Hey all.
Newbie on the forums here.
Had my 2008 1.8 a couple of years. Been great.
It is now a swimming pool.
I understand it’s the drains. I see them full of water. I’ve bought pipe cleaners and watched videos. I obviously have poor hand eye coordination.
Anyone in south london (brixton) who can show me how to poke em. Alternatively recommend a good mx5 garage who will not take the piss?
Thanks in advance.
John.
I had exactly the same problem and spent ages trying to get the crud out.
Eventually I found a great vid on youtube and did the full job in about half an hour.
Move the seat forward, pull up the door surround trim and remove the clips that hold the plastic panel behind the seat. (the panel doesnt need to be removed just eased forwards.
You’ll see the seat belt mechanism in a plastic housing. Carefully remove the seat belt housing and plastic housing and you will see the drain tube in the exposed cavity. Carefully pull it out and clean it on the bench.
Putting it back is pretty obvious too.
The amount of crud was amazing, see if you can find my post on this from a week or two ago.
The video grumpy2 used I believe:
thats the one - cheers
I recognize that chap in the video, some other interesting stuff here including that video.
Just click on the menu and scroll down to the blog, all there.
If getting it in is the problem (ooo er), then like a teenager, you might just be doing it all wrong.
Rather than going in at the 45 degree angle, like everyone would suggest, it’s possible to get at it going striaght down.
However, since the new forum, I can’t find my original post.
I eventually found my original post, but the images have gone, so here goes.
Grab a torch.
With the roof down (no need to support it), look at the plastic bed that the roof sits in.
Between the plastic bed and the bulkhead (where the roll bars are), theres a small gap. (maybe about 5mm)
Shine a torch in this gap, and you’ll just about spot the drain hole.
Going in to the drain hole, between this gap, is much easier than trying to get in at the 45 degree angle that everyone talks about.
Hey all.
Thanks for all the advice. I called the guys in Sussex who did the video and they wouldn’t be able to do the work for at least a week.
Bit the bullet and followed the video. Had images of toaster taken apart aged 10 - bits everywhere and no way to put it back together… thought oh god I’m going to mess up the seatbelts and then have to go all embarrassed, head hanging to a garage.
But. Success!!!
All done. Took 90 minutes on first side - then about 20 on the second. Trees growing in the drains. No wonder my car was filled with water.
Very happy 
Brill, well done.
Best thing to do now is take out the seats, centre console and all the carpets to dry it out. Totally impractical so don’t. If it is garaged then leave it with the windows open for a while. If it’s on the drive then leave the windows very slightly open. You’ve probably already noticed huge amounts of condensation on the inside, it will pass. The more ventilation the better.
Thanks.
Gonna drive it roof off, heaters on full every opportunity I can for the next few weeks 
Good plan. Make sure you keep a nice absorbent cloth in the car for wiping the windows off in the meantime though. If the carpets are soaking lay some old towels on them in the foot well and behind the seats overnight. They will have soaked quite a lot up by morning.
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
Is that not standard operating procedure?