The Mk3 (NC) community salutes you for this very helpful video and innovative fix. I didn't know that the flaps were to dampen road noise. I had heard someone propose that they were for keeping out insects 😁. The second generation added a plastic grate over the drain hole to prevent debris from entering the tube. I periodically remove the debris caught by the grate.
Thanks, you have given me a hint as to why the road noise is so loud in the cabin of my PRHT MX5. I had the rubber flaps replace with new one at the dealer and it did reduce the cabin noise a good bit. I will probably follow your lead and add the SS scrubbing material to help keep the tubes clean and further add to the reduction of road noise being pumped into the cabin. Thanks, again. Brilliant!
I found out about the flaps when I went a bit back and forth with the brush wire trying to prevent cabin leakage and that damaged the valves on one side of the car adding a lot of noise to the cabin. I put in a foam at the bottom but your solution is a much better one so thank you.
I just bought by NC MX-5 (2014) about two weeks ago. I inspected the car before purchase for evidence of this overflow condition (amongst other things), and I'm pleased there was none. But I also have no reason to believe the drain has ever been cleaned., so I was looking for the best recommendation for doing this. This is the first video on this topic I've found that reveals there is a stop valve at the bottom of the channel as well as the top. I've heard people caution vigorously against snaking anything down the channel to keep it clean, but rather just insert something far enough to free the upper valve (flap) if it gets stuck. I'm sure this is for the reason you mentioned that it is easy to damage the valve if you pull something back through in the direction opposite the intended flow through the channel. All the other videos I've watched that contain this caution usually only push something fairly rigid into the entry of the tube, far enough to push on the upper valve to free it, but not so far as move beyond it. Clearly, this does not offer a completely solution Your solution regarding keeping the grime out of there in the first place is rather brilliant. Nice to hear in the comments that Mazda added a filter to the NC2. I would imagine that needs to be maintained regularly. Also, it will only block large debris. So, your solution is better. In the US they make cleaning pads that are like steel wool (you call it something else in the UK), but it's made of some sort of ABS plastic. This may work well, and wouldn't have the downside of rusting over time. I also appreciate the pictures, showing me precisely where the entry to the drains is.
I always find if I activate the noise suppression system any road noise is reduced if not cancelled completely 😊. The noise cancelling I recommend is ( supertramp genisis yazoo or any noise you head unit can generate). 🤪 the best method is turn it up until the noise goes away or you grin like a 18 year old like you still are in your head. Always worked for me.
Great vid Paul. My Mk3 is identical to yours, even down to the same colour. I have not had it long, but following your tip on the drainage I looked at mine and found that a previous owner had installed a hard plastic grill over the top of each drain hole, which were partially clogged with debris, so a quick clean and Bob's your uncle. These grills also reduce road noise so hopefully, job done, but thanks for the vid and I know where to go for info now.
I've read those hard plastic grills might have been added to the later NC's (but not 100% sure). Also, how does one open the prht only half way so you can get access to the drain? THanks!
Excellent video! I especially appreciate the drawing you made and the detailed explanation for how the drains work. I periodically pour water through each funnel using a plant watering can, in order to flush out any accumulated debris. My funnels have plastic grates in the top, and I did not remove them. I’m curious…do you think that the scouring pad inserts at the top and bottom are sufficient to suppress sound transmission sufficiently that the flaps inside the tubes can just be removed? It seems like the flaps, especially the top one, are the reason why those tubes get clogged, causing a backup and flooding of the car interior. So removing the flaps and leaving the scouring pad in place could be a good solution to preventing future clogs.
Here is a simple care taking tip to prevent the drain blockage and debris buildup blocking the water draining. The outlets for these drains exit the car on the inside of some structural rails under the car. Periodically I get my wet n dry vacuum cleaner and suck these pipes clear by simply lying on the ground and reaching under with the nozzle, they are just forward of the rear tyres. For me the water ingress was in the boot and a small pool of water was visible in the draining collector when the roof was half open. So many helpful but over complex solutions are on UA-cam with pushing things down the pipe from the top and making things worse by getting things stuck in the drain pipe, best to keep it simple and suck from underneath. Hope this helps.
There is a reason you should go top -> bottom. If you extract from the bottom you run the risk of pushing little rubber flaps the wrong way and can cause more problems than you fix.
Hi Ashley, I disagree, that’s the beautiful reason why the vacuum suction works so well, it sucks the drain flaps into the correct orientation, as it sucks everything, water and debris etc only in the correct direction, from top to bottom.
Thanks, well worth a subscription! My additional thought is to block the bottom exit hole and carefully fill the tube with drain cleaner and after a suitable pause flush with warm water. The exit hole is easy to find- inside of the rail that runs the length of the car, just in front of rear wheel.
Great video. I've been looking at buying a Mk3 (soft top or retractable roof) and after drainage issues with my much-loved (and missed!) Mk1, I wanted to see how the Mk3's drain. Very similar! Out of interest, does the insertion of the scouring pad/metal pan scrubber mean the water takes longer to drain or is it uninterrupted? And finally, how do you get the roof to part-open?
Odd defect that may be of interest. There is a channel visible at left @1:30 which drains areas shown @2:40. The end of this channel is a rectangle hole to the left of the drain hole. On mine the moulding was defective and still sealed so channel was full of water and just overflowed. 15 years of water has now be released. Incidently mine is 2007 and has grills over the hole. Blockage was likely due to not driving in the rain enough in NZ so rubber seal had just stuck in place because "mud" didn't get flushed.
Begin the opening procedure on the top. The deck is lifted at the start of the procedure to accommodate the top, then closed again to put it back after the top is stowed. So, take your finger off the open button after the deck is raised. The car will politely beep at you to tell you it's not done, but that's okay. This, of course, is the instruction for gaining access to the drains on a PRHT. The drains are actually less accessible with a manual roof.
My 2009 nc2 does too. There is no obvious way to slide them out as they are tricky enough to see and get to as it is! I'm just gonna put mine in and get it done by the pro's, this ain't worth the headache!
I had to remove the grate on mine to get at the blockage you need to snap them out so I made some clips to hold them back in very bad design but now sorted. I have a 2010 NC.
I throw a cover over my mx5 soft roof when parked up and can see how much muck/debris it stops going inside those drainage holes after only a couple of days.
How dumb of Mazda to think two rubber flaps will reduce noise. Because of lack of proper insulation my 2008 PRHT has a very noisy cabin while driving with the top up. I doubt your solution does anything to reduce road noise.
Wow, most definitely an idiots guide, even the brain dead should be able to understand from this video exactly how and why to sort the drains on their MX5. Thanks for posting. I'm not sure yet if I can remove them but on the later model (25th Anniversary) there is a little grid over the drain, need to remove if possible to pass the cleaning brush through. If I can remove them I won't refit, I'll put the wire wool in as you suggest, thanks again :-)
Did you find that when it's really pissing down that the steel wool 'filter' created a blockage which made the drain back up? Or does it keep acting as intended, even during torrential rain?
The Mk3 (NC) community salutes you for this very helpful video and innovative fix. I didn't know that the flaps were to dampen road noise. I had heard someone propose that they were for keeping out insects 😁.
The second generation added a plastic grate over the drain hole to prevent debris from entering the tube. I periodically remove the debris caught by the grate.
Great solution! I had the same problem with the NA I owned for about 20 years. I now have an NB so I'm still behind the times.
Great informative video. Would love to see a how to on how to remove the pipes to clean them thoroughly
Thanks, you have given me a hint as to why the road noise is so loud in the cabin of my PRHT MX5. I had the rubber flaps replace with new one at the dealer and it did reduce the cabin noise a good bit. I will probably follow your lead and add the SS scrubbing material to help keep the tubes clean and further add to the reduction of road noise being pumped into the cabin. Thanks, again. Brilliant!
I found out about the flaps when I went a bit back and forth with the brush wire trying to prevent cabin leakage and that damaged the valves on one side of the car adding a lot of noise to the cabin. I put in a foam at the bottom but your solution is a much better one so thank you.
Excellent demo, simple and to the point, well done sir.
I just bought by NC MX-5 (2014) about two weeks ago. I inspected the car before purchase for evidence of this overflow condition (amongst other things), and I'm pleased there was none. But I also have no reason to believe the drain has ever been cleaned., so I was looking for the best recommendation for doing this.
This is the first video on this topic I've found that reveals there is a stop valve at the bottom of the channel as well as the top. I've heard people caution vigorously against snaking anything down the channel to keep it clean, but rather just insert something far enough to free the upper valve (flap) if it gets stuck. I'm sure this is for the reason you mentioned that it is easy to damage the valve if you pull something back through in the direction opposite the intended flow through the channel. All the other videos I've watched that contain this caution usually only push something fairly rigid into the entry of the tube, far enough to push on the upper valve to free it, but not so far as move beyond it. Clearly, this does not offer a completely solution
Your solution regarding keeping the grime out of there in the first place is rather brilliant. Nice to hear in the comments that Mazda added a filter to the NC2. I would imagine that needs to be maintained regularly. Also, it will only block large debris. So, your solution is better. In the US they make cleaning pads that are like steel wool (you call it something else in the UK), but it's made of some sort of ABS plastic. This may work well, and wouldn't have the downside of rusting over time.
I also appreciate the pictures, showing me precisely where the entry to the drains is.
I always find if I activate the noise suppression system any road noise is reduced if not cancelled completely 😊. The noise cancelling I recommend is ( supertramp genisis yazoo or any noise you head unit can generate). 🤪 the best method is turn it up until the noise goes away or you grin like a 18 year old like you still are in your head. Always worked for me.
love your solution. i am going to try it. i feel it will also improve the ac system in doing so. thank you for the video
Great vid Paul. My Mk3 is identical to yours, even down to the same colour. I have not had it long, but following your tip on the drainage I looked at mine and found that a previous owner had installed a hard plastic grill over the top of each drain hole, which were partially clogged with debris, so a quick clean and Bob's your uncle. These grills also reduce road noise so hopefully, job done, but thanks for the vid and I know where to go for info now.
I've read those hard plastic grills might have been added to the later NC's (but not 100% sure). Also, how does one open the prht only half way so you can get access to the drain? THanks!
Excellent video! I especially appreciate the drawing you made and the detailed explanation for how the drains work.
I periodically pour water through each funnel using a plant watering can, in order to flush out any accumulated debris. My funnels have plastic grates in the top, and I did not remove them.
I’m curious…do you think that the scouring pad inserts at the top and bottom are sufficient to suppress sound transmission sufficiently that the flaps inside the tubes can just be removed? It seems like the flaps, especially the top one, are the reason why those tubes get clogged, causing a backup and flooding of the car interior. So removing the flaps and leaving the scouring pad in place could be a good solution to preventing future clogs.
Here is a simple care taking tip to prevent the drain blockage and debris buildup blocking the water draining. The outlets for these drains exit the car on the inside of some structural rails under the car. Periodically I get my wet n dry vacuum cleaner and suck these pipes clear by simply lying on the ground and reaching under with the nozzle, they are just forward of the rear tyres.
For me the water ingress was in the boot and a small pool of water was visible in the draining collector when the roof was half open.
So many helpful but over complex solutions are on UA-cam with pushing things down the pipe from the top and making things worse by getting things stuck in the drain pipe, best to keep it simple and suck from underneath.
Hope this helps.
There is a reason you should go top -> bottom. If you extract from the bottom you run the risk of pushing little rubber flaps the wrong way and can cause more problems than you fix.
Hi Ashley, I disagree, that’s the beautiful reason why the vacuum suction works so well, it sucks the drain flaps into the correct orientation, as it sucks everything, water and debris etc only in the correct direction, from top to bottom.
Thanks, well worth a subscription! My additional thought is to block the bottom exit hole and carefully fill the tube with drain cleaner and after a suitable pause flush with warm water. The exit hole is easy to find- inside of the rail that runs the length of the car, just in front of rear wheel.
Excellent 👍🏻 thanks Paul 🙏🏻
Great video. I've been looking at buying a Mk3 (soft top or retractable roof) and after drainage issues with my much-loved (and missed!) Mk1, I wanted to see how the Mk3's drain. Very similar! Out of interest, does the insertion of the scouring pad/metal pan scrubber mean the water takes longer to drain or is it uninterrupted? And finally, how do you get the roof to part-open?
Odd defect that may be of interest. There is a channel visible at left @1:30 which drains areas shown @2:40. The end of this channel is a rectangle hole to the left of the drain hole. On mine the moulding was defective and still sealed so channel was full of water and just overflowed. 15 years of water has now be released. Incidently mine is 2007 and has grills over the hole. Blockage was likely due to not driving in the rain enough in NZ so rubber seal had just stuck in place because "mud" didn't get flushed.
Excellent, thanks 👏👏👏👏👏
great video Paul, but how do you access the rear drains? I have a MK3 roadster, but I don't know how to lift the rear deck?
Begin the opening procedure on the top. The deck is lifted at the start of the procedure to accommodate the top, then closed again to put it back after the top is stowed. So, take your finger off the open button after the deck is raised. The car will politely beep at you to tell you it's not done, but that's okay. This, of course, is the instruction for gaining access to the drains on a PRHT. The drains are actually less accessible with a manual roof.
Mine (2014 hard top) has plastic grate covers over the drain holes. How do you take them off without damaging them?
My 2009 nc2 does too. There is no obvious way to slide them out as they are tricky enough to see and get to as it is! I'm just gonna put mine in and get it done by the pro's, this ain't worth the headache!
The grates are moulded to the tray. You have to snip them loose.
Was there a plastic grate cover over the holes ? I can't seem to find mine. I have a weather strip on my hard top cover seem lifted in your video
I had to remove the grate on mine to get at the blockage you need to snap them out so I made some clips to hold them back in very bad design but now sorted. I have a 2010 NC.
Will it rust though ?
I throw a cover over my mx5 soft roof when parked up and can see how much muck/debris it stops going inside those drainage holes after only a couple of days.
How dumb of Mazda to think two rubber flaps will reduce noise. Because of lack of proper insulation my 2008 PRHT has a very noisy cabin while driving with the top up. I doubt your solution does anything to reduce road noise.
I had the flaps part replace with new at the dealer, I noticed a good difference in noise coming into the cabin.
Wow, most definitely an idiots guide, even the brain dead should be able to understand from this video exactly how and why to sort the drains on their MX5. Thanks for posting. I'm not sure yet if I can remove them but on the later model (25th Anniversary) there is a little grid over the drain, need to remove if possible to pass the cleaning brush through. If I can remove them I won't refit, I'll put the wire wool in as you suggest, thanks again :-)
Painful
Did you find that when it's really pissing down that the steel wool 'filter' created a blockage which made the drain back up? Or does it keep acting as intended, even during torrential rain?
Good question. Was wondering about this too.