M2 top/leaking help!!!

josh wrote:
> pws wrote:
>
>> josh wrote:
>
>
>>
>> Something else is wrong. I am also in Austin and never had to replace
>> the latches or the rubber seals in 5 years of driving, usually parking
>> it outside in the sun.
>
>
> Well it's too late now... I need to find my extended warranty paperwork
> and see if this is covered. 36kmi warranty is out and I'm not about to
> cough up the hundreds of dollars it takes to replace the top latches,
> etc. But I am about ready to remove them and see if there's a way to
> repair them.

I can understand that, especially after being set back several thousand
dollars by a run-in with a deer, as I am sure that everyone on this
board is aware of by now. Still it could have been worse. This lady hit
a moose, (not in a miata, and obviously not in Texas), and managed to
survive with only minor injuries, which is incredible when you see the
pictures.

http://home.austin.rr.com/sheltonser...ges/moose.html

Pat

So...

The driver's side latch is tightened as tight as it will get. I can still
see a "speck" of light through. There's also mechanical slack in the latch
(and I do believe this is the third one the car has had on the driver's side).

I guess I need to figure out how to adjust the alignment of the top. Is
there a good manual anyone can recommend for this? I haven't investigated
the Haynes manual... is it worthwhile?

While on the topic, anyone know how to get 3M super weatherstrip adhesive
OFF of the inside surface of the top material (don't ask...)? I know MEK
will cut it, but don't know if that'll damage the top. Tried "goo gone" but
it's slow-going.

Thanks for all the help... I have a whole weekend ahead with no rain, maybe
I can get it straightened out.

I don't think that the Hayes manual is useful for your problem.
The 1/4" off sounds a little bit much. My top moves just enough to feel when
you latch the latches.
The leak -- and the "see light" -- where exactly is this (Between the top
and the Windshield frame, or the door to front door post seal, or the window
to top seal? The top front side seal may need pulling foreward, or the top
window seal adjusted outwards. It sounds like the top is not aligned exactly
with the windshield frame, and the latch is a problem.
There was a large enough batch of bad latches that Mazda changed the design
on the recent models. I took a failed latch apart that was just out of
warrenty, (It was a replacement latch, supplied with a new top, one year
only) The latch had not been made properly, with a small hole improperly
drilled. This hole held the pin for the moving part that latches and
unlatches when you press on it. Unfortunately, there is no way to get the
repair parts.

"josh" > wrote in message
news:1099668961.701121@sj-nntpcache-5...
> So...
>
> The driver's side latch is tightened as tight as it will get. I can still
> see a "speck" of light through. There's also mechanical slack in the
> latch (and I do believe this is the third one the car has had on the
> driver's side).
>
> I guess I need to figure out how to adjust the alignment of the top. Is
> there a good manual anyone can recommend for this? I haven't investigated
> the Haynes manual... is it worthwhile?
>
> While on the topic, anyone know how to get 3M super weatherstrip adhesive
> OFF of the inside surface of the top material (don't ask...)? I know MEK
> will cut it, but don't know if that'll damage the top. Tried "goo gone"
> but it's slow-going.
>
> Thanks for all the help... I have a whole weekend ahead with no rain,
> maybe I can get it straightened out.


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josh > wrote:

>So...
>
>The driver's side latch is tightened as tight as it will get. I can still
>see a "speck" of light through. There's also mechanical slack in the latch
>(and I do believe this is the third one the car has had on the driver's side).

Rubber strips falling apart after a few months. Metal parts
constantly failing. It all sounds very strange to me; I have
never heard of this. Is it possible some neighborhood kids are
playing jokes on you? Where is the thing parked? Any animals
around?

Leon
P.S. I put an M2 top on my '96 and I have had no problems in Florida.
I had no problems with my M1 top either.

>I guess I need to figure out how to adjust the alignment of the top. Is
>there a good manual anyone can recommend for this? I haven't investigated
>the Haynes manual... is it worthwhile?
>
>While on the topic, anyone know how to get 3M super weatherstrip adhesive
>OFF of the inside surface of the top material (don't ask...)? I know MEK
>will cut it, but don't know if that'll damage the top. Tried "goo gone" but
>it's slow-going.
>
>Thanks for all the help... I have a whole weekend ahead with no rain, maybe
>I can get it straightened out.

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

chuckk wrote:

> The leak -- and the "see light" -- where exactly is this (Between the top
> and the Windshield frame, or the door to front door post seal, or the window
> to top seal?


It's very difficult to tell exactly where this is, since you can't see the
"leak" with the door open. It appears that it's between the top and the
windshield header, or possibly at the junction of all three: windshield
header, top and window frame.

But it's a very small pinhole now. It might be solvable.

Leon van Dommelen wrote:
> Rubber strips falling apart after a few months. Metal parts
> constantly failing. It all sounds very strange to me; I have
> never heard of this. Is it possible some neighborhood kids are
> playing jokes on you? Where is the thing parked? Any animals
> around?

Car is either parked in the parking lot at my office, or in my driveway.
First year or two I used a car cover almost exclusively while the car was
parked for any length of time (then after that I needed the trunk space too
badly to carry it). No kids playing pranks on it I'm sure... It's just
deterioration.

The thing that really irks me is that the dealer was of so little help, as
many times in the first three years as I had it in for top/latch/leaking
problems even having to have a new top due to the problem from the TSB
regarding the "pinch" (and FWIW they didn't fix the root problem, I guess I
was in before the TSB?). You'd think if a customer comes in every few
months with bad latches, window rubbers, ill-fitting seals, holes worn in
the top, leaks, etc., you'd investigate whether the top was on straight or
whether things were lining up properly... I just left the dealer every time
assuming it was just par for the course with a convertible.

And now... the danged seat fabric is wearing out, holes appearing in the
driver's seat! All in just 53K miles! makes me wonder whether I bought the
wrong car... I love _nearly_ everything about this Miata.

Actually there is a TSB about the seat wearing out. The same thing happened
to the left back side of the driver's seat. I had the dealer replace the
seat back cover. I don't remember the TSB number but it is on miata.net.

"josh" > wrote in message
news:1099921817.691552@sj-nntpcache-5...

>
> And now... the danged seat fabric is wearing out, holes appearing in the
> driver's seat! All in just 53K miles! makes me wonder whether I bought
the
> wrong car... I love _nearly_ everything about this Miata.

Thomas Misek wrote:
> Actually there is a TSB about the seat wearing out. The same thing happened
> to the left back side of the driver's seat.

Looks like that's for leather seats... and 2001+. This is cloth seat
wearing out way prematurely.

Also I see there's a TSB 09-009/03 for the soft top latches, but only covers
2001-2003 cars (mine's a 2000 but has the same problem).

And my car has the 09-003/03 "soft top split" problem, already had the top
replaced once due to the same problem but aparently before the TSB was out,
as they didn't fix the root cause. Knowing they didn't fix the root cause
and not knowing exactly what the proper fix was, I glued in a reinforcement
patch on that part of the top when I saw the new top was headed down the
same track and I figured the problem would not get bad enough to have it
fixed before the warranty would run out. Thus my query about how to get 3M
super weather strip adhesive off the inside of the top, because with the
TSB, I figure if I can remove the adhesive, they will replace the top and
fix it right under the TSB.

Dang I need to go dig up my extended warranty paperwork, see if it covers
the seat fabric and the top. If so, I'm taking it in.

One more thing... the spot where I can see light when my top is latched is
between the front edge of the top and the windshield header, not the door seal.