Project Little Green MGF - oh balls.

[Craig the Princess]

Great news Ken, really loved driving that one up to the North East.

 

Must get mine fixed this spring.

[purplebargeken]

You have one?? How? When? What?

[purplebargeken]

Popped over to the lock up and gave the car the once over before driving off to T*scos. 

 

Better check the oil....... hmmm, mayonnaise. Check the coolant..... lower than previously.

 

Okay, don't panic.

 

Coolant topped up. 

 

Car started and ran quite happily, no raised temperature on the gauge, the needle sat just one notch below normal, as it had done previously. Heater churning out nice hot air as it should. Oil temp normal.

 

No oil in the coolant but deffo coffee au lait coloured oil on the dipstick but no clots.

 

Ran up to temp and the car behaved itself, although there is some white smoke in evidence when revved.

 

I will check the coolant tomorrow and will drain the oil out of the engine at the end of the week when off. I will lob some cheap stuff in there, and drain again. Will then re-evaluate.

 

Hate to say the dreaded words but who knows. There are mobile specialists who could sort out if indeed HGF but I don't have the required dosh. 

 

The car will not be sold off, I will mothball it until I can come up with a plan of some kind.

 

Just bloody taxed it too, albeit DD. 

[SiC]

It has been sat up for a long time though mind. Quite possible the engine is full of condensation that's clearing off. Have you changed the coolant recently? Could also be burping itself - iirc these have long pipe runs and a bit of a bugger to bleed properly?

 

Gotta love the kettle-series. You don't have too much luck with them either!

[purplebargeken]

There is a well rtespected outfit based in Derby (but are mobile), they will sort VVC HG issues for £350 plus £150 if another head is required.

 

£500 is a fair bit of money and it may well be easier to obtain another MGF and make a very good one out of two. 

 

We shall see what transpires first. A couple of oil changes won't break the bank.

[purplebargeken]

I think that has merit and a long lay up may well be the issue, hopefully a couple of oil changes will make things a bit clearer (in more ways than one lol).

 

The engine was a belter and it may not be the dreaded HGF.

[purplebargeken]

They can be a bugger to bleed, it really is the luck of the draw, it is either a struggle or piss easy.

 

Am not going to stress over it. 

[purplebargeken]

BT-2 BLOCK COMBUSTION LEAK TESTER KIT CO2 HEAD GASKET TEST FLUID 4a

 

WHAT IT IS FOR:
£12 on eBay, tests for combustion gasses in the coolant. Worth a punt or snake oil in a testing kit?

 

BT-2 TESTER detects exhaust gases in the radiator with acceptable accuracy, identifying cracked or warped cylinder head and/or gasket damage.

BT-2 works with petrol, LPG and diesel engines.
Very economical, requires just 1-1.5ml/test , 50mL bottle = up to 50 TESTS!!!!!!

TEST RESULT:
If the fluid turns YELLOW (petrol and LPG) or GREEN (diesel), a combustion leak is present
If the fluid remains BLUE, a combustion leak is not occurring while the test is in process

[purplebargeken]

Going to take this for a good run today, see what happens.

[Fabergé Greggs]

Fingers crossed!

[purplebargeken]

Everything crossed mate.

[motorpunk]

Fingers crossed for condensation if it's been sat for a while. Thrap the knackers off it for an hour or so and see what it looks like then. HGF means more than just mayo.

 

Good luck.

[purplebargeken]

Indeed but the following does worry me a tad:

 

Coolant loss combined with cafe au lait oil.

 

Anyway, will report back laterer

[purplebargeken]

Went for a reasonable run, annoyingly the local bit of the M25 was closed as some cunt decided that Monday Bank Holiday daytime was perfect for closing it all off to do work on the carriageway. 

 

Anyway, got home, no further coolant loss (at the time of looking), temp gauge stayed in the perfectly normal zone all of the time. Oil temp was okay. Cafe au lait has turned into mayo gloopy blobs.

 

Not entirely sure if that is progress or worsening tbh.

 

Anyway, the car ran perfectly happily throughout. 

 

Dunno really. Might just slowly save up to get the mobile blokes to have a peek and sort.

[SiC]

Has it had an oil change since the last time you went for a run? I.e. could it be old mayo/liquid still in it.

[purplebargeken]

No oil change in my current ownership, I did one when I got it the first time around. Not sure if it had one in the interim.

 

One will be scheduled.

 

Just as soon as I find the keys.....

[purplebargeken]

Just bought a couple of filters and washers.

 

Anyone know of a cheap oil supply option? Capacity is 4.5 litres, usually 10W40.

[SiC]

Home bargains, if you have one near you?

[purplebargeken]

Not familiar with that one Si. 

 

Tesco might be the way forward or something.

 

However, a bit of an update.

 

Mate in Cheshunt phoned and said that one of the MGF guru types has suggested that I run the car for an hour or thereabouts sans dipstick.

 

This was done, no loss of coolant and no change in indicated engine temp from 'happily normal' to 'oh fuck, we are all going to die' was noted. Nor was there any further coolant loss.

 

The dipstick was reinserted many times, oooer. Each time it was wiped off and put back in. The bits of mayo became less and less until not even a match head dollop was seen. I will keep an eye on this and will get the oil and filter changed later in the week. 

 

Feeling much more hopeful and positive which is lovely.

[SiC]

One isn't far from you.

 

See this thread:

http://autoshite.com/topic/31384-unipart-oil-home-bargains

[purplebargeken]

Bleeding hell, that's only 5 mins away. I shall stumble over there tomorrow

 

Ta muchly!

[Parky]

If they don't have any Ken, PM me as I can get to the Lakeside and Romford stores easy enough.

[SiC]

Incidentally if the oil hasn't been changed since you've had it, it's going to be well overdue for a change. Probably could have done with fresh juice before restarting it after its slumber.

[purplebargeken]

The oil in there doesn't look too bad to be fair, so it may well have had a change in between. 

[purplebargeken]

Home Bargain oil obtained

[purplebargeken]

Took the little MGF to work today and had a general hoon. I'd forgotten how well these things handle on decent rubber. 

 

Oh fucking hell yes.

 

The journey took me 15 minutes less, even with shitty M25 traffic lol.

 

When I first bought this car a few years ago I said that this would be the car that got me killed or banned or both. The same sentiment still stands. It is bloody good fun and hugely addictive.

 

My mate let me use his 4 post lift this evening and an oil and filter change took place. I had also forgotten how miserably slowly you need to fill the car with oil due to that remote oil filler set up. Still, job done. I'll leave the Home Bargain semi-synthetic 10W40 circulating for a couple of weeks and then I will drain and refill. 

 

Oh the top went down this afternoon and this evening. Many other cars were left standing. God it was fun!!!

[Split_Pin]

More than likely mayo in the dipstick tube itself, which might be why your friend advised you to run it with the dipstick off for a while.

 

Having an ecotec Vauxhall, I got very good at identifying mayo from condensation due to short journeys, the HG was always fine.

[SiC]

Good to hear that the engine oil has cleaned up and even more glad to hear that you're having fun.

[purplebargeken]

I did the oil change on Thursday evening and will check it today and report back. The car is such bloody good fun. 

 

Exhaust seems to be getting a bit more rorty, might have a look at that. Sounds good though

[purplebargeken]

Exhaust getting a bit louder, slight knock from the rear end, coincidence?