Hi all,
I am aware that there was a problem with early Mk4’s were the front (leading) edge of the soft top caught the back of the head restraint roll bar.
We have (just) brought a new mk4 soft top and I have just noticed that the front of the soft top is extremely close / almost touching the back of the “roll bar”? (I would struggle to get a piece of paper between the two with the roof down).
Is this normal?..any idea what the “fix” was to correct this?
Many thanks…
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The fix :-
Mazda fitted some spacer washers somewhere to increase the gap.
Whether this was put in to production or kept as a TSB I don’t know.
I’m sure someone will know the answer though.
Mazda replaced quite a number of hoods and hoop covers where rubbing had caused damage.
Somebody pointed out to me that my car had rub marks on the hoops but TBH I can’t see them at all, and I’d rather avoid having the thing taken to bits if I can. I open the hood properly (push rear window down, pull back on hood, press down at rear) and when folded it sits 6-10mm from the hoops.
I usually close it from inside the car - I’m confident of doing that without causing contact. Â
Its still happening on brand new cars, Mazda have clearly done nothing to avoid the problem. There is a TSB in effect for it, having had the work done my car now has a good solid 1cm of clearance each and every time I lower the roof (which I only tend to do from inside the car!)
Easy - follow the User Manual instructions and open the roof from outside the car. You will never have an issue.
See page 3-35 / 3-36 of the manual (UK edition).
Folding this way, I have 3 to 4 mm of clear space when folded and latched.
If you are very worried, then there is a simple modification of filing the edge of the roll bar hoop which would allow more room, especially if you are going to open the roof from inside the car and latching without pressing the rear of the roof down with your hand.
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=683805
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Totally agree, best advice!
The manual might stste to open the roof from outside of the car, but wasn’t it originally sold with the concept of opening and closing from within and single handedly.
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Were the instrcutions in the manual added as an after thought fix to the problem maybe ???
If the official line is to get out and open from outside, then this is a real backwards step, and a dissapointing one at that.
I believe earlier manuals also say to open the roof from the outside, I do not have a copy but was told that this was the case by another owner.
When I went to the launch event many moons ago they made a specfic big deal about opening and closing the roof from the inside.
However, I also have never seen any other instructions other than open from the outside.
…but even doing that over time the roof stiffens and rides up so you have to just make sure you are clearing the hoops visually. I know some have added tape or similar to protect. Â
I only had 1 of my 2 NDs done and it took 5 days for them to put the spacers in!
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Mine was one of the first, August 2015 registration, and its handbook published June 2015 (print 1) says that the soft top should be opened and closed from outside the car. I think that doing it from inside the car was a sales ploy used by the Mazda demonstrators and dealers, it certainly wasn’t advocated in the handbook.
My brand new ND2 delivered at the end of April had the hood touching the hoop garnish (what they call them…). Having had the ND1 have the spacers fitted I made it a condition of sale that if it arrived at the dealer like that I would not accept the car.
The dealer had the TSB fix applied, there was some resistance from Mazda UK as their perspective was that they would only accept a customer complaint post delivery, the dealer had to explain I had complained before delivery before they would authorise the TSB.
The stand outside and drop the hood does not work in all cases, I have seen a number of cars where this doesn’t work and you end up with rubbing damage.
There is no mention of “dropping the hood”, the handbook says :-
"6. Standing outside of the vehicle, hold the convertible top along the front edge and pull it toward the vehicle rear.
7. Move the convertible top rearward and fold it while pressing the rear glass lightly with your hand.
8. With the back end of the convertible top pressed, press the front end until a latch sound is heard."
I’ve always lowered and raised my ND’s soft top “by the book” and never had any problems and it’s retained a gap of 5mm from purchase to today! And I shall continue to go “by the book” with my 30AE.
It’s a generic term Roger
Whoops! Sorry Ian, thought you meant it literally, I should’ve known better.
Only lowering the roof from outside the car is total bollocks and not an option I would accept, the roof is clearly designed to be lowered and raised from inside the car and I personally find it totally unacceptable to not be able to do that.Â
I couldn’t do that with mine reliably anyway - it often needs the rear window pushing down, more so when it hasn’t been used for a week or two. So if I did try to lower it from the driving seat at the traffic lights, there be a good chance I would have to jump out to finish the job. The fact that I can, and do, close it from the driving seat is however very useful - e.g. when it starts raining.
Hi all, and thanks for all the feedback. Just to confirm, since we have had the car (a mere 4 weeks!), we have only ever opened the roof from outside. Lots of good links with some good “fixes”. Just amazes me that car makers are always pushing their suppliers for “continual improvement”, but happy to not fix this minor problem after 3 yeaers in production! I like the idea of removing a bit from the rear plastic cover, (assuming I can find out how to get it off!, just annoyed to think I may end up having to do this on a new car! (I will see what the dealer recommends first).
Again many thanks to all for the replies…
There is a TSB in place for this problem, I wouldn’t contemplate any other fix, especially not filing down the hoop garnish.
Mazda Cambridge says there is no longer a TSB and each case will be handled as it occurs. IF this is true then they may respond with “you haven’t been operating the roof properly” and try and avoid a warranty claim. Maybe?  Who knows. I don’t want to be the first to know and have to pay for a new roof.Â