I was going to clear my roof drain tubes out this weekend because, when I washed the roof, I could see water dripping out of the botom of the sills, which I believe is normal (although I intend to drill a couple of holes in them as the water appeared to be coming out along the bottom seams indescriminently rather than a single point). I quickly looked for the rubber drain pipe which I belive is is somewhere in the rear wheel arch, to see if it was also draining from there, but I couldnt see one on either side. Admittedly, I didnt remove the wheels.
Can anyone tell me EXACTLY where these drain tubes are ?.
I have seen a couple of photos on the site but I’m not sure where I should be looking.
I then asked myself - why doesnt the water run straight from the rain rail, down the tubes and out from the wheel arch, rather than being directed into the sills which invariably causes rust issues ?. It seems a strange piece of engineering.
It should be running down the drain tubes and not through the sills,sounds like the drain tubes have come away from the trays???or they are blocked and water is finding another way out?
I’ve a Mk1, so not sure if it’s the same set up, but my drain holes are either end of the rain rail, which are just behind the seat belt mounting points. If you follow the route of the rain rail round. it terminates in a small plastic collection tray from which the water drains directly downwards through a small diameter tube to the underside of the car.
I wouldn’t have thought rainwater should be routed through the sill as a matter of course. The drain holes in the seam of the sill are there to drain out any water the happens to find its way in.
That’s my take on it, for a Mk1. I make sure the drain holes in the sills and drain pipe from the rain rail are kept clear. I’m sure I’ll be corrected if not quite right, or not relevant for your Mk2. Ray.
Thanks for that, but where exactly should I be looking to to get to the bottom of the drain tube so that I can have a poke around to see if it is blocked. I’ve located the top tray ok but can’t see where the drain tube exits the car.
You should be rodding from the top down to clean them out at the tray, not from the bottom up, if you jack the roadster up and support her on a axle stand and there is no need to take the wheel off, feel for the jacking point on the sill and there is two cut outs where the sill drainage holes should be?, put your hand on the one closest to the rear and move your hand under the roadster and you should feel the bottom of the drainage tube coming out from the bottom of the roadster.
The manual whip mast is by far the best tool for the job
I check the top of the drain tube on a regular basis having previously found a squash ball blocking one side and a ball of moss and other debris blocking the other (both present when I bought the car). I have also found that the fasteners holding the deck carpet in place are a perfect fit to block the tube if one comes adrift. Anyway having checked the top I gently put a hosepipe part way down the tube and let a small flow of water go down and was very pleased to see the same flow coming out below the car. I still don’t know exactly where the exit is but I now know it’s clear so that’s good enough for me.
At the bottom of the drain tubes is a small one-way flap to allow water to drain down and out of it, but stop road noise and anything else coming back up into the car. Just be careful when ‘poking around’ so as not to damage the flaps.
…just to add this in the unlikely event that anyone is as moronic as me(!):
It took me about 10mins to work out that the roof needed to be up to locate the drain hole - then i had to fiddle around with a flexible rod to push it down the hole. Having a fixed glass rear window doesn’t help, i guess if you have a removable plastic one then this would be the easiest route in
I have a 2003 Nevada and after reading this thread went and checked my drain holes, just as well as the one on the driver’s side was blocked and full of water. Easy to get at with roof down so tried to push a flexible wire down (used a piece of coaxial tv cable), it went about 30cm before stopping and, having read that much pain follows if you force it and disconnect the tube inside, pushed upwards from underneath the car. The end of drain was very easy to find, no need to jack up the car at all, just reach past the sill about 10 cm forward of the rear wheel arch in line with rearmost sill drain hole and there it was. This cleared blockage easily, couldn’t find any ‘flap’ at end of either drain tube, maybe a previous owner had taken them off. Anyway thanks to this thread and similar others I was able to idendify and solve the problem.
You should not rod the drains on a Mk3. There are 2 flaps installed in the drain tube. One in the upper part and one in the lower. If you rod them out you can lock the flaps open against the plastic pegs which locate them, and then you get terrible road noise in the cabin when the hood is up. I had to replace the drain on one side because of this, and it’s not a simple job.
