The usual cause of this problem on the MK3 is the front scuttle grommets. You mention resealing the scuttle - have they replaced/resealed the grommets?
Other possibility is the front seal on the softtop if you have one.
In your position I would strategically place tissues to try and identify the source or at least narrow it down a bit.
I’ll ask the garage on Monday if they have replaced and resealed the grommets, as they still have my MX5, hopefully being a big Mazda dealership they have. My car has now been in the garage on and off for about 3-4 weeks over the past couple on months, but every time after I get it back and park the car on our sloped drive,after heavy rain the pool of water is there again!
If the NC is parked facing uphill, or level but on a camber to the right, there will be a pool of water collected around the grommet on the passenger side. OK if parked facing downhill or level or with camber to the left, AND with scuttle drains clear. See this recent thread.
In the Forum’s DOWNLOADS section is an illustrated PDF that shows how to fix it. Go to ‘Technical’, then ‘Soft Top Hardtop How to Guides,’ and look for ‘Water Ingress’ in the ‘Body, Interior, Styling’ subsection.
Try to park her the other way around on the incline to see if the slope is a factor. A small car cover that just covers the roof may also help. Check the seal around the doors. If all else fails perhaps the garage can do a smoke test where a smoke generator is placed inside the car to show any leaks.
Many Thanks for the recent replies, most helpful I’ll pass all this information on to the garage that
has my car.
Please Richard FX, I’ve tried to download the PDF file in the Downloads section and it states
I don’t have permission to download? Is there a way please of getting a copy of this PDF?
Any signs of water entry from the window seals/header rail?
These can drip drip on to a certain area if parked at an angle otherwise it will dribble down the window or drip on to the seat etc.
As suggested above the favourite place for a drip is the passenger footwell and it’s nearly always the front screen grommets. I’m suprised the dealers workshop hasn’t solved this problem.
I also have a 2011 MX5 Mk3, and am having the same problems as you. When parking the car on the road the camber is such that it slopes towards the nearside, and with the recent very heavy rain I have just found the mat behind the passenger seat damp. This is the first time since the snow last year. Then I followed some advice on the Forum and bought a trombone cleaning brush and managed to pass it down the nearside drain hole (nothing was blocked!) on what might be called the parcel shelf. I followed the advice not to pull it up and down, and pushed it one way only towards the base of the car. This is so that the one-way valves are not damaged. Like you I have been to a garage with an experienced Mazda mechanic who told me that there is modified piping available , but that in his experience it would not make an iota of difference. Whenever I can I park it on my level drive, I do not seem to have experienced the water ingress problems, however this wetness appeared when parked on road during horrendous rain. My opinion is that the drain on the nearside cannot possibly take such downpours, and that to have any chance of dispersing such rain the car needs to be on flat level ground when the water is equally distributed between the near/offside two drain holes. The number of incidences posted on this forum leads me to believe that there is a design fault to which there are no answers. Perhaps someone should take Mazda to task on what seems an ongoing insoluble problem!!
I have contacted the Mazda dealership this morning who currently have my vehicle and they have already replaced
and sealed the scuttle grommets, and still the car has the leak.
I’ve ask whether they can get some advice from Mazda technical department.
As mentioned before the car has now been in the Mazda dealership on 4 or 5 occasions regarding this issue,
they have had my car for over a week this time, but they have provided me with a new MX5 as a courtesy car.
Very interesting point. Perhaps the raised lip of the plastic panel could not be high enough to allow the water to discharge quickly enough before it overflows. If so it could be build up to stop water flowing over it. If some white powder ie talc was placed over the lip the theory could be tested to see if this was the case.
In regards to rain entering behind passenger seat on my 2011 NC MX5 thought I’d update you. After some horrendous recent rain mat behind nearside seat was wet. Started putting car on level garage drive, and after rain today (15/12/18) it has remained dry. I am convinced that the drains are not designed to take the sheer volume of rain when the heavens literally open!! Therefore, it is my opinion that the drain pipes that take rain from rear sides of roof would have to be at least double their current size. So I would be very interested to know what Mazda would say to what I would again claim is a design fault. Perhaps they should have caveat in the drivers handbook warning not to park on inclines/sloping roads during heavy etc!!
The leak on my MX5 is in the front part of the passenger foot well, where the car mats anchor to the floor carpet.
The Mazda garage still have my car and have found a small leak from the passenger bulk head, and are still trying to resolve the leak, I’m not 100% convinced that this is causing the leak!
I’d still agree in what your saying about the car being on a slope and the heavy rain water having no where to go!
Having said that there must be hundreds of MX5s parked on inclines are
these all leaking water in I wonder?
I’ll keep you up to date what my Mazda garage have to say,
but in the end I’m losing a bit of confidence in them, especially as they have had my car probably on and off for 4 weeks now and it’s still pooling water in!
The Mazda garage still have my MX5 for the passenger foot well leak, that’s about 2 weeks now they have
had the car.
I would like to post an image of the area where the leak is, but I’m finding it difficult to do so,
I’ve followed the help menu on the subject, used two different browsers, could someone please assist me on
how to attach an image?
I upload to http://tinypic.com/ Then I copy and paste the link to the reply page. Then highlight the link then click on the chain link when it changes then paste again in the box that springs up
