Rain Leaks (on topic)

Archives of Posts to the NZ MX5 List back in 2004
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Chic Lynch

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by Chic Lynch » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:40 pm

A couple of months ago, after some really heavy rain, one of our MX5s had
about 6 inches of water in the footwell. This has happened a couple of
time in the last 9 years and I'm pretty sure I know how it happens.

My theory is that when the rain rail drain exit is blocked (under the
car, near the rear wheels), water backs up and overflows into the
sills.Then when the sills fill up they overflow into the footwell.
Basically most of the water landing on the roof ends up in the footwell.

If I was you I'd

1. start by pulling back the carpet (from the sides) and taking out the
rubber plug in the floor. This will make removing the water a bit easier.

2. Check that your rain rail drains are clear by pushing something (like
a piece of garden hose) down them. Look behind the seat belt towers with
the roof up and you should see a plastic funnel. This exits under the car
near the rear wheels. Push the hose down the hole until it exits under
the car. (or try pushing a screw driver up from underneath)

3. Check that the sill drains are working. These are under the car in the
seam at the jacking points.They can be difficult to spot because they are
just parts of the seam that haven't been welded. Force a flat bladed
screwdriver up between the sides of the seam. You will probably find that
your drains then start pouring out water.

That should fix your problem. It's certainly fixed ours.

Cheers

Chic

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 17:00:37 +1300, r.v.boxall@xtra.co.nz wrote:
[...]

r.v.boxall

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by r.v.boxall » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:29 am

Thanks Chic, that sounds as though it might be the problem!! Before getting the puddle, it had rained a bit, and afetr a few hours parked, I noticed a wet patch on the ground, just in front of the rear wheel on the driver's side, which was coming fron a very slow drip of water from under the sill. It may well be that the sill drain is mostly blocked. Do you know if there's a generic problem with sills rusting out, like they used to do on European cars?

I'll also have a look for the rain rail drains. Do these start at the top of the seat belt towers, on the back shelf? I've not had the car long enought to be familiar with its anatomy yet! If they start at that height, though, what are they draining?
From: Chic Lynch <mx5list@lynchz.com>
Date: 2004/11/16 Tue PM 10:40:10 GMT+13:00
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
CC: <r.v.boxall@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: Re: Rain Leaks (on topic)
A couple of months ago, after some really heavy rain, one of our MX5s had
about 6 inches of water in the footwell. This has happened a couple of
time in the last 9 years and I'm pretty sure I know how it happens.

My theory is that when the rain rail drain exit is blocked (under the
car, near the rear wheels), water backs up and overflows into the
sills.Then when the sills fill up they overflow into the footwell.
Basically most of the water landing on the roof ends up in the footwell.

If I was you I'd

1. start by pulling back the carpet (from the sides) and taking out the
rubber plug in the floor. This will make removing the water a bit easier.

2. Check that your rain rail drains are clear by pushing something (like
a piece of garden hose) down them. Look behind the seat belt towers with
the roof up and you should see a plastic funnel. This exits under the car
near the rear wheels. Push the hose down the hole until it exits under
the car. (or try pushing a screw driver up from underneath)

3. Check that the sill drains are working. These are under the car in the
seam at the jacking points.They can be difficult to spot because they are
just parts of the seam that haven't been welded. Force a flat bladed
screwdriver up between the sides of the seam. You will probably find that
your drains then start pouring out water.

That should fix your problem. It's certainly fixed ours.

Cheers

Chic

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 17:00:37 +1300, r.v.boxall@xtra.co.nz wrote:
[...]

Chic Lynch

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by Chic Lynch » Wed Nov 17, 2004 11:06 pm

Yip, on the back shelf behind the seat belt towers. All the water that
lands on the roof slides down into the rain rail which is actually inside
the car and runs right round the outside of the back shelf. The water
then goes down the "plug hole" as it were and exits under the car.

You can see the rain rail in this photo http://www.miata.net/garage/top/
9.jpg (it's the part just above the red)

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:29:33 +1300, r.v.boxall@xtra.co.nz wrote:
[...]

r.v.boxall

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by r.v.boxall » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:16 am

Chic,

Having looked yesterday at the way the hood is fixed into the car, I guessed that the bar running round the back was the rain rail. Other convertibles seem to put the hood outside the car body. This is a bit like stuffing your waterproofs inside your gumboots!

I lifted up a flap of trim carpet on the shelf, behind the tower, and stuck my finger in a hole going downwards, seemed to be the entrance to a tube, but since it's a bit smaller than my banana-sized finger, I'm not sure I could get a garden hose down it! I'll try something a bit smaller first! That's if I can contort myself enough to get anywhere near the tube with a length of wire, with the hood up, without also removing one of my eyes!! The roll bar is one hell of an obstruction! Then I'll get under the car, maybe by hollowing out a bit of the ground, to stick a screwdriver into the sill drain hole. If you don't hear from me on this list again, I didn't survive!

Ron :-(
From: Chic Lynch <mx5list@lynchz.com>
Date: 2004/11/17 Wed PM 11:06:32 GMT+13:00
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Subject: Re: Re: Rain Leaks (on topic)
Yip, on the back shelf behind the seat belt towers. All the water that
lands on the roof slides down into the rain rail which is actually inside
the car and runs right round the outside of the back shelf. The water
then goes down the "plug hole" as it were and exits under the car.

You can see the rain rail in this photo
http://www.miata.net/garage/top/9.jpg (it's the part just above the red)

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:29:33 +1300, r.v.boxall@xtra.co.nz wrote:
[...]

poison
Keep calm, Forum Moderator here.
Keep calm, Forum Moderator here.
Posts: 530
Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:47 pm
Location: JAFA Land

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by poison » Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:39 pm

Give the hose a go, mine was really blocked and I thought I'd never get a hose
through but after a few good pushes I got a slug of dirt about 9" long out of
each side. Mostly dry carpets since unless parking on a slope.

Gazza
"PO1SON"
:twisted: Gazda in the white HOT Mazda :twisted:

patrick malone

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by patrick malone » Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:58 am

l have to agree there. l read where somone told me to
use garden hose all it did was cause the hose thats
coonected to that drain device to fall of, what a job
getting it back ;-(

and l whould recomend u checking the sills under the

doors with screw driver to un block the drians there

esp if u have water in the front of the car on the
carpets.
I lifted up a flap of trim carpet on the shelf,
behind the tower, and stuck my finger in a hole
going downwards, seemed to be the entrance to a
tube, but since it's a bit smaller than my
banana-sized finger, I'm not sure I could get a
garden hose down it! I'll try something a bit
smaller first! That's if I can contort myself enough
to get anywhere near the tube with a length of wire,
with the hood up, without also removing one of my
eyes!! The roll bar is one hell of an obstruction!
Then I'll get under the car, maybe by hollowing out
a bit of the ground, to stick a screwdriver into the
sill drain hole. If you don't hear from me on this
list again, I didn't survive!

Ron :-(
From: Chic Lynch <mx5list@lynchz.com>
Date: 2004/11/17 Wed PM 11:06:32 GMT+13:00
To: MX5List <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz>
Subject: Re: Re: Rain Leaks (on topic)

---------------------------------

Yip, on the back shelf behind the seat belt towers.
All the water that lands on the roof slides down into
the rain rail which is actually inside the car and
runs right round the outside of the back shelf. The
water then goes down the "plug hole" as it were and
exits under the car.


You can see the rain rail in this photo
http://www.miata.net/garage/top/9.jpg (it's the part
just above the red)


On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:29:33 +1300,
r.v.boxall@xtra.co.nz wrote:
Thanks Chic, that sounds as though it might be the problem!! Before
getting the puddle, it had rained a bit, and afetr a
few hours
parked, I noticed a wet patch on the ground, just in front of the
rear wheel on the driver's side, which was coming fron a very slow
drip of water from under the sill. It may well be that the sill
drain is mostly blocked. Do yo!u know if there's a generic problem
with sills rusting out, like they used to do on
European cars?

I'll also have a look for the rain rail drains. Do these start at
the top of the seat belt towers, on the back shelf? I've not had
the car long enought to be familiar with its anatomy yet! If they
start at that height, though!, what are they
draining?
[...]

r.v.boxall

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by r.v.boxall » Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:32 am

Thanks Gazza, & Chic, for the advice. I pushed a straightened wire coat hanger throgh the driver's side rail drain last evening, and got a cupful of water on the ground below. Had a feel round in the tube outlet, and theres something made of hard plastic, like the tube itself, in there. Tried with a piece of hose, but only got 40 cms down, so I think I need something more rigid but still bendy, like a fibreglass batten from a sailing dinghy. Passenger side is clear. It really is a wrist strangler getting access to the top of the tube!!

Opened up the driver's side sill drain and about 2 litres of water gushed out! That's 36 hours since the last heavy rain! I was relieved to see that it was nice clear water, not rusty. I can't imagine what squashed the drain closed, unless perhaps the car has been T-boned at some time, but there's no other evidence of that.

I'm anticipating drier carpets now, we'll find out this weeked on a round trip to Martinborough, for a few sips of wine!!!

Thanks again, guys!

Ron
[...]

MX5PWR
Need, more, 5-ing, time....
Need, more, 5-ing, time....
Posts: 127
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:32 pm
Location: Auckland

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by MX5PWR » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:46 am

Hi Ron. at the bottom of the drain hose is a hard rubber flap that is designed to stop road rubbish going up the tube. In the past I have used the garden hose by putting the end of the hose in the top of the drain tube, be careful not to push it in too far, then turn the tap on and flush out any muck that is in the pipe.
The sill drain holes are normaly only a small openning about the thickness of a paper clip, again to stop them getting clogged with dust etc.


Nigel


[...]

r.v.boxall

Rain Leaks (on topic)

Post by r.v.boxall » Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:24 pm

Thanks Nigel,

It sounds as though the flap is there on the driver's side, but not on the passenger's side! The latter one seems to be open.

I opened the sill drain to the width of a biggish scewdriver blade (the business end only!) Even with a quite small gap like that, the flow rate was quite high, but it still took close to 1 minute to drain. What with water from there, and a cupful from the rail drain, it's hardly surprising that the carpet was wet! It's a beaut day in New Plymouth, so it's parked with the hood down, cooking the water out of the carpet.

Hopefully, it will not be too full of trash when I get back!

Ron
[...]

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