Lovely start to the new year when I arrived to work today.

2 mins before my journey ended I could hear a “gulping” sound - like when you’re drinking through a straw. Checked under the bonnet and noticed that the coolant was empty other than a few ml. I chucked 2 litres in and the level stayed the same. The engine bay was dry and oil looked / smelled as expected.

But then I checked the driver side footwell and it was soaked. In the photo attached you’ll see reddish bits, I’m assuming that’s coolant.

Almost made it home before the sound again so turned off to garage where it is now.

the car has 6 months warranty on it still, I’ve read lots on o-ring seals heading to the heater matrix in the cab failing, any experience of this or helpful advice? 

Either the o-rings failed or the matrix itself has split.  Good job it's under warranty as not a fun job either way.

So the garage did an inspection and the seals had failed.

Warranty has covered about 60% of the bill - £500.

Picked the car up today and though the carpets are dry to touch there’s a chemical / metallic smell. Through one of the “flaps” in the carpet I can feel the foam / sound deadening and it’s not wet but not dry either - it’s stained from coolant.

Whats my next step? I took the car to the garage to repair the car to pre-leak standard. Should they be removing and cleaning again or replacing the foam?

12 hours ago, liams said:

Should they be removing and cleaning again or replacing the foam?

No.  If you had a plumber in your home to replace a burst water pipe, would you also expect them to wetvac all the carpets afterwards?  It's a separate job I'm afraid.  The garage have completed the fault repair as instructed by the warranty company.

I was thinking along those lines. My only argument against it was that the garage said they would remove the carpet (and seats), hang it to dry it out etc then repair. 
 

They have done this but the foam is still damp and the car will be going back as they scratch the door cards quite badly.

Being realistic, is it possible to dry the carpets and get rid of the smell?

or is best to simply replace it? I’ve found them online ranging from £70-130.

is anyone able to confirm part numbers on here? Ford Focus EY12 VJX. Part found has this ref: BM51-A11454-BD and says it fit s 2011-2015 Ford Focus.

Yes it's possible to dry out the carpets.  But not quickly in the middle of a UK winter.  Most people just leave them and they will dry out over a few weeks.  If you make sure the AC is switched on, that will help to dry them out.  (Unless the garage damaged the AC system in the process, of course.)

The smell should fade over time as well, but again won't be immediate.  You can use an air freshener to mask it for short term.

Buying used carpets is a bit of a lottery as there's a high chance they'll already be saturated in other undesirables, personally I'd prefer a bit of coolant to the bodily fluids that I seem to find in almost every used car.

Now that’s something I didn’t think I’d be thinking about on a Sunday morning.

Timing isn’t on my side with it being winter.

Will the coolant ever dry out being a chemical sitting in foam?

AC and general heating / cooling seem to be fine, that’s how I noticed the smell / odour.

My only thoughts behind replacing the carpet is that it guarantees my coolant smell is gone. Like you say it’s getting a good replacement.

Appreciate your time and responses TomsFocus 

Coolant is mostly water so it does dry out eventually, just leaving a bit of staining on the foam.  All I can say again is that matrix leaks happen a lot and most people don't replace the carpets afterwards.

Slightly concerned you say you only noticed the smell after using the heater/AC system.  There will still be coolant residue in the HVAC box and pipework for another few days/weeks after the repair.  So the carpets might not be the main source of the smell right now.

I agree that replacing the carpets will ensure there's no more coolant left in them.  But I can't see you getting a garage or warranty company agreeing to cover the costs of that.

My head was elsewhere when I collected the car, damage to door card and sill paint… and the bill.

To be completely honest I couldn’t smell it when it was leaking but was definitely what was happening. 
 

If the garage say no, I was going to attempt the carpet replacement myself - battery, seats, airbag sensor, belts and trim. I’ll just take time and patience.

I have dealt with saturated carpets (both coolant and water) in a Focus MK3 several times.

The most effective way to fully dry the carpets and insulation is by removing them from the car. Since both the carpet and insulation cover the entire interior in one piece, the complete interior needs to be removed. This includes the seats, rear bench, center console, most plastic covers around the doors and mirrors, everything in the boot, and more. This is a very labor-intensive job.

Once the carpet and insulation are out of the car, they can be cleaned using a garden hose or a high-pressure washer set to the lowest possible setting. After flushing out all coolant residue, the carpets and insulation need to be dried. Most of the water can be removed using a shop vacuum, and further drying can be done in open air. However, this can take quite some time, especially at this time of year.

I have the advantage of having access to an industrial vacuum dryer, which is able to dry the entire carpet and insulation in just a few hours.

Once the carpet and insulation are completely dry, everything can be reinstalled in the car—a process that is also very labor-intensive.

I only used this method for very wet or very dirty carpets. 
 

In this situation, I would not remove the entire interior just to clean and dry the carpet and insulation to remove the remaining coolant. It is simply too much work for little added value.

Instead, I recommend renting a carpet extractor that injects water into the carpet and insulation and vacuums out the mixture of water and coolant. Repeat this process until the extractor is only pulling out clean water.

After using the extractor, the carpet and insulation will feel slightly damp (as they do now). To remove the remaining moisture, place a few dehumidifier buckets or moisture-absorbing bags inside the car and make sure to change them regularly. Also, leave the windows slightly open on a dry, sunny day. Otherwise, just use the car as normal.
 

Using this method, both the humidity and any remaining smell should fully disappear within a few weeks.

Wow thanks for such a detailed response.

As mentioned, my pockets are little empty right now due to the labour costs in stripping the interior and drying the carpet a best they could.

This was complete Friday so perhaps it’s just residual but the smell is what I’m concerned with - if it was just me in the car I wouldn’t be too fussed but I have my wife and daughter to think about.

The carpet feels dry to the touch and the foam I can see / touch through the “flap” in front on the seat is like “sticky” and damp. It’s also pink so has absorbed the coolant. 
 

Would I be best trying a wet vac to clean and dry? I have dehumidifier blocks and odour eater in the car now.

I suggest to wet the carpet/insulation with clean water and use a wet vac to remove the misture of water and coolant.

Repeat that until the water inside the wet vac remains clean.