ND RF Roof Leaking

[StormyBA]

1. My model of MX-5 is: ND
2. I’m based near: Sussex

As I was driving into work today I noticed water dripping onto my hand / legs from the line where the hard top meets the windscreen.

The car was totally frozen over this morning and had a full layer of ice across the exterior - that meeting point of the hard top / windscreen was full of ice.

I’d not noticed it during rainy times over the last couple of months of owning the car and I’ve not yet got into the car to find any wet patches.

How common is a leak in this area? Is there anything I need to do to repair it?

[MickAP]

There’s a good deal of things that don’t work very well in these freezing conditions I guess the seals around the folding tops hard or soft are one of them. Give them all a good clean and treat with a rubber solution when thawed out and dry. Never operate the top when frozen either, you’ll probably do damage to the seals.

[Wardy5]

Hopefully it’s a one-off, due to a combination of factors as Mick says.

Once the temps have recovered a little, clean and dry all the seals off. I’d do your door seals as well, while you’re there.

Get some seal lubricant (gummi-pflege) e.g. WOL Seal Lubricant - 21926 Rubber Care Tyre Door Window Boot Rubber Seals 75ml - Rubber Treatment Stick - Deep Cleaning Car Tires and Rubber Mats (1) : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive which allows the seals to remain more supple. Recommended for any rubber seal on any car really - makes a noticeable difference when the weather’s like this

A few other mentions of it here, in a few other threads if you want a bit of context:

Opening doors when car is covered in ice

As said already by Philip, all you need is some Gummi-Pflege and and apply to the door/window rubbers. With the product applied they’ll remain supple. I’ve also used it in Alpine and Canadian winters with no issue. e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liqui-Moly-7182-Rubber-Care-75-ml/dp/B00CSYM1K8 I’ve used this on cars for nearly 30yrs, when I saw this exact issue with an E36 BMW 3-Series which had frameless doors. Before using this product I’d need to keep a small metal ruler on-hand to run around…

The window drop in this weather

I’ve used NextZett’s ‘gummi pflege’ (German for rubber care) product for at least the last 10 years: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nextzett-Gummi-Pflege-Rubber-POSTAGE/dp/B01KXM5VCG (other suppliers are obviously available) The likes of Liqui Moli and Sonax also offer similarly named products. I can’t speak for those, as I’m sure they all have slightly different ‘recipes’. I apply it every autumn ahead of the cold snaps, so a small container lasts a long time! And that’s for all cars, not just tho…

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers,
Steve

[Mad_Malc]

It could be just trapped condensation.

[Chris_H72]

This happened on my RF today too.

I had an early start and the car was completely frozen over having not really been used over the Christmas period. On my way home from work the sun was in my eyes and as I flipped the visor down there was water dripping from it. I could feel it was coming from the roof top seal just above the drivers side Sun visor.

It’s rained very heavily since so it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like tomorrow. As others have said the plan is to wait for a nicer day and give it all a damn good clean. I’ll treat all the seals too and see how that goes. Not too worried at the moment.

[Chris_H72]

All dry this morning despite heavy rain.

I’m going to put it down to condensation but it’s a good reminder to get the seals cleaned.