Removing trunk carpet/liner

[halfricanguy]

A family member this weekend failed to properly close the trunk before a big rainstorm. All of the water drained into the bottom of the trunk (the extra cargo space between the wheels accessed by removing the lid cover).

I have tried drying it out with a towel and using a shop vac to get up excess moisture. I sprayed some Lysol then placed some DampRid moisture absorbing product in the compartment and placed the lid/cover back on. It’s sat like that for about 2 days. The area is still moist to the touch but not dripping wet.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do further? I’m primarily worried about mold/mildew growth and smell, especially on the underside. Ideally I’d like to remove the entire liner but I don’t know how. Or maybe I should just keep the moisture absorbing product in there and hope for the best?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[jjrandorin]

Maybe try asking mobile ranger in this thread:

Mobile Ranger here, ask me (almost) anything!

Mobile ranger said he/she would answer "most" questions that were not covered by NDA for a day, and its been a bit longer than that, but you might still get an answer.

 

[halfricanguy]

Maybe try asking mobile ranger in this thread:

Mobile Ranger here, ask me (almost) anything!

Mobile ranger said he/she would answer "most" questions that were not covered by NDA for a day, and its been a bit longer than that, but you might still get an answer.

Thanks! I’ll check it out!

 

[ewoodrick]

Lift it where you can and have a fan blow air over it. Try to keep it in a warm, dry garage. Of course it NC is like ATL, dry isn't something that's possible. The high humidity is what is keeping it from drying.

 

[Akikiki]

A family member this weekend failed to properly close the trunk before a big rainstorm. All of the water drained into the bottom of the trunk (the extra cargo space between the wheels accessed by removing the lid cover).

I have tried drying it out with a towel and using a shop vac to get up excess moisture. I sprayed some Lysol then placed some DampRid moisture absorbing product in the compartment and placed the lid/cover back on. It’s sat like that for about 2 days. The area is still moist to the touch but not dripping wet.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do further? I’m primarily worried about mold/mildew growth and smell, especially on the underside. Ideally I’d like to remove the entire liner but I don’t know how. Or maybe I should just keep the moisture absorbing product in there and hope for the best?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I've seen this recently. Yes, you should remove the "back bucket" and let it dry out completely. There's clips all long the back inside the trunk, and the bucket extends up and over the lip where the rear seats are. The panel goes down behind the rear seats and is attached with screws. You will need to remove the lower back seat to get to them. Considering you've not see what I am describing, you might consider taking it in to service. However since its not a warranty item, you may be required to pay. Better safe than sorry. It will mold in there. Let me say this, Tesla service considers it serious enough to remove that back bucket that I described.

 

[halfricanguy]

Thank you everyone for your input. I used to work for a mold inspection/remediation company and know how fast mold grows, and unfortunately my Service Center is scheduling appointments about a week out, so I figured I needed to go ahead and at least remove the liner.

It was not easy. Haha, well, it was pretty straight forward from the trunk side - just rip everything out around the edges and they snapped off. However, the panel does indeed go behind the rear seats like mentioned. I got stuck around this part but was able to find a YouTube video (below) showing that I had to take off the back seats in order to remove four screws holding the liner in place, but they were easy enough to do by hand. Then, I had to pull up the edge of the liner over two metal 'handles' through the cut out in the liner.

Then after a lot of working it around, I was able to pull the entire piece out. Took me about 30 minutes.

I will post pics in a bit but you were right @Akikiki, I am lucky I pulled it out, because thick carpet pad underlined the panel and it was completely drenched, and there was plenty of moisture on the car body as well.

I do not think I can get this padding dried out completely. I will probably leave it out of the car until I get an appointment with Tesla. Ideally, I will see if they can order me a new place all together. I know I will probably have to pay for it so hopefully the part and labor won't be too expensive, but I'd feel much better with a new dry piece going in there. Maybe I can dry it out with the shop vac. We will see. Thank you so much again everyone!

 

[halfricanguy]

Yep the carpet padding might need to be ditched. But here are some pics. Also to anyone in the future that tries to follow the video - he goes a little overkill and it probably makes the job easier, but all I needed to remove were the bottom cover of the seats to access the screws/hooks.

 

[SMAlset]

Thanks for the photos @halfricanguy . I have a very warped lower trunk liner from my due bill time. Told part on order but haven't heard anything for months. Had wondered if my liner had gotten wet and that was why it was so warped looking but a mobile tech guy said no just formed that way during manufacturing. Looking at your upside down padding there I guess maybe I can see why maybe it's not a rigid piece. Been very curious what it looks like underneath the lower trunk liner and now I know!

BTW are those long black strips some sort of velcro fabric to keep the liner in place?

 

[Akikiki]

SMAIset, I would pursue this if I were you. Get someone's email address at your local SC and routinely email them for status. Its a big and awkward item of interior. Its going to take extra effort to ship it. I'd stay after them. just my two cents.

 

[SMAlset]

Just across the Bay from factory so don't think shipping would be an issue for me. And yes thanks to the photos can see how large a part this is. I have a service appt in January for a windshield issue. Curious if I really need this replaced or not. Here's photos of my liner. How does it compare to other owners'...standard look for this piece? or definitely off and maybe had been wet? With it being so warped also thought nothing would be able to lay flat in there.

 

[halfricanguy]

Thanks for the photos @halfricanguy .

BTW are those long black strips some sort of velcro fabric to keep the liner in place?

Glad to have helped! Yes, those strips are some sort of velcro that attach to other pieces in the trunk.

Here's photos of my liner. How does it compare to other owners'...standard look for this piece? or definitely off and maybe had been wet?

Here’s a pic of what the bucket part of mine looks like. I can totally see it being caused due to the manufacturing process, and not water damage, because mine looked like this before the water issues. However, yours does look a good deal worse than mine. I don’t think yours has water problems, but I would definitely press them for getting a new piece.

 

[Dorkiedoode]

So I lifted up my trunk liner this morning. Water is still there. Had a fan blowing all night long in the trunk too, but it only dried the top. Now I’m currently trying to rinse out as much water as I can by hand. My trunk liner was prefect before the water got in. Now it look all wrinkle like the pictures you guys posted.

 

[tstorm]

So I lifted up my trunk liner this morning. Water is still there. Had a fan blowing all night long in the trunk too, but it only dried the top. Now I’m currently trying to rinse out as much water as I can by hand. My trunk liner was prefect before the water got in. Now it look all wrinkle like the pictures you guys posted.

I didn’t close my trunk all the way one night as well and it rained. I got an alert the trunk was open so went out and there was about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom part of the trunk. I dried as best as I could and felt dry but then I followed the instructions for removing the felt liner and underneath was sopping wet. I used a dry vac and hair dryer and now seems fairly dry but will leave open to air dry some more. Hopefully can avoid mold. Frankly $200 to be sure might be the way to go.

 

[jcomand]

Since you have spent time looking back there, do you have some advice? If I want to wire a 12V socket into the sub trunk liner, where will there be the enough space between the liner and the metal trunk body?

 

[Watts_Up]

Since you have spent time looking back there, do you have some advice? If I want to wire a 12V socket into the sub trunk liner, where will there be the enough space between the liner and the metal trunk body?

Here is a clean installation of an auxiliary 12 V socket in the trunk.

Added 12v Outlet in the Trunk

I got a 12v fridge/cooler a few months ago for road tripping and was a little jealous of the Model Y folks who had their convenient 12v outlet right there in the trunk. Sure pulling the cable to the front wasn't the worst thing, but I always wished I had something slightly more convenient. I...

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