good morning everyone !!
left hood drain is still blocked as took it to the garage few days ago it rain yesterday and water come in again
so obviously they didn’t unblock it is the left one the right one is ok …
does anyone know please how long the wire should be when you put it in to the drain?
does it have to come all the way on the bottom of the car ?
is just a nightmare !! Is it difficult to unblock it?
I brought a hood drain cleaning brush from M%5 parts, think they are actually trombone brushes, they also had a handy link on where to find the drains & how to do it. Fiddly the first time, but easier when you get the knack of it.
Think the link has been on here at some stage too as I was delving into it when I brought our 5 a few months back.
I have used this type of cleaning brush on all my Mx5 its just the job and comes highly recommended as part of your detailing kit.
I am also interested…does the cleaning pipe have to go all the way through and out the bottom of the car.
? Isn’t there a gate down there that will provide some resistance, that you should push through?.
Can only comment on a mk1, where I use the flexible inside of a cable and yes I push it right through untill it hits the ground. The rubber trap door opens down wards. they are there to stop muck of the road going up the tubes and to stop road noise.
A length of flexible curtain wire can be used or as mentioned a trombone cleaner. Needs to be around 4ft or longer and is pushed through from above and out from under the car, not the other way as there are one way baffles/flaps in the drain tubes. It can be a bit of a faff to find the hole, you need the correct angle to start it off, it’s behind the seats and the hood needs to be slightly raised to gain access, see pics.
1st pic is the area you are looking at to find the hood drains, 2nd pic is the actual drain hole you need to clear and poke your wire/cleaner down, 3rd pic is the rainwater outlet under the car your rodding implement will emerge along with hopefully all of the muck that caused the blockage.
thanks Mal, and Mick, I did also just look on You Tube…
Hello all !!
Thank you very much for your replay"s you were all very helpful and the photos too !!
Car is going to the garage tomrw but I just attempted to do it my self with no luck !! Got from the music store this trombone brush !!
The blocked drain is on the left side when you put the brush into the hole which direction you push the brush to?
It can be a bit of a faff finding the correct entry point. If I remember correctly point it towards the front of the car, I could be wrong. Trial and error I’m afraid but you will get there in the end, I did.
Thank you so much !! Will try again !! ??
Spotted wet carpet under passenger seat couple of weeks ago. Spoke to local Mazda dealer and they wanted to strip the system down and clean out the pipes, and advised me that the cost would be approx £200. Decided to have a go myself. Bought a trombone cleaner from Amazon at £11 delivered and had a go yesterday. For 45 minutes I attempted to get the cleaner into the tube but to no avail. After uttering several expletives, I left it went indoors and had a coffee. Decided to have another go and Bingo! In it went at first attempt. pulled the cleaner through underneath the car and out came debris. Decided to clean the right side as well and got it at second attempt! As mentioned elsewhere, important to pull through from under the car as I understand there are valves in the tube to minimise road noise coming up into the cabin, and these may be damaged if the cleaner is pulled upwards towards the top. Of the car.
Gotta admit to a bit more of a DIY remedy. Fashioned a drain hole cleaner from a straightened out wire coat hanger - making sure I bent one end at 90 degrees a couple of times to get a handle to allow me to twist slightly on the way down.
I know we’re advised to use a flexible brush, but as the passenger seat and boot were flooded I thought I had nothing to lose. As soon as I found the hole & gingerly poked my DIY rod in (um, that is now sounding just a bit too weird ) once it hit the one way flap at the bottom ALL the water & crud came running out. Yeeuk.
I did read up a fair few warnings about not trying to force it through, so took my time and progressed VERY gently. Did worry when it would not go any further -only to find the coat hanger was hitting the road under the car - DOH.
I will buy a trombone brush once I’ve replaced the clutch, and the gearbox turret boots, replaced the snapped bolt holding the gearbox under tray on and repaired the seat…
Hello??am glad all good I did mine a few days ago
Mazda obviously didn’t unblocked the drains properly so I took the car to i independed dealer and he couldn’t find it
From the top as he was pushing the brush down so he put the car up on the rump and he put a camera inside so he saw me the drain
and the flap on the bottom so he put the brush together with the camera and he cleaned it perfectly it he brush came up on the top ,
I have to say though the trombone brush is ok but…the long cable is too soft I mean bending wise and if you don’t know the direction of the drain
is very difficult to find it that’s why the dealer put it through from underneath the car .
??
I seem to remember reading that it must be done from the top due to the
one way flap other wise it could be damaged it as it should only operate one way ?
When we first got our MX5 a local garage showed us how to clear the drain holes using a piece of plastic strip. Sure enough one side (the rusty side!!) deposited muck and water on the floor. We then bought ourselves a length of plastic coated curtain wire and about a week later (a week during which it had rained) I tried it myself and once again the same side deposited more muck and water on the floor. I suspect if it is badly blocked it needs a couple of attempts to flush all the muck out so I used a jug to carefully pour water down the drain hole whilst jiggling the curtain wire up and down until the water came out clear. The drain holes have never blocked since. We subsequently got ourselves a trombone cleaning brush from MX5 Parts and did the job properly. For our Mk2.5 a 2m length of curtain wire was sufficient. Be gentle and only ever go in at the top and pull the wire out at the bottom.
I do find it odd that some days I can get the wire to go down straight away and other days I have to give up in frustration.
Checked the Drain holes on my 51 plate and they were well and truly blocked.
local branch of Poundland in Hardware section had flexi wire brush drain unblocker .Just the right size and cleared them out brilliantly.
Chris.
Hello that’s very good ??however I have to say I find it difficult to find the tunnel route when I pushed the brush so I used a camera (wire) and drains now
Are clen too!!??
I’ve bought a trombone brush and tried for an hour today to clean the drain on my Mk3 with no joy - couldn’t find the drain hole to save my life ! Is there a simple way of finding the drain hole - is there a specific angle to hold the brush ?
Absolutely nightmare was for me too it was as well!!
So I took it to the garage the guy couldn’t as well so …
He put the car up the rump and push the brush carefully from the hole underneath the car slowly without damaging
The flap and was good !! Brush just followed the tunel route . Hope this helps ??