Roof DRAINS!!

rjsimmons said:
Hey #5, please post some photos of where the motor would go through to the trunk, if you would please. I am interested in relocating my motor there (after winter is done, possibly sooner if I get time) and as an engineer, prefer to have things diagrammed first.

Thanks,
rj

p.s. I like your thinking regarding relocating to the cubby behind the seat. That might actually be preferable.
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This is the location it went to. Just behind the flap of carpet in the corner. This is the view looking up through the boot with the roof out. It was difficult to take a picture of the motor before the roof went in as the two are attached by the Hydrualic lines, and when you're guiding the roof back in whilst supporting the motor in the other hand, its not possible to take pictures - unless theres three of you on the job !

 
Brilliant write up. My motor works fine but I have noticed some thin oil is getting under the carpet behind the passenger seat. I havent had the car long so could be something the previous owner did but my reckoning is that the hydraulics might be seeping oil. Is there any way this can be checked without removing the roof and how would you top up the oil - is there a reservoir somewhere. Thanks
 
Hi mike, I think the motor has to be removed in order to top up the fluid-there is no external reservoir.
Regards
 
Mike6 said:
Brilliant write up. My motor works fine but I have noticed some thin oil is getting under the carpet behind the passenger seat. I havent had the car long so could be something the previous owner did but my reckoning is that the hydraulics might be seeping oil. Is there any way this can be checked without removing the roof and how would you top up the oil - is there a reservoir somewhere. Thanks
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Yes, the resevoir is attached to the top of the motor under the roof, unless its been relocated, as described. Unbelievably poor design really !
 
My roof has been on a go slow for about 18months now. Must be a slow leak as it never seems to get any worse.
18months ago it started struggling to open. Couple of months later it wouldn't open until you gave it a push - and that's the way its stayed for the past year. It closes fine. I changed the battery at one point. It must need an oil top up
 
Number5 said:
Mike6 said:
Brilliant write up. My motor works fine but I have noticed some thin oil is getting under the carpet behind the passenger seat. I havent had the car long so could be something the previous owner did but my reckoning is that the hydraulics might be seeping oil. Is there any way this can be checked without removing the roof and how would you top up the oil - is there a reservoir somewhere. Thanks
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Yes, the resevoir is attached to the top of the motor under the roof, unless its been relocated, as described. Unbelievably poor design really !
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You'd think they'd put it in the boot. Why would anyone think it's a good idea to mount it in a drain. I hope the guy got sacked lol
 
Probably got promoted. If I do have a hydraulic leak I cannot think why it would come in under the carpet of the passenger seat and not run out of the drain holes as I am fairly certain mine are not blocked.
 
Mike6 said:
Probably got promoted. If I do have a hydraulic leak I cannot think why it would come in under the carpet of the passenger seat and not run out of the drain holes as I am fairly certain mine are not blocked.
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You could remove the passenger seat look under the carpet see if it's obvious where it's coming from. I don't think it's possible for it to leak into the cabin to be honest. If you remove the parcel shelf you can pretty much see all the lines apart from where they attach to the rams and motor.
 
Are you sure it's hydraulic fluid? Reason I ask is because I had a lot of water under my passenger seat and it was coming from the door, where the membrane has come unstuck. A new door membrane and some butyl Tape (aswell as a good few hours of drying with towels and hairdryers) and it's now drier than a nuns you know what!

Removing the passenger seat is easy. 2 16mm nuts at the front, 2 16mm bolts at the back, 1 16mm bolt holding the seatbelt bracket onto the frame and one small torx screw holding the seatbelt in the plastic bit in the top/side of the seat. Just need to remove the negative on the battery and unplug the wiring under the seat, then lift it out.
 
:rofl:
ben g said:
Are you sure it's hydraulic fluid? Reason I ask is because I had a lot of water under my passenger seat and it was coming from the door, where the membrane has come unstuck. A new door membrane and some butyl Tape (aswell as a good few hours of drying with towels and hairdryers) and it's now drier than a nuns you know what!

Removing the passenger seat is easy. 2 16mm nuts at the front, 2 16mm bolts at the back, 1 16mm bolt holding the seatbelt bracket onto the frame and one small torx screw holding the seatbelt in the plastic bit in the top/side of the seat. Just need to remove the negative on the battery and unplug the wiring under the seat, then lift it out.
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Had the same issue with mine took ages to dry out and mine is also drier than a you know what :rofl:
 
It felt like light engine oil but possibly because it soaked into the rubber underlay. I havent had the car long so could be water getting in through the membrane or some other silly reason. I will try as you suggest as others have said it is unlikely to be hydraulic fluid.
 
Do you use the car as a daily a Daily Mike6 ?

If you only use it on dry Sundays and theres damp, it has to be leaking from within, however, if you drive it in all weathers then theres obviously lots of possibilites. Theres usually a drain plug under the carpet in the footwells and if thats missing, Ive known a carpet to get wet as the water splashes up under the car.

Garage it, dry it out with a hair dryer, then monitor it daily and see if it links in with the weather.
Find the damp patch and trace what direction it leads from.
 
z4all said:
Ok. So had a go at clearing the drains today. It half worked lol. Got to the drains but couldn't fully manipulate my fingers clear them out much.

One of the drains (drivers side) was clogged like a biatch and I was able to get some of the crap out of the plug. The other, did not have a plug and I couldn't get my fingers up far enough to know if there was any dirt in there.

First question, can more water get into the roof motor area while the hard top is on?

2nd- is it better to have no plugs on the drains?

3rd-is there any other way to permanently mod the drain so I never have an issue again or so it's a lot easier to clear the blockage? Was thinking maybe welding a pipe on so it extends the drain a bit further down to a place where I can easily get to with a Hoover and just suck the crap out on a weekly basis.

Thoughts?
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Problem is that you can remove the bottom plugs but that only affects the bottom of the tube which leads from the well area where the motor is located. The top half of that tube is also only about 10mm and that is where it's more likely to clog especially on the motor side as the motor housing sits over the hole restricting flow to the point where a single leaf can completely block drainage.

What I did when repairing the roof motor was to make up a ring of wire mesh about 20mm wide and place this around the hole lifting the roof motor slightly but more importantly keeping debris away from the small exit hole.
Unfortunately you can only do this if you have the roof off, but it's a case of preventing it blocking otherwise you ended up with a swimming pool back there.
 
Most people leave the plugs off the bottom as it allows bigger debris to exit, rather than back up in the pipe. Usually a good bit of cable/flex pushed up from the bottom will unblock everything and the test is to pour some more water in at the top and check it runs out quickly. ( I appreciate thats difficult with the hard top on, but you'll just need to find a small gap somewhere to pour some in.)
 
When I removed my drain plugs the amount of dirt, grit and twigs that came out was unbelievable! I never refitted them and don't appear to have any issue's with increased noise, though couldn't tell you whether it makes a difference in terms of draining. It should do as the grit, dirt and twigs won't be stopped by the rubber bung anymore, but I haven't checked the drains recently, so can't be sure.

Do you guys pour water from the top with the roof down?
 
Number 5. The car is garaged and only used on dry days at least from last Aug when I got the car. Not sure how previous owner kept the car but when crawling over it as you do with a new toy, I pulled the passenger seat fully forward and stuck my hand under the carpet join and it was fairly wet - soaked into the thick rubberised foam (?). I soaked it up but havent really had an opportunity to delve further around the footwell area. The drivers side was dry.
My wife said it wasnt water but a very thin oil like baby oil (what could previous owner have been up to), hence the towel we used wouldnt dry out. Reading up on the forum about the roof motor I just had a crazy idea that it could be hydraulic oil but it seems not. When weather improves, I will take the passenger seat out and explore further.
 
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