracting it in my basement. The under carpet was saturated with mud so I replaced it with Boommat Under Carpet insulation. I don't really notice any difference in cabin noise but at least the interior isn't wet.

Before reinstalling everything I checked all of the connectors for water, cleaned the floor with detailing spray, and ceramic coated all interior pieces. It smells and feels like a new car now. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

Would you do it again? Lol...

 

Don’t forget to tuck this corner in…very unsightly.

 

Absolutely not! A week+ of my labor was not worth the 30 minutes of fun in the mud. Next time I want to go in deep water I'll use someone elses truck LOL

 

You need a dedicated toy for that kind of stuff. Jeep WJ or TJ/CJ.

 

You paid for the truck so use it however you like…

But the sad truth is that someone will eventually buy that truck used, have electrical gremlins or other issues, and of course post on this site about how unreliable 3rd gens are….

 

Then the part out begins

 

Planning on keeping it for the foreseeable future. Once the new 4Runner is released I'll make that my daily and leave this truck for the weekends

 

May want to treat the carpet with a mold spray and the interior after you pull it out. Definitely need to pull the seats etc to get it done right. Check the mechanicals underneath as well, anything above hub level needs to be checked drained and flushed. Ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure ! Good luck we’ve all been there.

 

I second the above. Don’t forget to check / replace front and rear diff oil. (check ADD solenoid?) Grease drive line and suspension fittings. Etc…