I did something stupid- Window was down during a storm

I am beating myself today for being an idiot. Last night I left the driver side window down. Powerful storms rolled through and I found the inside of my truck soaked. Nearly all the electronics were covered in water. The seat is soaked of course too.

I started it up and tested the electronics and so far, everything worked. This is amazing- I didn't expect that.

I've since moved the truck into my garage and wiped everything down with towels, put a large, basement-style GE dehumidifier (it's the only one I own) in the front and ran the hose out the driver side window. I sealed the rest of that window with towels.

The hose is unfortunately at an incline so I am not seeing any results but I think the internal bucket is filling up. (It's only been an hour!)

Anyway, has anyone had this happen and found a water-removal method superior to what I am trying? It's a 2017 TRD OR. I am worried about problems occurring down the road or issues I haven't noticed yet. Thanks

 

Things like this make me glad I have manual locks and windows. Forces me to make sure everything is closed and locked before leaving.

 

I wouldn't have started up the truck and 'tested' out the electronics still wet. Water could short it. Just like if your phone gets wet it's best to let it dry as long you can without turning anything on. Only time will really tell if anything goes wrong. I think you'll be fine though. If all else fails, just play dumb and say you don't know what happened and let the warranty take care of it.

 

Rust in the floor pan under carpet ... i think everyone has done this at least once!

Good news tho... the rust will likely get covered up with more rust from the under side. By that time you will probably have a new truck!

One time I had my VW parked under a tree in the spring, all the tree litter fell on the car and the windshield cowl area there's a drain... got clogged and all the water came thru the heater core and into the car next hard rain... had like 4" of water in the car including covering up one of the ECU boxes under the rear seat.

Dried out fine, didn't even smell... the ECU however was toasted. Car never ran right again after that. Parked it and a few weeks later it got towed in the middle of the night by local street department for no inspection, next day half the tree fell where the car used to be.... I would have gotten replacement value.... just got fucked instead. Got the tree removed by the streets department free tho. Karma..

 

That's a good point about shorting out. I probably should avoid testing them again for a while. I was hoping that just maybe Toyota goes the extra mile for TRD OR trucks and seals the buttons/gauges a bit better than non-OR vehicles. I have no idea, just a theory. Thanks

 

It'll be fine.

 

Dry it out good and all will be fine.

 

Mine got soaked on the entire floor one time from water running down a CB antenna. I took the entire interior out and dried it.

 

It's doubtful any electronics are actually wet. More sprayed on the surface.

What you are doing is fine.

You might want to pull the door sill, lift the carpet, and see about it being wet under there. If it is, you can put a hair dryer, on low, blowing underneath it.

The good news is you'll likely never do that again.

 

This is what I would have done. I would take have taken my leaf blower to the inside of the truck just to blow out any puddles and across the dash area for a good bit. A leaf blower makes a great dryer of things wet! I would then let let it sit for as long a possible, even overnight if I could, BEFORE I even attempted to start it.

 

Heat works better than a dehumidifier. Put a small electric heater in the truck and leave the windows down a 1/2 inch.

 

how so?

 

Where was this ?

 

Its fine, all you have are cables on the floor and they are shielded. Problems will arise if any of the control boxes got wet, but water would have to be at least a 1~2 foot deep in the floor pan for that to happen. Worry about the carpet / seats and floor pan insulation not the electronics.

Depending on how far the window was open, maybe look at the door speaker.

 

Truck left in the bright sunshine with the windows all down is the best --that is for sunny days --when no sun your dehumidifier is a great idea -- just forget the hose and only use the built in tank and check it often

 

Nope, nothing in the interior is since most OR dont leave the pavement regardless of the bedside decal. Doubt anything exterior is sealed more either, most likely it is sealed as well as a 16 year olds jetta...

Tyler

 

Take a shop vac to the carpets, gets more water out.do the seats too..

 

The dehumidifier sounds fancy. Last time I did this with my old car I just used a bunch of "DampRid" the next day and it worked fine.

 

Not true. Dehumidification plus air movement will dry out any interior (homes, car, etc). What the OP is doing is fine as long as the air is being moved within the interior.

 

I had this happen before I just opened the windows and doors with truck parked in garage and put some fans blowing on it all night. It was warm too because it was summer time and that helped dry it out fast!