Four head gaskets and two engines later... End of thread

[mat_the_cat]

Personally I'd just avoid the motorways in Switzerland - although confusingly their signs are green and normal road's are blue!

[SambaS]

Last year I tested then removed a heater control unit from an MG at the scrapyard as mine only worked on 3 & 4. It was a pain to take out. I finally got round to fitting it yesterday only to find that I had the same problem. After seeking advice on the Facebook group I removed the glove box and heater resister pack and low and behold it was borked. Up the scrapyard went I and the 6th and fi al Rover in the yard yielded a working part! Took all of 2 minutes to fit et voila my fan works on all four settings. I then focussed my attention on properly refitting all the remote control cables to the heater control unit, fiddly job! Found a snapped bit of PCB that explained why the lights behind the dials never lit up before, so swapping out the whole unit wasn't in vein after all. Happy with my success I then focussed my attention on the not working drivers electric window that I accumulated when I swapped the door for a not bent one last year. A bit of reading on the MGR forum suggested I needed an electric windown control box behind the already removed center consol, que another trip to the yard. Short story long I was having so much fun I attacked the 'manual everything' passenger door so now have fully working front electric windows, and fully working front remote central locking. And the icing on the cake somehow the reverse lights now work. Ran out of time tonight as had to get to college so tomorrows job it to refit the door card and center console, and if its dry fit the new exhaust.

 

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[SambaS]

Don't ask my where all the full stops went.

 

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[Lord Sterling]

Wow, good luck fella. Sadly I probably won't be in France in July but I should still be in Europe somewhere.

[Barry Cade]

I'll be around that area in July too, but will be leaving all my MG/|Rover knowledge in Scotland...

 

I'm entitled to a holiday sometime!

[SambaS]

Official dates booked 17th June to 1st July, sorted somewhere to camp in Wetzikon, Switzerland on my stepdad's brother's property, close to the Liechtenstein border and road to Austria. Also a 24 Swiss Franc return by train to Zurich

 

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[SambaS]

We're planning on taking the Alberg Pass to Innsbruck then heading back west through Northern Italy back up into Switzerland to Locarno, an area I've been to before

 

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[stuboy]

WELL DONE !!

 

on fixing the faults

[SambaS]

I need some technical help. Today we found that a pipe between the inlet manifold and the cam cover had been drilled, not a factory thing. We then found a second pipe from the metal housing of the inlet manifold to air box was missing. I replaced both pipes with new and the car wouldn't start or run. We then discovered the idle control valve wasn't working so replaced that with a working one and the car would start, but the revs dip and the car stalls at junctions. EDIT: runs fine with the 3" pipe from inlet mnifold to cam cover removed, or with it drilled

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[SambaS]

Went for fast run last night, she died, felt like fuel starvation, a 2 min rest and she was away again. So more problems to add to my previous post.

[hauserplenty]

In California you'd have a problem, if those pipes were in fact emissions controls-related. They'd just fail you and deny you registration. My guess would be that if the MOT people aren't looking for it and it's not going to be tested as a pass/fail subsystem then:

If

It

Ain't

Broke

Don't

Fix

It.

It sounds as though one or more of the emissions control system which may or may not be fitted to your particular donk, have been bypassed. More information about the engine type would be helpful. Too much CBA ATM to navigate 15 other charts. Anyroad, you may have undone a simple bypass related to the air charge in your pots, but the ECM has not been reflashed, so the engine runs lean and stalls under certain conditions. It sounds almost like EGR faults on 80's engines with CA smog. EGR valves don't work at all at idle, since if they did they'd stall the engine (too much air / same amount of fuel). You problem sounds like it's the reverse of this, in that it stalls under heavy load. I would guess it's related to the air charge. If it's OBD-II, I guess it's always better to go with less FTP than more...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

^^^^^ utterly indispensible advice there.

 

maybe bosh a picture up showing us the pipes in question?

[SambaS]

Problem 1:

 

 

When inlet manifold breathers are correctly fitted car dies at junctions as cannot maintain enough RPM to not stall the engine after releasing accellerator.

 

I've been unable to upload pictures all week.

 

I've swapped out the Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor Throttle Position Sensor, Idle Air Control Valve. none of these have had any effect.

 

I will just reiterate, I am fixing a problem that I made myself by fitting a missing breather pipe, and fitting a non-drilled second breather pipe.

 

Someone obviously found a problem and a workaround to it, instead of fixing the actual problem.

 

I have given up trying to resolve this and have just disconnected the breather pipe from the cam cover and the car is back to how it was before. Working.

 

Problem 2.

 

Fuel Starvation, engine slowly dies at high speed.

 

I have come to the assumption that high speed driving and low fuel level, coupled with a big dent in the tank and suspect sender unit have caused this. When I say LOW fuel level I mean 15 litres, I am NOT running out of petrol in the conventional sense.

 

Conclusion:

 

In the short term I am not going to address either problem, just keep an eye on variable factors when any problems present themselves. If the car dies of fuel starvation when the tank is over 1/2 full I will have to replace the tank and the sender before Europe, OR I am not to exceed the speed limit, but baring in mind I am preparing this car for the Nurburgring.

 

Just as a footnote I am trying to gain back the 13 MPG I lost since then new engine was fitted. And get the car to idle right.

 

Today the guy who did the rebuild for £600 said the engine is not right, I don't know when to give up, and he wouldn't take it to Europe.

[SambaS]

I need a new rear number plate :I

 

[SambaS]

Anyone know the original configuration for the top coolant hose? Also I need a coolant elbow to cylinder-head gasket as mines has sprung a leak!

 

[Barry Cade]

There are mesh "blocks" inside the cam cover where the pipes connect- these need to be clear,otherwise they can give the problems you describe-if you've had HGF or a lack of oil changes, they can block with crud/carbon and upset the whole caboodle. If you have a dent in your tank, and fuel starvation, is the tank vent clear? I've seen a tank crush like a coke can if the breather is blocked- usually the pump will get really noisy before the car falters as its working so hard to overcome the vaccum. Worth a look- run with the fuel cap off to see if it makes any difference.

 

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Thanks! Will check the tank vent, may exchange the whole tank tomorrow up the scrappy. Will take cam cover off again and have a better look at the wire mesh too. My mechanic just admitted that after the last headgasket rebuild the compression on all 4 pots was all over the place.... 2 months later

 

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[SambaS]

Also is that coolant pipe available to buy from anywhere? And a coolant elbow gasket

 

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[TRW]

Have you done a TPS reset?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Your mechanic sounds like a real legend, didn't he charge you for two gaskets after assembling it with some damaged valves or something as well?

[SambaS]

Yep that's right.. How do you reset the throttle position sensor?

 

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[HH-R]

Set ignition to position II and press accelerator 5 times. You should hear the stepper motor going BRRRRRR, ignition off.

[Pillock]

Does it also stall if you just put your finger over the hours that these pipes connect to? Sounds like it's expecting to breathe, and when you connect pipes it's just pushing back whatever vapour it's trying to get rid of. So I'd look immediately behind whichever is the hole it's breathing into to make sure it's clear....

[saucedoctor]

Here's a page from my website showing the mesh filter blocks mentioned. There's also instructions on how to make your own heater resistor pack if the new one you got fails. I couldn't find an unfucked one either.

 

http://class-ni.weebly.com/engineering.html

[SambaS]

The S shaped breather breathes through the tiny hole and some wire mesh, the longer pipe through a bigger hole and same sort of mesh. The mesh looked so course to me I though it couldn't possibly have got blocked, so I didn't pay it any attention.

 

 

 

[SambaS]

Yes it stalls if I block the S shaped breather

 

Does it also stall if you just put your finger over the hours that these pipes connect to? Sounds like it's expecting to breathe, and when you connect pipes it's just pushing back whatever vapour it's trying to get rid of. So I'd look immediately behind whichever is the hole it's breathing into to make sure it's clear....

[SambaS]

Oh this is brilliant thanks!

 

I have water in the spare wheel well to address:

 

Here's a page from my website showing the mesh filter blocks mentioned. There's also instructions on how to make your own heater resistor pack if the new one you got fails. I couldn't find an unfucked one either.

http://class-ni.weebly.com/engineering.html

[saucedoctor]

Re: the spare wheel well swimming pool. Take out the boot carpet, and make sure that the drain in the bottom right corner of the boot floor isn't blocked. Mine had been painted over in the factory! it exits behind the driver's side of the rear bumper. I cleared it with a knitting needle. Can post a pic if you wish.

The water usually gets in through the bodyshell side of the right-hand rubber wiring grommet of the tailgate<->shell. the water runs down the inside of the c pillar, runs across the boot floor and fills up the spare tyre well. They all do that, sir. I got a boot drain grommet for a mk1 Goof, and drilled a hole in the well, painted and schutzed it, and fitted the grommet with a piece of Merc braided washer hose to extend it.

 

EDIT: Here you go.

[SambaS]

All the Rovers at the yard had HGF and these mesh things were in a right old mess. Also they all only had one on the big hole side.

 

One of mine looked new so I put it on the side causing trouble. Now it runs fine with all breathers connected. I cleaned the other as best I could and put it on the side with the bigger hole.

 

 

Took a tank off to but it's rusty so waste of time really. I'm deliberating whether it's worth putting on for the time being.

 

Trouble being I had to destroy everything to get it off, obviously this isn't a choice on my car. But whatever happens I will need a brand new pair of petrol tank straps as the design is so shit they will not come off without being cut off.

 

And for the giant pain in the arse this job is I think it's only really worth my time fitting a new one. With some additional paint, and some stone chip, then it will be good for a while.

 

 

And not look like this ^^ after a few years.

 

I can only conclude by 2004 MG R were skimping on quality because my tank has no rust on it, but this on a 2004 car is about paggered.

[saucedoctor]

My engine only had one in it as well, and it was drawing oil into the TB from where the "missing" one wasn't, if that makes sense. I nabbed a couple from a 214 in the breakers and cleaned them up. Coffee jar+half pint of white spirit+shake well.

Someone on MacDroitwich added the other mesh (can't remember who, soz) and it cleared up his smoky startup issues.

The Project D®ive bulletins that I have don't show the deletion of one of the mesh filers, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of it. Or Powertrain are just slack bastards.