First Solution with the Miata

"TysMagic" (twjeffery) 03/04/2019 at 09:00 • Filed to: Miata, Mx-5, Mazda MX-5, MX-5 RF, Mazda

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I had the first problem with the Miata, see link below in case you weren’t one of the - HOLY BALLLS 18k people read that?! Are you kidding me???
Anyway, back on topic, roof drain problem in the RF is fixed for now.
Reupped for the weekday folk and to say thanks for all the recommendations!

Drying out

I am still not 100% done as I would like to do the recommended trombone brush pipe cleaner method to fully remove the debris stuck in the drainage pipes, but I took the route of tools I have on hand and grabbed the air gun, pulled the PSI down and jumped to it. Thanks to everyone who gave recommendations in my original post!

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For a quick check, I poured a little water down the main drain hole on the driver side and it did not come out the bottom for several minutes. Finally a few drops trickled out. Used that as a reference to clean around the outlet and made sure there was nothing blocking that end side of things (there was not). Next was getting to the grate where the side gutter and rear window gutter dump in to. They come together in a little sink like area that’s impossible to picture and swirl down to the blocked up abyss.

sink area is behind this lovely piece of plastic that looks like it comes off but is really part of the larger center console plastic too

Air gun resulted in a little splash back, but for the most part pushed everything through and out the other side. Another round of water to test - improvements were made. Let it trickle out and used a flexible piece of piping I had to pull up some of the more visible pieces of trash and gunk that built up. More air (I maybe upped the PSI some). More splash back, clean up and ready for water! Check out below, this round carried out quite a bit of gunk and the water was flowing almost instantly out of the car. Another test cup and I’m willing to run with it until I pick up the trombone cleaner

Next up is the problem of the musty smell and possible mold. I pulled out this tiny square of carpet (why tf is it designed like this) and pulled back the large interior fitted carpet. Good news is there did not appear to be mold in the larger carpet, but >PET, PE PET< (see the pic, it’ll make sense) is moldy and quite damp. Went to town with the vacuum and dried out as much as I could until the carpet felt normal.

I think I’m going to leave out PET, PE for weight reduction bruh

Now I just wait for it all to dry and hopefully the mustiness is under control. If not, out with the seats and in with the deeper cleanse.

Nick- Professional Car Destroyer > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 13:59

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We had a Jeep come in that had a similar leak issue, we had to replace all the carpet because none of the musty smell would come out of it, even after the car still had a stink.

Hopefully you can get it all out and get it sorted.

Nothing worse than driving a stinky car, at least you can remove a portion of the roof for fresh air.

TheArizonaStig > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 14:52

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We not have the dealer replace the carpet? I’m a huge DIYer, but I’d be pissed if this happened to a brand new vehicle and would demand that the dealer replace anything that was water damaged.

Just Jeepin' > Nick- Professional Car Destroyer 03/02/2019 at 15:01

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Before I even bought a soft top, my first modification to my Wrangler was removing the carpet. I’ve never regretted it, although my pup was a little unhappy with the hot transmission tunnel.

TysMagic > Nick- Professional Car Destroyer 03/02/2019 at 15:08

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I readjusted and have it sitting mid open now so that everywhere possible is exposed to some fresh air - hopefully it helps. 

TysMagic > TheArizonaStig 03/02/2019 at 15:09

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Called circled the dealer drain several times before giving up. Either no call back, not available for weeks, didn’t see why it’s a Mazda problem (for real, 12k miles and fully blocked drains when the car is garaged?! PO had it for 6k miles, I assume he parked it under a constant mud slide), and so on. 

sheppard2jt > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 15:16

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When my drains clogged a few years ago I bought a dehumidifier and let it run for several days straight, plugged into an extension cord of course, and when I wasn’t driving. Sprayed all areas I could with febreeze and O doban , e very little bit of water it pulled slowly pulled out the stink too. I did pull the seats to spray under the carpet too, since it was saturated, but it went from funk to pleasant over just those few days. With it being spring you'll need to attack the stink or itll persist.

TheArizonaStig > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 15:27

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Dang. Well I’m g lad you were able to fix the problem, h opefully the smell goes away.

Those RFs a re beautiful cars btw, I definitely w ouldn’t kick one out of my garage :).

Happy motoring!

Matthew Donald Cardwell > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 15:31

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Weed trimmer line down the drains works wonders for sun roof drains

Nick- Professional Car Destroyer > Just Jeepin' 03/02/2019 at 15:37

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This jeep wasn’t even a wrangler, it was a compass or a patriot.

The wranglers are always leaking water, same goes for the liberty with the sky roof thing.

Nick- Professional Car Destroyer > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 15:38

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Yeah it should, I would even try spraying the carpet with some kind of freshner, or mold treatment to help out.

Maybe even sprinkling baking soda and vacuuming it up later.

TysMagic > Nick- Professional Car Destroyer 03/02/2019 at 15:57

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Did a carpet cleaner and freshener. I like the baking soda idea. We’ll see if it’s needed. Hopefully not 

TysMagic > sheppard2jt 03/02/2019 at 15:58

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Excellence idea 

TysMagic > Matthew Donald Cardwell 03/02/2019 at 15:58

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Smart! Flexible but still sturdy line. Good option 

Honeybunchesofgoats > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 16:02

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As far as the trombone cleaner goes, get this one : https://www.amazon.com/Herco-HE76-Nylon-Trombone-Brush/dp/B000K3E9KO/  the ones with the nylon body aren’t strong enough to push down clogs in my experience. 

Nick- Professional Car Destroyer > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 16:19

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Yeah, keep us updated on this.

Baking soda is a god send when you need to freshen anything up.

BRL > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 16:49

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Button the car up tight, put a bucket of damprid in there and let it sit a few days. It’s a chemical dehumidifier just like those dessicant packets in new products.

TysMagic > BRL 03/02/2019 at 20:29

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Guy that helped spark this in the first place mentioned something like that before I determined the root cause. I could see that working well 

TysMagic > Honeybunchesofgoats 03/02/2019 at 20:30

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Noted!! Thanks for the tip

JFalschung > TysMagic 03/02/2019 at 21:57

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I would guess >PET, PE, PET< notes what kind of plastic is used in that piece, for recyclers. 

TysMagic > JFalschung 03/02/2019 at 23:06

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Looks to be correct, I got a chuckle out of it when I pulled it out. 

bhigh > TysMagic 03/03/2019 at 11:40

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You can use an ozone generator to get rid of the smell. You can buy an inexpensive one for around $20-$30. Put it in the car with the windows and vent shut and let it run overnight.

Ozone will also get rid of cigarette smells and pet smells. 

TysMagic > bhigh 03/03/2019 at 12:47

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I used to flip cars pretty regularly. I will need to remember this for when I get back in to the habit. That would be super helpful (immediately thinking of a jag I had that was awful with cig scent). 

Chuckles > TysMagic 03/04/2019 at 09:16

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I second the damprid recommendation. I used it after my car got flooded in a hurricane, and we always keep a bucket in our basement to help deal with moisture. 

TysMagic > Chuckles 03/04/2019 at 09:20

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Looks like I’ll be rolling over to target on lunch to pick up some! After airing out over the weekend it already smells a lot better, but I’m sure there is some trapped in moisture that would be nice to remove. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > TysMagic 03/04/2019 at 09:24

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Electricians unroll twine, then use compressed air to blow it through the chase or they tie the string onto a small bag and use a vacuum to suck it through the chase . Once it pops out the other end, they tie off the end to the wires they need to pull through the chase and start pulling.

You could do the same with some twine and a bit of rag. That might save you some money on a trombone cleaner and you wouldn’t have to worry about it being long enough.

Chuckles > TysMagic 03/04/2019 at 09:55

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Just make sure that you’re checking under the carpet. When my car flooded, I soaked up most of the water with towels. After that, I’d park it in the hot summer sun for a few hours with all of the windows closed so that it would get hot and steamy. Then I’d open the windows and drive it around to get rid of that moisture.

My issue was that even though it felt bone dry, there was water under the carpet. The carpet had a plastic coating on the bottom that trapped the moisture. I ended up taking out the seats and pulling all of the carpet out to let it dry before reinstalling it.

wkiernan > TysMagic 03/04/2019 at 11:58

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Try a plug-in room dehumidifier for your damp Miata . Even when the carpets were soaked (left the top down and it rained) a couple nights with my room dehumidifier running inside the car left the interior dry as the desert. You can suck two gallons of water out of the air overnight with one of these things. They’re handy in the house too.