My new GT 5spd with the classic 'won't shift' problem arrived with the trunk saturated in what looked and smelled like brake fluid. I figured that a prior owner had a bottle open & spill there so I just soaked it up with rags as a temporary measure. Moving on to rebuilding the clutch slave cylinder with Rodney's excellent kit and bleeding tool, I pumped through quite a bit of new fluid (often topping up the master cylinder) but couldn't build up any pressure when the original bleeder screw was tightened closed. I started to wonder where all the fluid was going and then remembered Posts about leaking master cylinders ... you guessed it, the missing fluid was busy drenching the carpet and insulation under the dash .
Now that I have Two carpet areas to clean up I thought I would check with the forum to see if there are any tried-and-true methods out there. Any recommendations? I was thinking of soaking up the excess and renting a steam cleaner.
Probubley never get the smell out. Have you considered insalling new carpet? I baught mine from a Fiero parts dealer, Im not complaning,but its rather thin for the money.I can't remember what I paid $80 to $110 Plus shipping. Home Depo once sold simular carpet, (use your old carpet as a template).Thin carpet is much easyer to work with than thick carpet.Your probubley going to need the backing too.Keep in mind, its not a good idea to be breathing those fumes.
I cleaned one of mine by taking the carpet section out and taking it to the self car was. Rinsed it then soaked it with simple green top & bottom. Let it soak about ten minutes, then rinsed it front & back again. Then when I got home, cleaned it with a Bisel carpet cleaniner using the furniture attachment. It came out really well and now has a slight smell of Simple Green, which really isn't bad IMO. The brake fluid did deteriorate the rubber on the bottom of the carpet a little bit , so try at your own risk.
I use a product called Mean Green, from Dollar General. It's kind of like Simple Green, only nastier. (It will oxidize bare aluminum.) It's a superb degreaser. I cleaned an oil stained trunk carpet with the stuff (alternating with Tide) and it got everything out except for a little bit of rust. It's quite concentrated. You'll have to flush it with a hose and nozzle repeatedly to get it all washed out.
------------------ Raydar 88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550 Praise the Lowered!
Good point about the 'fumes' and long-term exposure. With any of these cleaning approaches looks like I will be taking out the carpet after all ... is it one giant piece or does the drivers side come out on its own? Never took one out before. Is that underlayment/insulation 'special' or could I replace it with home-store carpet padding?
FWIW ... DOT 3 & 4 brake fluids are generally water soluble glycols and glycol ethers. A mild detergent and water should do a pretty good job.
This and a pressure washer works well for cleaning the carpets (out of the car of course) - takes a bit to dry though, but I just hung them over some railing on a nice sunny day.
This and a pressure washer works well for cleaning the carpets (out of the car of course) - takes a bit to dry though, but I just hung them over some railing on a nice sunny day.
Don't get too close with the pressure washer. I blew the stain off my deck with a low power one. I just used a pressure nozzle on the garden hose.
The carpets are in two halves. Left and right. 84-87 had jute padding under the carpet. 88s had a fairly thick rubber backing molded in.
I will have some time tomorrow/Monday to give your cleaning suggestions a try, and am relieved to hear the carpet is in two pieces (can't really open the passenger door where the car is right now.) Hopefully Rodney's new brake Master Cylinder will arrive the same day and perhaps I will finally get a chance to try the car out.
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