PLEASE!!! Check your roof drains, So glad I did!

P

Paulj100

Member
 Chelmsford Essex
Well it's my 50th birthday today and have the day off so what way to spend it on my Z4, Iv had the car now for 3 months and love it! One job I wanted to do was to check those roof drains especially the roof motor side ( passenger side ) jacked the car up removed the wheel and just undone 2 small screws a and a plastic nut and the inspection cover pulls away which is located at the front of the rear inner arch, pulled away to reveal where the roof drain exits. There is a rubber bung which just pulls out and to my horror when I pulled mine out loads of water poured out and the bung was completely blocked
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And this was the crap that had blocked it
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Then went about fitting a hose to the end of my Hoover and from the top of the car I could push the hose down to where the roof motor sits, Hoover managed to pick up some bits of debris, finally emptied a can of wd40 down the channel and watched it pour down and out of the drain hole.

Decided to leave the rubber bung off and not refit it thus avoiding any more blockages hopefully.
It only took me an hour to check both sides so well worth doing guys to hopefully avoid a very expensive repair job if the roof motor fails.

Now to give the car a polish :roll:
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Get it done guys only takes 1 hour.


Paul
 
Facelift was sealed, just took longer for the water to do the same damage though ...
 
Must be a good feeling knowing that its now all cleared and your roof motor is now out of danger :thumbsup:
Although mine is the facelift model with sealed motor I still need to check it out. I haven't got axle stands or the tools to remove the wheel so will need to sort that out first. I've read you can drain them without taking the wheel off but I've looked and you would need to be some sort of contortionist :!:
 
tomorrows job, tomorrow better come soon though as i keep say tomorrow

does the wheel need to be taken off? i'm not sure where the drains are, do you have pics of them fitted
 
It can be done with the wheel left on but found it really difficult to get access also helps with a torch to see the rubber bung.


This is my old Hoover with a piece of hose pipe it works well by pushing it down from the top and getting to where the roof motor sits

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Paul
 
Hear is a pic of the inspection cover which is located to the front of the inner rear arch.
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just a few screws and a plastic nut to undo and can be pulled down to access drain plug. Good tip is use a torch makes finding the rubber bung much easier and this is what your looking for
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Just pulls out very easy.



Paul
 
I'm amazed a garden hose can fit down the side of the motor. I thought there was only a 5mm gap or so. I'll have to have a look.
 
I pour some water down both sides of the roof until I see it escaping from behind the cills, if it doesn't come out it means they're blocked :o
I've never removed the wheels/inspection hatches to check the bungs, I must be double jointed!
Regards
 
Smartbear said:
I pour some water down both sides of the roof until I see it escaping from behind the cills, if it doesn't come out it means they're blocked :o
I've never removed the wheels/inspection hatches to check the bungs, I must be double jointed!
Regards
Click to expand...

+1 I do exactly the same thing as Smartbear and I too have never had to remove the wheels or the inspection hatches. Awkward yes, impossible definitely not :)
 
Longtallhowie said:
So is it best to leave the bungs out?
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I left the rubber bung out as when put back it there is a thin recess for the filament to settle on then eventually build up and finally block up.


Reference the hose attached to a Hoover you don't need to get it under the roof motor anywhere just close sucks up any debris down there as the suction is much greater through a hose.

A word of warning though I found that my Hoover would switch itself off after 15 mins due to overheating but once cooled down old be fine again.


Paul
 
One things for sure it's a bad design. Where it exits there's no way dirt from wheels etc can get to it as it's full enclosed in a compartment, when I checked mine all I found was cobwebs!

Why on earth you would fit a roof motor only mm's above a 5mm drain hole that's feeds out via a reduced in size rubber bung!!


Paul
 
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