Clean out soft-top drain

Wondermike

Wondermike

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http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63033

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=14249#p14249



See page three for download
 
:thumbsup: That really is an excellent write up.I done mine a couple of weeks ago and found it very easy to follow.Didn't find much 'gunk' in mine and it was basically a rinse out job, the water drained freely.Has anyone found theirs blocked or partially blocked?
 
to be honest...i havent even thought about checking.

i will now go and check. :|
 
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.
 
Wondermike said:
http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63033

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=14249#p14249
Click to expand...

thanks,now got my weekend sorted. :)
 
thanks 4 this post wondermike,followd all that you posted,tubes now clear
wasnt easy but got there,thanks :D
 
Just to note that this issue was resolved in the facelift model.
 
I have taken Sixspeeds post and made it into a PDF on the website for those who want the whole thing to print out.

http://www.shipkiller.com

Also, if you want to really see the drain holes, look at the How-To for removing your Soft Top. They show the drain holes without the top in the car... Also on the website.
 
Finally took the time today to clean out my 05 2.5i top drains. I basically used Trex's Q&D method that doesn't involve jacking or removing wheels. The whole procedure took less than an hour including removing the passenger side splash guard, which Trek apparently did not. The inboard 8mm screw on the passenger side is more difficult to access than the driver side but it's doable unless you have huge hands, in which case maybe you can "hire" your girlfriend or wife to help with it.

Once the press fit rubber drains were removed I inserted a flexible piece of coax cable (with the end snipped off) from the bottom through the now open drain tubes, worked it around a bit to loosen any debri then flushed with water from the top (top up). I only had a small amount of debri in the passenger side drain.

It's comforting knowing the drains are clean and will not (hopefully) have to face a huge job to replace the motor.:thumbsup:
 
Hi, does anyone know where to find the pics that go with the cleaning instructions? The ZPOST link no longer has the pics and the PDF appears to no longer exist.....

Sorry I just found it myself so thought I would update it here in case anyone else is interested. You can find the PDF with pics at:
http://www.shipkiller.com/How%20to%20UnClog%20your%20SoftTop%20Drains.pdf

:thumbsup:
 
Reasonable afternoon here today so decided to tit about seeing how bad my drains were.
Didn't bother with the breaking rivets off bit, just simply took the wheel off, removed the three bolt headed screws from the top of the splash guard pull the guard forward, reach backwards and pull out the plug, ream the hole a bit, refit and repeat.
Took me about 20 mins tops including 5 mins playing hunt the locking wheel nut key... :wink:
 
Georgio said:
Reasonable afternoon here today so decided to tit about seeing how bad my drains were.
Didn't bother with the breaking rivets off bit, just simply took the wheel off, removed the three bolt headed screws from the top of the splash guard pull the guard forward, reach backwards and pull out the plug, ream the hole a bit, refit and repeat.
Took me about 20 mins tops including 5 mins playing hunt the locking wheel nut key... :wink:
Click to expand...
So could you move the plastic wheel arch cover without removing the bottom bolts?
 
Sounds a lot more simple if you could do it that way, just bend it a bit, pull the plug and clean up.
 
I have a 53 plate Z4 and there are rivets underneath but they do not need to be removed to remove the bit of trim. There's an 8 mm nut underneath in a little recess that needs removing.

That's 2 8mm & 1 10mm in the arch and 1 8mm underneath.
 
Absolutely. I found there was no need to remove any more bolts apart from the three holding the top section of the splashguard.
Just bend the splash guard forwards from the top, reach in towards the door sill, fumble around a bit for the plug and yank it out, easy.
You do need to remove the wheel in order to bend the splash guard enough to get your hand in, but that's a 1 minute job assuming your nuts aren't air torqued on.
I wanted to have a good look at my brakes anyways, so it was a no-brainer to remove the wheel.

andysat said:
Georgio said:
Reasonable afternoon here today so decided to tit about seeing how bad my drains were.
Didn't bother with the breaking rivets off bit, just simply took the wheel off, removed the three bolt headed screws from the top of the splash guard pull the guard forward, reach backwards and pull out the plug, ream the hole a bit, refit and repeat.
Took me about 20 mins tops including 5 mins playing hunt the locking wheel nut key... :wink:
Click to expand...
So could you move the plastic wheel arch cover without removing the bottom bolts?
Click to expand...
 
O.k., guys (non-sexist), try this one. I have the top off my '03 Z 4 for hydraulic motor/pump repair; thought I'd check the drains while they were accessible. Motor side, no problem: poured some water down the drain hole, came right out the bottom. Other (right) side - no hole! There is no hole! Shallow depression about 1" dia. molded in the bottom of the drain well, but no hole.

What do I do, just drill a hole?
 
lakeeriesailor said:
O.k., guys (non-sexist), try this one. I have the top off my '03 Z 4 for hydraulic motor/pump repair; thought I'd check the drains while they were accessible. Motor side, no problem: poured some water down the drain hole, came right out the bottom. Other (right) side - no hole! There is no hole! Shallow depression about 1" dia. molded in the bottom of the drain well, but no hole.

What do I do, just drill a hole?
Click to expand...
Sounds very strange,pictures would help. But there should be a drain hole either side :?
 
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