Carpet behind driver's seat needs replacing. Suggestions?

[zappbranigan]

Take a look at these photos. Anybody got a clue what the heck the hard, rubber/plastic like residue is? I'm guessing maybe something melted caused by extreme heat from the engine. I'm not the original owner, obviously. The seat isn't damaged, but it appears as if the heat pad under the carpet is a little burned looking. I have no maintenance history on the vehicle and no carfax history of damage/repairs. Something happened, and I thought I'd throw this out there to see if the mystery can be solved.

The black stuff is really hard, like plastic. And the area around it on the carpet feels greasy.

In any case, there's always been a faint unusual smell in the car I couldn't pin down. Wonder if it's from a fire extinguisher? The carpet is a little greasy so I'm cleaning this week. I guess I'll just buy some similar looking carpet, cut out the damaged section, and replace. Anybody have any idea how much a whole new carpet for that area of the car would run me?

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Joe

St. Louis, MO

Edited November 17, 2008 by zappbranigan

[pk2]

Nothing terribly flammable on the engine back there, that’s right about at the crank pully. If I remember correctly the fuel lines are to the rt. of the passenger side. It would take an accelerant to make a missed rim shot off the ashtray to burst into flames and do that sort of damage (maybe a spilled methanol martini)

Plastics like Nylon melt and have a slippery feel. Nothing weird there.

Regards, PK

Edited November 17, 2008 by pk2

[usaf-lt-g]

Nothing terribly flammable on the engine back there, that’s right about at the crank pully. If I remember correctly the fuel lines are to the rt. of the passenger side. It would take an accelerant to make a missed rim shot off the ashtray to burst into flames and do that sort of damage (maybe a spilled methanol martini)

Plastics like Nylon melt and have a slippery feel. Nothing weird there.

Regards, PK

Hmm... it almost looks like melted tarring found on the back of dynomat which is used as the adhesive. When in doubt... rip it out lol. No to be honest, my guess is you'd have to purchase new carpeting for that area. Have you tried pulling back the carpet to inspect underneath?

[aron in toronto]

Try the Boxster Spec racing forums. They usually have interior pieces listed in the classifieds.

boxsterspec.com

boxsterspecracing.whsites.net

http://boxcar-racing.com/forum/

Regards,

Aron

[zappbranigan]

I'm removing the sections today. I'll post back with pictures of what it looks like under the carpet. The upper half of the mystery gunked carpet does have burn marks which is why I thought the heat source came from the engine.

And thanks for the boxcar racing forum referral. I'll be checkin them out later today too.

Maybe I'll skip the carpet altogether, and go with hardwood flooring. LOL.

[txhokie4life]

Take a look at these photos. Anybody got a clue what the heck the hard, rubber/plastic like residue is? I'm guessing maybe something melted caused by extreme heat from the engine. I'm not the original owner, obviously. The seat isn't damaged, but it appears as if the heat pad under the carpet is a little burned looking. I have no maintenance history on the vehicle and no carfax history of damage/repairs. Something happened, and I thought I'd throw this out there to see if the mystery can be solved.

The black stuff is really hard, like plastic. And the area around it on the carpet feels greasy.

In any case, there's always been a faint unusual smell in the car I couldn't pin down. Wonder if it's from a fire extinguisher? The carpet is a little greasy so I'm cleaning this week. I guess I'll just buy some similar looking carpet, cut out the damaged section, and replace. Anybody have any idea how much a whole new carpet for that area of the car would run me?

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Joe

St. Louis, MO

The lower section rear section can be had from Oklahoma Foreign used for <$100, the bottom runs ~$225 shipped.

I bought a complete carpet system, utilizing live.com coupons from Oklahoma Foreign via Ebay for ~$300 shipped.

This was all carpeted surfaces except the speaker box and door panels.

It was used but in good condition.

From the dealer it was ~$1300.

mike

[zappbranigan]

Well, I said I'd post back when I got the pictures of the carpet turned over. Not worth taking. More bad news.

The cushion material under the carpet was SATURATED with green liquid. There was a puddle in the seat/frame well as well. This may be why the heated seats aren't working. (something I was attempting to look into when all this came about)

The saturation in the cushion material went all the way to the front near the brake and accelarator area. Wet on the passenger side too. I hate to admit it, but I'm not sure what the liquid is. This must be the strange smell I've been getting.

I did find that the power steering fluid was empty. That's the dipstick near the air filter, right? Anyway...completely empty. Could that mean a leak somewhere that's filtered down under the carpet?

I ripped out the saturated cushion glued to the carpet, but assume it's going to require rooting around to find the leak and then hunting down a new carpet system altogether.

Thanks for everyone's input. Anybody know of a good salvage place online that may sell carpet systems. I'll try Oklahoma Foreign first (thanks Mike!).

Joe

[JP Rodkey]

Green fluid does sound like good old Pentosin Hydraulic fluid used in the power steering system. The reservoir sits atop the engine pretty much in the area where the carpet has been damaged behind the seat.

If I were you, I'd do a very close inspection of your power steering lines. It is possible a plastic or rubber line has gotten damaged (melted?) and is letting fuid escape. There are several lines at the very front of the engine directly behind the driver seat running down to the floor pan area. It would be a shame for all your hard work and expense to be only temporary if you don't find the original source of the problem.

[zappbranigan]

I checked the Hydraulic fluid, and bam!...empty, or pretty close to it. I'll do a search today and see if that may be the root of the problem. Thanks for the revelation!

[seafeye]

I checked the Hydraulic fluid, and bam!...empty, or pretty close to it. I'll do a search today and see if that may be the root of the problem. Thanks for the revelation!

Do a craigslist search in Virginia and there is some guy there selling interior pieces.

http://richmond.craigslist.org/pts/916438049.html

[zappbranigan]

Justto close this discussion...I could not verify a leak from the coolant tank or the hydrolic fluid. (Another check of the hydrolic fluid showed it was full, just didn't realize the "full" level was so close the bottom of the dipstick). I did find the rainwater drain behind the driver's seat covered by a small piece of plastic. My final conclusion is that the previous owner must've had some kind of leak, fixed the leak but not the carpet. Since then, rainwater has been accumulating under the seats due to the rainwater drain not working.

I took Seafeye's advice, ordered the floor carpet from the craigslist webpage, and installed new carpet. Now to move on to wheel bearings and tie rods!

Thanks to all who responded to this forum.

Joe

St. Louis