Hi
I have a 2005 MX5 NC with a convertible roof which seems to have gone porous. Not sure if this can happen, certainly no visible holes in it. Is it possible the hood has become porous? The water has come through sufficient to soak the gearbox tunnel just behind the electric window switches. I take it that the only fix will be a new hood which might not be a bad thing as the piping around the doorways is all cracking and also leaks as well occasionally.
I suggest its condensation. We have had some odd weather with some very low temps then some quite warm for the time of year perfect for upsetting the micro climate in the car and enabling water droplets to condensate on the underside of a hood. Dry it out, give the car a good warm up and make sure its dried out inside properly and assuming its perhaps not getting a lot of use stick a dehumidifier of some sort in there to help keep the moisture level in the air down.
It is possible that heavy raindrops will punch some water through tired cloth, so you may have water that has splashed in to the car rather than leaking in.
When it warms up clean the cloth gently, dry out thoroughly and treat with fabsil gold - this should stop this problem for a couple of years before re-treatment required.
Cloth hoods can generally be restored effectively until the stitching lets go in a big way.
+1 for Fabsil.
I had exactly this problem when I bought my Mk3, 3 years ago. When I picked it up it had sat with a couple of inches of snow on top and the roof was wet inside from the condensation caused by the snow and damp inside from blocked roof drains.
When I got it home dried it all on the next breezy, dry day. Then cleaned the roof drains and reproofed with Autoglym. Looked like there was also some mould inside the roof so cleaned that off with weak milton solution. Never any problems since.
The cloth roofs have a rubber layer, and I suppose this rots after a while, and becomes porous. Fabsil and other treatments are probably Geritol fixes, but I suppose the binding gives out long before the rubber membrane gives up the ghost.
+1 for Fabsil Gold. Remedied the same problem for me after I bought mine. Circa 1 year in, it is still holding water off quite comfortably.
me too.i have a 2007 mk3.different temperatures can produce droplets as in your picture.rain doesn’t ingress it’s condensation.
If it is condensation, which seems likely to me, then first job is to check for water ingress.
Then if the problem remains the only things that will reduce it are heat, ventilation, dehumidification or insulation.
The first two are impractical, but I would put some silica gel bags in and/or use a half cover - the heavier kind will provide better insulation, the thin silvered material probably won’t help as much and in my experience the chinstrap-fastened ones either blow away or tear in high winds.
If there are any leaks a cover would help with that too. The vinyl roof on my Mk2 was waterproof, but occasionally the wind would drive rain past the door seals when it was just in the wrong direction.
It is condensation.
I use one these Pingi dehumidifier bags in my NC. Does the job perfectly and only needs to be recharged every couple of weeks (6 mins in the microwave).
My car is kept inside a garage so generally not so much moisture in the air but I also used a bag in my NB when it was kept on the drive for a few months over winter. Never had a condensation problem.
I remember buying my Mk2 RS import in winter, it was snowing when I arrived in the North East area to view the car. The owner apologised for leaving the car out in the wet/snow when I arrived, he lost his garage space hence the reason he was selling. The hood was in a right mess minging inside with damp and mould, it made the whole car steam up when I took it for a test drive.
Anyway undeterred I saw through all that and bought the car, it was a good one apart from the hood needing some TLC. A bit of cleaning up and drying in a warm garage the hood looked good again, I then treated it with some Autoglym hood care (it was a factory fitted vinyl hood) and it never leaked again.
I later sold the hood, it was still in good nick and bought a mohair hood which seemed a good deal at the time, that has never given any problems as I have kept it clean and regular treatments of Autoglym appropriate to the mohair finish.
Hi, I was suffering bad condensation on my mk1, literally dripping off the inside of the roof, anyway got one of these dehumidifiers from B&Q a couple of weeks ago and after one week the unit had a good half inch of water in its container and no misting/condensation. For £10 its probably the best thing I’ve bought for the car!
+1 for these, I have one inside the car and one in the boot.
I wonder how Blackheart got on?
Drowned inside his car apparently.
If only he’d just opened a door.
Shame.
