ND MX5 Miata RF Top Drain Cleaning

[@intrepid_wandering]

Alternatively, without taking any plastic off, you can do everything from the back/outside. You can disconnect the first tube that connects the roof to a mounted rubber tube on the backseat wall. Shove something through a few times, pour water, blow air, suck, and repeat those two steps into a pan until clean. Then the same for the rubber tube that travels to the drain hole. And once more for the drain (only top accessible). If you're an overachiever, jack the car and do the same from the bottom of the car. I found blowing, sucking, rinsing over and over was pretty effective. I hate taking off those plastic panels. Thank you for this video Paul. You're a good man.

[@paulharrington94]

@@intrepid_wandering right on sounds like you got a pretty good easy maintenance system. Thanks for sharing

[@Shadytube2024]

Make a video. This one is confusing

[@paulm3033]

Youre clearly a very knowledgeable and confident guy to take your car apart , something i could never do, Id never be able to put it back together! Your video was engrossing and scary all in all one !

[@BlackWidow_RF]

im so happy you posted this video.. finaly i found the problem.. the last drain was completely full of dirt and my floor on the driverside was wet.. THX A LOT MATE!! :)

[@janeymers7154]

Now that i found your video I will print myself something to plug into the drains up top, to stop this from happening to me. Thanks man!

[@paulharrington94]

That’s what I ended up doing, I made a screen mesh with a gasket around it. Haven’t had a chance to make an update on it yet!

[@janeymers7154]

@@paulharrington94 nice! jea, was thinking about something like that. would be interesting to see how you did it. Maybe i will upload the file to thingiverse as soon as i have figured it out properly

[@Beck_Luce]

Huge thank you for posting this - informative and clear. Realised there was an issue with waterlogged carpet and just saved myself a whole lot of ££ by sorting it out myself. Always like to have a go with some concrete guidance 👌

[@vinkalmann]

Same car, same problem. Thanks for the video. I'm a little baffled that Mazda thinks the average person is going to be able to take care of this. They really should have made filters towards the openings in the roof that could easily be cleaned. When it floods it really floods as in 3 inches of standing water on the floorboards.

[@paulharrington94]

No problem glad it helped! Yeah tell me about it. I used a shop vac on the foam under my carpets and got a substantial amount of water out.

[@baronrichmond5667]

I can't believe this is so complicated! My ND soft top has a tiny filter i can just reach back and clean behind both seats. If somethings severely clogged then i can just run a snake down it...but definitely dont' need to take any pieces off the car. Takes 20 seconds.

[@MrRedalertcc]

@@paulharrington94 how did you get the carpets out? I want to dry them well as well. Also, how did you detach the orange part of the drain? I can't seem to get it off, and it's not like I've got huge hands.

[@effortlessproductions]

Thank you bro! Mine is thankfully clean but I wanna make sure it stays that way.

[@mikehill33]

Great video, I'm keeping mine in my garage and not driving it in the rain.

[@CrossKnight]

Thanks for this video. I did not even know there were drain holes in the back. I poured some water and both holes were clogged. The driver side was clogged up top so it wasn't so bad after clearing the muck. The passenger side was really bad though, I had to take the panels apart and that catch basin was full of water. I got the same snake as you and put it down the hole. Must have freed something up as it immediately drained. Currently the driver side drains much faster than the passenger side so I assume there is some muck on the passenger side past the catch basin.

[@paulharrington94]

Yeah I had to figure out about these drains after my interior was flooded 🤦🏻‍♂️ glad you were able to get em cleared up

[@chasem3549]

​@@paulharrington94how do you remove the orange pipe in the drivers side thanks

[@johnnyfa2246]

thank you so helpful! only help I could find.

[@79blustone]

Nice one for this, my GF has the same issue with hers. I shall do this immediately as her drivers foot well is flooded. I'm probably going to seal up the interior of the car afterwards and leave a dehumidifier on for a few days to a week after cleaning out the drain. What about the scuttle panel drains? Have you had to unblock those?

[@chasem3549]

HELP!! Great video! How do you remove the orange pipe at 6:00? Thanks!!! I dont want to break that thing by yanking it too hard

[@paulharrington94]

@@chasem3549 kinda pinch it and pull it out tilting it to one side to release the clips

[@luisboyzo498]

I'm stuck at the same part. Struggling to free the pipe from the orange part. Or is it the orange from the frame we're supposed to remove? Either way I'm struggling here. Awesome video otherwise

[@MyDailyPerspective]

Can you use an airline blow gun to help with the cleanout process for more regular maintenance?

[@paulharrington94]

All depending on how much debris you accumulate. Base it off where you park to be safe.

[@oose3734]

Give us some canyon driving videos!

[@richardhaas9519]

Holy crap! How often do you have to do this?

[@paulharrington94]

Seeing as how I sold the car last week… never lol but it was like a every 6mo thing I’d pour water an see if it was flowing without obstruction.

[@hecsalinas1971]

been doing research into this car as a potential purchase in the near future...is this an issue that will happen eventually to a miata owner???

[@paulharrington94]

If car is regularly parked under a tree or neglected washing, yes. After I did this cleaning I don't think I will have issue again seeing as how I wash often and dont park car under a tree.

[@philliprumans5486]

so just the two drains? No others to worry about?

[@paulharrington94]

Correct

[@randyestiller]

Would’ve liked to see you insert the snake in the drain, but now I know how to at least get to that point. 👍🏼

[@thevictor390]

I have some sort of clog but it's not at the back, it's in the dashboard! It's coming out through the blower motor. Does anyone know where this is supposed to drain?

[@justchillin619]

What seat covers are those!?

[@paulharrington94]

They came with my car its a whole reupholstery kit. I will check the tag tomorrow, has the brand on them

[@justchillin619]

@@paulharrington94 they look great I'd love to know! Thanks

[@paulharrington94]

The brand is roadwire!

[@22jeepmojave75]

why can we clean from the bottom, instead of all that work?

[@paulharrington94]

Have to verify there isn’t debris that fell an most of time blocks entry.

[@drmccoy33]

I have a 2019 and water is leaking into the trunk? II dont see anything leaking into the car. I am trying to determine where the leak is coming from? Can it be this or something else?..

[@paulharrington94]

@@drmccoy33 think that’s something else. Check seals around trunk opening or maybe if you have a spoiler could be from there

[@allimikej]

There are drains inboard of each taillight that get clogged . Pop the trunk , Loosen the top bumper bolts by the tail lights, lift up slightly on bumper cover and you’ll probably find debris in the small slots described previously inboard of the top of the tail lights. Clean the small gutter slots and that should do it .

[@lightning9279]

Would 18 inch rims fit the RF?

[@RS265cup]

they do

[@bobtista88]

Oof, I'm actually planning on getting one before the end of winter do you have to do this often?

[@Fyre0]

Maybe if you always park under trees or something? I've had mine since early 2020 and have had no problems with draining 👌

[@zealotscout]

@@Fyre0 Garage kept 100%? Also do you cover your miata at all? I heard Car covers (the soft thin ones) cause issues with the paint, be it so thin and all.

[@Fyre0]

​@@zealotscout Outdoor parked all day, every day, rain or shine (mostly shine, obvsly), no car covers because they will scratch the ffff out of your paint or vinyl wrap. Still no drainage issues 4 years down the road.

[@FireBlade57]

Thanks!

[@Polyrytmi]

it looks very doable, but I know when I will do it I will blow the whole car up by accident

[@paulharrington94]

Ahaha oh well, gotta start somewhere lol

[@joshhawkins8394]

the clips don’t go back in

[@CerealBoxGamingHD]

you also forgot the r in forgot. lol

[@paulharrington94]

Yeah I'm British sorry 🤦‍♂️😅

[@gatherstudio5219]

Think I will let the dealership service handle this

[@purewalk1]

My passenger foot well is damp and have constant condensation on the windows. My dealer wants over £500 to clear the drains. Not sure why after watching this video. I will have a look myself this week. Thx for the video.

[@kgaia]

​@@purewalk1hey man did you get the drains cleared? I've got a similar issue and want am intending to clean mine too to hopefully fix it! Would be good to know before I go ahead with the hassle.

[@purewalk1]

​@@kgaiayes I did clear mine. Found a video on how to remove the panels behind the seat and then pushed a flexible rod down the top of the drain. As soon as I did this a whole load of murky water gushed out the bottom. Had no problems since.

[@kgaia]

@@purewalk1 Nice one; did it take long? Can you recommend a brush to use? How did you get into access the drain easily, I can barely see the topside drain behind the roof mechanisims. Can't imagine getting my hand down there, I'm guessing you just got a big enough rod!

[@purewalk1]

​@@kgaiadid not take long. I followed the instructions to take panels off in the video up to 3:50. Did not bother taking black cap off. Just found a long flexible curtain rail and poked it down from the top hole and this cleared the muck out.

[@cathaytu7508]

How did you detach the orange part of the drain?