Mk3 Electric hard folding roof saver

Technical Area Body, Interior & Styling
2

So, you get in the car, it’s chucking it down with rain and you have a passenger for company. You have your laptop bag on your knee, you should put it in the boot but it’s bucketing down, so you pop it in the roof void behind the seats, with the weather being awful, its not like you are going to put the roof down is it?

A few miles down the road, it stops raining and eventually the sun starts to peep from behind the clouds. You pull over, reach for the roof latch release button & the roof starts it’s downward journey. You smile, it’s going to be a good drive after all.

The roof is halfway down and you hear the manic beeping of the roof system. Suddenly, you remember the laptop bag & feel a sinking feeling in your stomach…

Yes, it happened to me. You can read about it elsewhere on this forum & the difficulty I had finding someone to repair the resulting damage.

Anyway, it started me thinking about a way of avoiding a similar situation ever happening again. Yes, I know, a golden rule of never putting anything in the roof void would work but what if the boot is full & your passenger is surrounded by road trip essentials?

Simple is best is a good rule. I have read about people who put a piece of adhesive tape across the release button which would work but only for so long & you end up with a sticky mess. It’s not a very elegant solution either.

I think I may have come up with a solution which looks ok, the bits are readily available on Ebay, it’s simple & most importantly should cost no more  than a fiver.

As soon as I get some spare time, I will post some more information and hopefully pictures or a video. Watch this space!

 

 

 

3

Eagerly awaiting the next instalment 

Barrie

4

Something along the lines of this?  Search for Race-Rally-Flip-Up-Aircraft-Style-Electrical-Toggle-Switch-Guard

5

Similar principle, but I wouldn’t want to screw anything into the interior panels which this particular solution would require. My proposed solution should leave no permanent mark.

The critical element is the front latch. If the release button cannot be activated, the latch cannot be undone, therefore the ‘roof down’ operation cannot be activated which should prevent damage to the mechanism (hopefully).

6

Similar principle but I wouldn’t want to screw anything into the panels. My solution shouldn’t leave a permanent mark

7

Keep a note in the car which says “Item In Roof Void”, with pieces of Blu-Tak on the back.  If you then put something in the roof storage area, stick this note on to the smooth part of the dash fascia, to the left hand side of the centre console i.e. adjacent to the roof operation buttons.

Job done!

8

 

Yes, a good idea, providing you remember to affix said note at the critical time.

9

OK, I hope no-one is expecting too much on this.

First, attach some self-adhesive Velcro strip or dots (loop side) to the rear bulkhead between the seats. You could use a full strip but I think this might make it more difficult to remove the cable tidy:

 

Attach a re-useable cable tidy to the Velcro strips on the bulkhead. I decided to add a warning triangle for extra security.

The reason for ‘storing’ it here is that if you put an item in the roof void behind the seats, you have an instant reminder.

 

Next, attach self-adhesive Velcro strip or dots (loop side) to the latch mechanism:

 

 Remove the cable tidy from the bulkhead & attach to the Velcro loop strips on the latch mechanism:

So the idea is that if you place an item in the roof void behind the seats, you immediately remove the cable tidy from the bulkhead & attach it to the latch mechanism.

The Velcro cable tidy and warning should stop anyone from pressing the release button & releasing the latch mechanism on auto-pilot (I accept no responsibility if anyone does). If the latch mechanism remains locked, the roof-down switch will not operate.

I decided on Velcro because it can be attached & removed from the car panels without damage & is strong enough for the intended purpose

For the warning triangle with the exclamation mark I simply printed the image from the internet onto photo paper & attached it with double-sided adhesive tape to a thin piece of plastic from  the lid of a yoghurt container, but card would also work ok as it shouldn’t be exposed to the elements.

  

I chose a warning exclamation mark, but you  can of course use any image you wish such as a stop sign, your mother-in-law, ex-wife or husband, Donald Trump etc. etc. 

I haven’t tested the hanging warning sign whilst driving with the top down yet, (positioned on the bulkhead) but if the wind makes it flap about too much a piece of blu-tac or Velcro should hold it in place).

I reckon the velcro cable tidy would work on its own but I think the hanging warning sign provides extra peace of mind.

Hope you are not disappointed by my idea if you were expecting something space-age & technological but I always think simple is best!

 

10

Wouldn’t it be easier to never, ever put anything in that space then you don’t have a problem. In 5 yrs of ownership I’ve never had the urge to use it in this way for the very reason you’ve experienced and I’ve only got the soft top.

11

Absolutely! Make it a golden rule, never to be broken - no problem.

Until…….

 

Certainly not a problem using the car day to day. We were on a European touring holiday & therefore the car was stuffed already. We had to carry some shopping for our evening meal & had little option but to use the roof void (it was raining & the roof was up).

12

I have to aggree with above statement - it was never designed as a storage space on the PRHT and with such an expence to repair why would you… I have never ever thoght of storing things there even with the car stuffed to the gills.

13

I agree, that is the sensible approach.

Perhaps Mazda could have incorporated a parcel shelf that hides the void and only pivots down when the roof is going down, although I accept this would add to complexity, cost & weight.

Car electric windows stop automatically when an obstruction is sensed (such as a hand or arm) before any damage occurs, such a sensor could also be incorporated in the roof mechanism as well I would have thought.

Both options are well beyond my technical abilities however.

14

If you can’t remember you’ve put something in the back how can you be sure you’ve remembered to remove or attach the velcro 

15

Having the big mesh windbreak prevented SWMBO from putting shopping/tennis-bag in there when we first bought the car.  However I took out the mesh and went back to the standard folding one because I needed better rear visibility, and also to be able to clean the inside of the window occasionally!

For a short while we had a small red dayglo sticker on the button up there, after she had filled the very useful “empty” space with last minute self-catering provisions on a trip to the Lake District a few years ago, and then wanted the roof down to enjoy the sunshine.  Fortunately I was driving and somehow managed to tactfully ask if she wanted the roof down was she then prepared to have all the shopping around her legs and on her lap for the next half hour.  The roof stayed up, just as well because it rained shortly after when going over Kirkstone (it was the Lakes, after all).

The dayglo sticker fell off within mere months and I’ve never bothered to fit another. 

16

See photo 2 on my post yesterday

17

 

No I understand, but what if your side tracked for a moment and then forget to do your velcro or someone puts something down the back and doesn’t know your system.Best bet is alaways have a look if your not sure, know it’s rubbish having to do that, but that way you know for sure.  

18

Fair question. I think that after our experience, we would be unlikely to forget again. Also, the only time the car is likely to be so jampacked it will be wife & I on a trip & wifey is definitely aware as she was also present.

I do accept it isn’t foolproof (not when this old fool is involved anyway) so, after reading several threads I have decided to invest in a clear wind deflector  which, apart from stopping the cold draughts around the back of my head & neck should also have the secondary (but perhaps more important) function of effectively closing off the roof void when the roof is up, thus preventing the temptation to use the space for storage of any items.

 

19

I’m that foolish I didn’t realise I had the void behind me for about 4 months until someone put on this site about damaging the roof while closing with something in the back.

     

20

Not foolish, just blissfully unaware!