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Posted: **Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:35 pm**

Thats a good idea mate!

Posted: **Sat May 25, 2013 11:01 pm**

The PDF won't load for me. Can anyone upload it?

Posted: **Sat May 25, 2013 11:03 pm**

Danderton wrote:The PDF won't load for me. Can anyone upload it?

http://www.shipkiller.com/Softtop_Main.html

Posted: **Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:30 pm**

Thought I would have a go at the Q&D method from Trex's post. Started on the right hand side and found the hole and started to clean it out using some rods meant for pushing cable through tight spaces, but I met resistance pretty quickly.

They are 6mm wide at the joins so before trying to push too hard, how wide is the hole. It sounds like 8mm but I am not sure if there is some sort off inner rubber tube that may be blocking things? Or do I just have loads of gunk.....

Posted: **Mon Jun 03, 2013 3:53 pm**

SteveD wrote: I am not sure if there is some sort off inner rubber tube that may be blocking things?

Are you going in from the top or bottom? There is some sort of sleeve restricting the tube near the top when approached from the bottom. It can take several pokes to get past it, which is why in part the bottle brush idea is great. The bristles help keep the wire from snagging on the restriction. From the top I would think what you see is what you get. You can just barely make it out on the right side with a torch, the left is completely hidden.

Posted: **Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:13 pm**

Thanks for info. That was from the top. I thought I would see how clogged the right hand side was before looking at the left - but I was afraid to push too hard. I shall see if we have a bottle brush

This is all too little too late anyway as my roof motor has gone. I will be attempting to replace that in the next few weeks so I guess I will get to the left hand side then.

Posted: **Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:36 pm**

I don't think there is much you can damage from the top short of using a hammer and rod. Whilst you have the roof off giving good access to the top of the drain tube, perhaps you could investigate a bit about the nature of this constriction and it's actual size? Such info would be of interest to me and other's as well I should think.

Posted: **Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:55 pm**

I'll will have a look when I do the work. Haven't ordered roof motor yet so it might be manual roof for a while yet.

Posted: **Mon Jun 17, 2013 9:08 am**

OK. I have had a look at this.

This is the space for hydraulic motor

And this is a closer pic of the actual drainage hole

As you can see, there is a lot of crap in the general area. The hole itself was about 15mm at the top - but mine looked like someone may have drilled it out in the past. There seemed to be some tubing or something else about 60 or 70mm below the hole. The problem seems to be the residue when dirty water gets in. When that builds up the hole will get blocked. It drained away fairly quickly when I poured water in, but the residue remained. My motor was also loose from its mounting and that may well have blocked up the hole a bit slowing drainage.

When you pour in a lot of water, the well fills and drains away - quite quickly, but not immediately even when completely clear.

The right hand side hole is in a similar smaller well, but the hole is also smaller. Not such a problem if that drain clogs up but mine looked pretty clean at that side.

Posted: **Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:20 pm**

Thanks for posting this information!

Posted: **Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:54 pm**

As I was putting my roof back on I noticed that you can access the well from inside the boot when the roof is up and the parcel shelf is out. Easy to remove the parcel shelf, so that might be a suitable route for clearing the drains around the motor itself.

You can't see it really as it is at the front left of the area on left hand side of the boot but you can get your hand in to feel top of the motor - so you can definitely spray some compressed air in there.

Haven't tried it yet but maybe something to consider.

Posted: **Sun Aug 18, 2013 7:07 pm**

Trex wrote:Thanks go to Wondermike for bringing the excellant post by sixspeed over to this site. Cleaning the drain plugs should be a part of regular maintenance. I discovered a Q&D (Quick and Dirty) way to do it.

Take a good look at the sixspeed pics and get a sense of where those drains are and also read his text. The passenger side is the easier to work with. I took a wooden pole, used for marking driveways in snow ($1.00 at Home Depot), and poked around until i found an opening. I reamed the hole and a flood of water came out with some other junk. I was amazed. I was content with that. I never took off the splash panel on that side (I told you this was Q&D).

The driver's side is different - the hole is not accessible from the top. But, it is no big deal to take that rear wheel forward splash panel off. I did it without removing the wheel nor did I jack the car up. Two 8mm nuts and a (plastic!) 10mm nut are visible. It is a tight fit back in there, but you can get it done. Then there is the 8mm bolt/screw back behind and below the mudflap. The mudflap is separate from the splash panel. That last 8mm bolt/screw is easy to see if you take a mirror under the car. Wiggle the splash guard and you can approximate where the bolt has to be.

With the panel off, use a flashlight to peer back and you'll see the black rubber plug. Yank it out. Take a flexible tube or wire to whisk out the drain hole. There was nothing coming out on my car. So, I put everything back.

Should take you 20 minutes the first time you do it, depending on how much time you fiddle around trying to find tools small enough to fit in the driver's side wheel well. I have a small 1/4" ratchet set that worked well. Ideal for that 8mm bolt/screw behind the mudflap is one of those 8mm-9mm-10mm "Y" wrenches sold at bicycle shops.

Just used the Trex Q&D method, didn't have a jack to hand so had no real choice, but it worked great. I took a picture of the drain as you will see it (actually you probably won't I had to feel around to find it then shoved my phone in the get the pic). Hope it helps some one!

Seems to buck the trend but hardly anything came out of them which I guess is good news.

Posted: **Tue Feb 04, 2014 1:53 pm**

Any pdf's out there showing you how to clear the drains? All the links are dead

Posted: **Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:06 pm**

Shenanigans wrote:Any pdf's out there showing you how to clear the drains? All the links are dead

I have sent you a pm

Posted: **Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:11 pm**

Shenanigans wrote:Any pdf's out there showing you how to clear the drains? All the links are dead

This should help...
http://www.eastpazscca.org/downloads/E-85-drain.pdf

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