So, I bought this Discovery 1 and the headliner was all moldy. I ripped out the black spongy material under the carpets and ripped out the headliner and cleaned the carpets (several times) and yet I still have a moldy smell. I'm in the process of fixing the sunroof leak waiting on the gummi pfledge stuff to arrive and to apply to the rubber seal and I've fixed the windshield with some black flashing caulk.

Question, since many of us Disco owners have had leaks what's the next step to rid the moldy smell? Any home brew that has worked for anyone? I used 409 bleach spray, hot carpet shampoo, it's dried out in the sun but I still smell the mold. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

rovingmad

 

Are you saying your carpets still smell or the truck smells?

I have found that the easiest way to get mold smell from carpets is to replace them and burn the old ones.

We used to have an old civic that had this from PO not putting the window fully up and letting it sit forever. We tried everything we could think of and could not get the smell out.

 

In addition, you can have mold in the AC system if drains (two of them) are plugged under the truck with mud. Poke with stick and you shall be rewarded with a stinky water shower. You can also spray Lysol or such down the fresh air intake under the windshied that leads straight to the heater fan. Any leak around the roof rack supports?

 

Need to reseal roof rack and leave the windows down for days to let all the moisture evap, stink may be in the seats
Definitely clear the drains, may need to clean and reseal the hvac trouf at rear of hood and remove fenders to repair rust on firewall to stop water ingress
Did you remove all rubber padding including the cargo area?

 

Bleach is the only thing that kills mold.

 

I thought I was getting a good deal on the purchase of this 97 Dsicovery but the mold is kicking my butt. The previous owner must've never did anything about the leaks so it was really moldy when I purchased it. Pulled the sponge from the cargo area and it wasn't that bad but the drivers floor mat was soaked from the windshield leak. I've been out of town the last 6 weeks in a row but home on the weekends so the truck sits at the airport not drying properly. I think the truck smells everywhere not just the carpets. I've wiped down the seats with the bleach wipes too. AC lines are free but I can smell faint mold when the AC is on. I'm holding off buying new carpet for it as my radiator just sprang a leak. I new these were expensive to fix but thought with only 117K it would not need fixing just yet. Will post back if I have any luck getting rid of the mold smell. I thought I read somewhere that vineager works to rid of odors. Thanks for the input.

 

Yeah, when the front sunroof leaks, water soaks the driver's seat floor mat. When the rear sunroof leaks, water soaks the middle of the back seat. I got used to covering cargo/belongings with plastic and keeping paper towels in car. (I wrote a longer post in the section where your first question was posted explaining my experience.)

Additional problem with rain water is that I think (not sure) that it might cause shorts in the Sunroof ECU. Sometimes I'd open the sunroof(s), but not be able to close it. Not good, as that causes even more water to get in!

My solution...I don't often open the sunroofs anymore. I try to seal them up tightly and leave them closed. Alot of mechanics have tried to help me repair sunroofs since, but no one ever seems to get it right. I still get water in heavy rain when vehicle sits. Good news: it doesn't seem to happen while vehicle in motion. With a Land Rover, it could always be worse!

 

yeah the water is easy to get in but can be hard to get out, turns into a greenhouse and runs down the inside of the glass in the sun almost like these are built to leak btw I did all I posted above and it significantly slowed my leaks but is still coming in on the driver and pass floors down the kick panels like it is coming in from the front door hinge bolts?????

 

The leaks are sealed and it's dry as can be inside. I used gutter flashing caulk around the front windshield gasket as it was leaking from the top seal. I also used the caulk around the rear sunroof trim where it was leaking. The actual glass & rubber seal was good. I installed the new headliner the other day and it's all done. What a pain in the *** it was but I'm glad I'm finally finished.

The mold smell has finally almost gone. I used bleak to kill the mold under all the carpets. I ripped out all the spongy foam that was soaked as well. I left the windows and doors open as much as I could during the heat of the day and shampooed the carpets thoroughly. Some baking soda and air freshener to finish. Great write up here on the forum on step by step on how to remove headliner.

Thanks for all of your input.

 

To get the smell out of mine I removed the carpets threw out the sponge and hosed the carpets and hung them to dry, also hosed the floor and left windows open to dry smell left once everything was dry