New NC owner worrying about leaks

Technical Area Body, Interior & Styling
1
  1. My model of MX-5 is: NC 3.5 PHRT
  2. I’m based near: Bristol
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on:

Hey everyone, I am the happy new owner of a 2009 PRHT 2.0 MX-5. The car has been garaged for the past 5 years - unfortunately it lives in my parking space where it succumbs to the elements, and we’ve just had our first decent rainfall. I went out to do a leak check. Unfortunately my passenger carpet was fairly wet. Not absolutely soaked but some water collected in the bottom left corner.

I’m fairly certain its dripping from the seal between the top of the window and the roof. With the door open there is water collecting along the bottom of the seal (not the same on the driver’s side - its bone dry). Also my mats are rubber on top and water is collecting on the surface suggesting drips from above.

I’ve done some reading and it seems people just recommend cleaning the seals? Is there anything else I should do? I’ve checked parts and it seems MX-5 parts do a replacement seal assembly for a cool 400 quid which I’d rather avoid.

Any help greatly appreciated!

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2

You could adjust the latch to clamp the seal tighter if it is that seal.

More common is a leak from the wiper scuttle gromets.

3

As above , scuttle grommets.First port of call.

Check your fuse box metal work in passenger footwell for rust , water , if either is evident… scuttle grommets

4

Thank you so much for your reply! I actually thought to myself on Sunday there seems to be a crazy amount of wind noise with the roof up and after watching a couple of YT videos it seems this is a culprit for unwanted wind noise too. I also realised that being able to shut the clamp with my pinkie (just to show how easy it was) is probably not a good sign.

So been out in the dark with my phone as a torch and managed to get it done. Went 4 turns clockwise and now it feels like a nice tight seal and takes a bit of effort to clamp shut.

Two follow up questions if you don’t mind - I didn’t have the right set of pliers to get the circlip off so that’s been lost to the interior somewhere. Could you tell me what size I need? Also where does the spring attach on the other side (i.e roof side) I accidentally popped it off. Might be more obvious in the daylight.

Thanks again

5

I will check but this car has spent the majority of its life in a garage so hasn’t seen much rain as far as I know.

6

See if this helps
https://www.miata.net/garage/latch_adjust.html

7

Thanks, I did the latch adjustment earlier this week and today did the windscreen cowl leak repair. Driver’s side was old and very loose, passenger side was gunked up with silicone and no gasket! So hopefully with replacement parts and a bit of silicone to help that will be the end of it.

Thanks for all the replies & help.