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Hello MX-5 people. After what seems like an eternity looking to buy a MX-5 I finally plucked up courage and bought a 2001 NB series 2.

I've not had the car long, and everything's been fine until this morning to find after the steady rains in Vic last night have added almost an inch of water on the drivers side floor. After a mop up and inspection of the seals and roof I seem to have noticed water has welled in the door/window seals where they spilt in two against the side glass.

After reading up online, this seems a common problem, and have taken notice of people suggesting to adjust the screws that push the rails out that hold the seals in place, which I have done, but I'm not convinced it will make much difference. The seals themselves seem supple enough, and initially seemed almost full of water, are they supposed to fill like that? I note there are splits at the ends but I'm not sure if this is a design feature or damage. I also noticed there is a inch or so of tubing inside the seals themselves, but again don't know if this is a feature or someone's quick fix?




Finally another thing I have noticed is the roof on the drivers side is a little warped/stretched near the area of the leak as pictured below. And while investigating online I have noticed a couple of roofs in similar condition. One online even suggested the roof may have shrunk, and would require replacing. Am I in the same boat? Is a new top the only viable fix?

Tallorder wrote:Finally another thing I have noticed is the roof on the drivers side is a little warped/stretched near the area of the leak as pictured below. And while investigating online I have noticed a couple of roofs in similar condition. One online even suggested the roof may have shrunk, and would require replacing. Am I in the same boat? Is a new top the only viable fix?

Sorry I can't help with other query as I have no MX-5 to reference, but in answer to above, short answer is no.
My old roof had slight warping on one side, and I would say 7 out of 10 stock roofs on any model/age NA & NB (ones that have never been replaced) are like that and they don't leak.

Welcome to the obsession.

There should not be any splits in the weather seals around the windows, nor should there be any tubing inside them.

As for the warp in the soft top itself. There is two lined steel tension cables in each side of the soft top. Over time these will rust and will eventually snap. They can be replaced.

I recently installed an aftermarket set of stainless steel cables in my updated roof.

http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/hood-tension- ... p-451.html

You can also get weather seals from them as well.

http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/hoods-c-45_295_85.html

J.

Thanks Jaffa and Steam punk.

How can I get access to the cables to see what condition they are in? There is no movement in this area, the roof is tight, I was just more concerned with the profile of the edge of the top as it seems a little short compared to the passenger side and wondered if this could be a problem. This is my first convertible, so it's all a bit new to me.

As for the seals you can see by the pic that they do have splits or openings in them, should these be closed units? I noted on the UK parts place you sent the link to mentions 'The most common cause of this seal filling up with water is that the actual hood material has shrunk, replacing the seals may not rectify this problem.' which again points at shrinkage. I wouldn't say my top is substantially warped but as you can see on the pics above it is not the straightest of edges at that area.

I can only presume the inch of tubing inside is someone's attempt at a quick fix, I have read others putting some coaxial cable inside to beef up/push out the seal.

Its Juffa, not Jaffa...

Any way. The tension cable is made up of a few strands of wire, covered in a plastic lining. At the rear of the soft top it is attached to the soft top frame by a spring. Towards the front of the frame, just above the window on each side the cable attaches to a plastic coated metal block, which in turn is riveted to the soft top frame as per the photo below.



Over time the cable will rust at the point where the cable meets the metal block. The wire strands will eventually rust through and the cable will snap, which is what I believe has happened to your daughters roof.

If you go to http://www.miata.net/garage and then to the Tops, Windows, Tonneaus, Boots page you will find two articles, including photos, on how to replace the tension cables.

Yet another opportunity for some Dad and Daughter time

J.

aka_juffa wrote:Its Juffa, not Jaffa...

.. better Jaffa than Jabba (the Hutt), just sayin'

shuey wrote:

aka_juffa wrote:Its Juffa, not Jaffa...

.. better Jaffa than Jabba (the Hutt), just sayin'

Scott=1
Jeff=0

Congrats on finally buying an MX5!

From a couple of the pics, it looks like the soft-top has possibly been restitched above the driver side window.

Hopefully you can sort this without having to buy another top.

Thanks for the info. I took the roof to a specialist the weekend for a quick inspection, but they seemed more concerned with the drainage holes first. Despite a quick blast with an air hose for both of the drainage holes, and sills, and finally the front drivers door catchment seal/windlace it still drew a blank. Getting in the car and hosing it down revealed water is still getting in at where the front two door seals join. One at the very front and second at the join where the front two connect.

The mechanic didn't suspect the roof was that bad, though he didn't think it was the original, which I find a bit surprising. How long on average do tops last in Australia's climate?

When looking at the door seals they provide a fair amount of bite, I even did the paper test lodging a sheet between glass and seal to say how much grip it had, and I'd say it was fair. I do notice those seals are a bit flacid though, and suspect where someone has cut into them to put the tube in may have made them more weak, but it's hard to tell until I compare them to another set. I may just get some new ones to find out for sure.

When getting back home, I decided to take a closer look at the drainage holes from inside the car (the mechanic air hosed them from underneath) and I was surprised to find a fair amount of mud around the drivers side. That area is a sod to get to with roof up or down, but I soon discovered more issues...




There's the culprit!


One trim stud almost the perfect size for blocking a drain hole! The joke was after getting the damn thing out and cleaing the drains more extensively I had trouble popping the trim pieces back in, and lo and behold another one slipped through my fingers and headed towards, you guessed it, the drain hole again. I think from now on I'll cover the holes when doing ANY work near the rear shelf!

At the moment this still doesn't clear up the water getting in from the seals, but at least I know my drain holes are free to work now.

Whereabouts in SE burbs are you Juffa? I'm down near Frankston here. Not sure where you got the Father and Daughter relation from though, think you may be mixing me up with another member on here.

I'm also going to look further into the tension cables, but am rapidly running out of time at the moment.

I did take a look under the roof and noticed one difference with each side, is this loop of wire the tension cable? I can't even see the one on the drivers side but would presume if it was taught you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. Perhaps I have more cable spare on the passenger side, if this is indeed the tension cable showing.

Yup that looks like a broken tension cable, but make sure the cable itself is broken and not come undone from the spring on the end.

Hmm this gets better and better. The passenger side (with the visible loop in the cable, highlighted with the red arrow) is the one that ISNT leaking. The leak is on the other side where I can't even see the cable. I hope there's one attached!

Okibi wrote:Yup that looks like a broken tension cable, but make sure the cable itself is broken and not come undone from the spring on the end.

Tallorder wrote:Hmm this gets better and better. The passenger side (with the visible loop in the cable, highlighted with the red arrow) is the one that ISNT leaking. The leak is on the other side where I can't even see the cable. I hope there's one attached!

And the reason the opposite side to the one that's broken would be leaking is that the remaining tension cable would have contracted as it's no longer offset by tension on the other side, hence the bit of scrunching of the soft-top above the window. Hopefully once sorted this stops the leak.

Ah, makes sense. Looks like I need to buy some cables then, but I don't have the tools or confidence to repair them.

Are their any reputable soft-top specialists down the SE burbs anyone can recommend?

They're not soft-top specialists, but as you're near Frankston, Gerald & Chaz @ Mammi Motors, 10 Industrial Drv, Somerville, 5977 7973, look after a number of forumite's MX5s & are highly recommended.