Water drainage issues NA/NB

Body, Paint, Interior and Trim questions and answers

Moderators: timk, Stu, zombie, Andrew, -alex, miata

User avatar
garettb16
Fast Driver
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:31 pm
Vehicle: ND - 2 GT
Location: Melb

Water drainage issues NA/NB

Postby garettb16 » Wed Nov 25, 2009 4:26 pm

hey guys

after some recent heavy rain i got the typical water sloshing sounds coming from inside the car.
it seems to happen to me after most heavy rain with the soft top up, doesnt normally bother me as it doesnt normally leak.

however this time my car leaked. i went to my car in the morning to find the driver side carpet wet from behind the seat
right to the pedals. after doing some reading on here yesterday i read to unblock the drainage holes in the bottom of the body
in front of each rear wheel. so i got a wooden skewer and cleared the opening. there was a steady flow of water for about a minute.!!!

i guess that the drainage system behind the seats was that full after 3 days of heavy rain that it actually overflowed inside the car and ran
down to the carpet on the driver side only.

does anyone know how much water this will hold before it overflows?
or has anyone else had a similar experience.?

i think it will be all good now. they are predicting heavy rain this weekend. so i will hold off on fitting the hard top and try the softie again
to see whether my problem has been solved.

User avatar
hks_kansei
Speed Racer
Posts: 6154
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:43 am
Vehicle: NB8A
Location: Victoria

Water drainage issues NA/NB

Postby hks_kansei » Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:07 pm

NB8A has 4 drains (that I have found anyway)

there are 2 big rear ones, one behind each seat (right in the corner of the parcel shelf, hidden under the edge of the carpet)

the other two are on the windscreen header.


I clean them every month or so by getting a length of sprinkler hose (it's a flexible 10mm tube of PVC or something) I just feel around for a bit to find the hole, stick my tube in the hole, and then after jiggling it around for a few minutes all the wet gooey crap comes out the bottom.

the front rails are similar, but must be treated more gently as they're smaller and might split if you're too rough.


I feel sort of dirty after writing that....... :mrgreen:
1999 Mazda MX5 - 1989 Honda CT110 (for sale) - 1994 Mazda 626 wagon (GF's)

User avatar
de Bounce
Racing Driver
Posts: 1091
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:19 pm
Vehicle: NC
Location: Northern Burbs - Melbourne

Water drainage issues NA/NB

Postby de Bounce » Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:12 pm

Have a read Here and Here
There are:
2 behind the seat belt pillars
2 from the windscreen headers
Inside each front guards (drains the accumulated crap from the cowl)
2 in each sill panel (total 4)

Happy cleaning
2011 NC2 PRHT SE in Dolphin Grey
2001 NB8B in Crystal Blue - Sold :(
Motorkhana Video

User avatar
garettb16
Fast Driver
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:31 pm
Vehicle: ND - 2 GT
Location: Melb

Water drainage issues NA/NB

Postby garettb16 » Wed Nov 25, 2009 8:08 pm

hks_kansei wrote:NB8A has 4 drains (that I have found anyway)

there are 2 big rear ones, one behind each seat (right in the corner of the parcel shelf, hidden under the edge of the carpet)

the other two are on the windscreen header.


I clean them every month or so by getting a length of sprinkler hose (it's a flexible 10mm tube of PVC or something) I just feel around for a bit to find the hole, stick my tube in the hole, and then after jiggling it around for a few minutes all the wet gooey crap comes out the bottom.

the front rails are similar, but must be treated more gently as they're smaller and might split if you're too rough.


I feel sort of dirty after writing that....... :mrgreen:


you should! i felt dirty reading it

MrsB
Fast Driver
Posts: 299
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:50 pm
Vehicle: NB SP

Water drainage issues NA/NB

Postby MrsB » Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:18 pm

Hi
Did you get hair felt underlay dry?

If you dont get it dry properly it will can end up stinking /rotting / mouldy. I noticed when I lifted the carpet in my NA that it had at some stage leaked and the hairfelt had nearly rotted away completely. I work for a Water Damage Restoration company in Melbourne and generally once hairfelt is wet, it is cut out and binned because unlike some other underlays it is largely organic material and when wet provides the ideal conditions for microbial growth. In cases where we do decide to dry it, the underlay is treated with an anti microbial.

Not sure if NB's had synthetic hair felt but I know that my NA has organic

Goodluck :)

User avatar
garettb16
Fast Driver
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:31 pm
Vehicle: ND - 2 GT
Location: Melb

Water drainage issues NA/NB

Postby garettb16 » Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:48 pm

i parked it with the roof off for 2 days in the sun. its dry and smell free.

so hopefully all good.! but will see. rain is forcast for today and tonight.


Return to “MX5 Body, Paint, Interior & Trim”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 278 guests