mx5cartalk.com

Quick question.

A friend of mine has an NB8 (C I think) and one of her soft top latches isn't working properly - apparently it takes a few goes before it actually latches.

Is this a common problem?

She's been quoted $400 from a Mazda dealer for a new latch, which ... seems a little over the top.

Are the NA and NB ones compatible? I assume Mania would have a pile of them laying around?

when you say it doesnt latch, is it because its not catching?

with our NA, on cold days it will take some effort to get the latch to grab, normally i have to give a good pull on the top so it allows the latches to get close enough to eachother.

I think the latches can be adjusted.

I'm pretty sure that they are basically the same. Having said that I know that many NBs were suffering from clips that were worn out and the latch could actually release, usually with the car in motion. Not heard of this being a problem on the NAs for some reason.

If you do a search on the big forum you should find heaps of examples.

J

kitkat wrote:when you say it doesnt latch, is it because its not catching?

I haven't had a look at it yet, but the impression I got was the it was latching fine, but not staying latched.

I was also under the impression that the adjustment only adjusted the tension on the roof, not the latching tension. I'll have a look when I get home.

It's possible to file a few mm off a stopper on the latch mechanism so that the latch doesn't come unlocked by itself. Do a search through the forum for instructions. Much cheaper than buying a new one and not much more work than replacing it with an NA one.

I thought the latches were changed slightly in the last of the NB's so they are not quite compatable with the earlier ones

i'd play with the adjusters a bit first. you never know it might just need a tighten. pretty simple to do.

They're piss easy to adjust.

If you can't work it out then bring her along to a club meeting and i'll do it for her.

The only issue is if they don't \"lock\" shut.