Sunroof open and it rained.. Big problems now

[scottyedmonds]

Ok, im famous for leaving my sunroof open i live in the country and i have left the keys in a lot of my cars over night and nothing has ever happened(small town). Anyway last night i was planning on going to fireworks so when i came home to grab something to eat i left my sunroof open.. Well my BBQ ran out of propane took FOREVER to cook supper then next thing i wasnt going to make it to the firworks in time so i didnt go.. totally forgot about my car.. It rained last night ... No big deal really i left the sunroof open in my 2007 cobalt and is ABSOLOUTLY was DRENCHED(a couple of times)... Anyway dried it out yadda yadda... So i go to take my car somewheres today and i turn the key... no engine roll over.. Dash lights and everything. i was like WTF is my battery dead? so i tried it again and it started.. So i drive to my destination and park the car go to lock it... god damn remote doesnt work anymore.. no remote lock WTF! It gets worse.. so i go into the house and come out to get something.. CD player is randomly playing a CD with no key in the ignition nothing.. so when i shut my car off the odometer stays lit up.. clock on the displaying thingy stays on and the airbag light is dimmed... sooooo im like WTF i wouldnt be surprised if i go out tomorrow morning the the f*cking airbag is delpoyed or something.. Anyway this is terrible it's a 98 328I Sedan and it was taken such good car of it's entire life just paid 7000 for it and i just f*cked my investment.. Anything got a clue whats going on?? Is there a computer or something in the console?

ok so i was a little worried about my car to i just took it into the garage and ripped the console out of it... There is a wife running under the console with 3 different paths.. two of the pths go to the lights i assume are for the ciggarette trays and then there is a couple that go to a plug of some sort.. This plug has 6 wires going into it and it was sitting in a compartment filled with water(you can see the picture below) i have dried the water up and pulled the plug thing out. I'll leav my car in the garage to try and dry some tonight any idea what that plug is for? It was obviously shorting something out it fixed my problems :S .. guess i cant post the picture.. anyway scottyedmonds.smugmug.com/photos/610338076_nURKk-S.jpg

[flyfishvt]

It sounds like a classic case of bare wires in the trunk lid. Open the trunk and you will see a bundle of wires that run along the hinge. Pull back the rubber boot that covers the top half of the bundle and check each wire. You will probably find at least three or four that the insulation has chaffed off of. wrap them in tape and slide the boot back up then check the lower half of the bundle.

[fritzintn]

Honestly, you may want to go ahead and speak to your insurance about it. I did the same thing with my '03 GTi, pushed it aside and ignored it - now it's full of mold and sketch electrical .

[scottyedmonds]

Originally Posted by flyfishvt

It sounds like a classic case of bare wires in the trunk lid. Open the trunk and you will see a bundle of wires that run along the hinge. Pull back the rubber boot that covers the top half of the bundle and check each wire. You will probably find at least three or four that the insulation has chaffed off of. wrap them in tape and slide the boot back up then check the lower half of the bundle.

Pretty sure it's bare wires under the console.. I'm pretty sure it's fixed it's late im going to bed now.. guess we'll see how it acts during the next few days. The inside itsnt as wet as i thought it would be. under the consolde was dry except where it puddled in the plastic. The weatherman here is calling for 5 days of 30+ celcius so i dont think it'll have any issues drying out.

[flyfishvt]

I agree with fritzintn. If you got a lot of water in the carpet of the footwells it will take a lot more than a few sunny days to dry it out. The foam padding under those two areas is up to 6 inches thick in some spots. You wouldn't believe how much water it will hold. It only takes a day or two for mold to start and you'll never get rid of it without replacing the carpet set. Ive replaced wet carpet in two cars. One of them is my current one. I pulled the old carpet out and set it to one side just to see how long it would take to dry. Two weeks later it was still very damp and it was open to the air on both sides. Covered in mold.