Oh cock, I accidently bought a MGTF.

[scaryoldcortina]

I have - I checked them while it was over the MoT pit.

[purplebargeken]

That makes sense, doh!  

 

Am still under the influence of hospital drugs which appear to have reduced my IQ by a lot. Hopefully just on a temporary basis!

[twosmoke300]

Sounds like an airlock to me .

Also check the mounts on the front of each subframe . They rot like buggery

[scaryoldcortina]

Ok, small update.

 

It is no longer showing as taxed so is SORN while I figure out what is wrong. Today I put the pressure cap from this onto the doomrover to test it, either doomrover doesn't make enough pressure (due to impending HGF) to pop the cap or the cap isn't faulty. I did spot little sparkly copper flakes on the inside of the cap which almost certainly means that someone applied the universal salve and cureall K-Seal recently. Also not a good sign!

 

I spent the rest of the day pointing out obvious faults on astras and focuses to people.

[Pillock]

I'd be surprised if there's ever been an MGF or TF go through the auctions without HGF. 

Surely the auction is the place everyone goes to sell their cars with faults that will only be evident once it's left the block. 

 

Not the end of the world though, you've got the spanner skills and there's enough knowledge out there to do a proper job. Admittedly there's about six times as much knowledge as there needs to be, and much of it is horseshit (smear a creme egg around the gasket before you refit it, make sure you hang the car wheels-up from the roof and fit it all upside down as it helps the gasket seal, fill the bores with sand before you bolt the head down etc etc). Most of these surely get bridged because the owner takes it to a disinterested garage, they get quoted a thousand pounds to fob them off, and they scrap it.

[twosmoke300]

I did one the other day for a customer . A full days work in reality . Not too bad tbh but tight access in places .

Also shock horror , potions such as k seal etc don't work

[scaryoldcortina]

I've done many K series HG jobs over the years, it's not that hard. Mid engine makes it a bit more fiddly than usual, but at least I won't need a stepladder like the time I did a Freelander.

 

Thing is, I'm not convinced it's HG trouble. Cooling yes, but the emissions were perfect, there is no steam from the exhaust and the oil and water are staying separate. I'll give it a proper check when I can but I'm already rebuilding a TF for a customer and there is a MGF coming tomorrow for work and test so it will have to wait.

[Pillock]

It's not that bloody stupid bit of plastic that had Bollox stumped is it? The Saab valve or whatever it is?

[scaryoldcortina]

I'm not sure what that is... there is a remote thermostat (PRT) on late TFs and Freelanders that sometimes jams open but that usually just gives you poor warmup and crap heaters.

 

Edit - if it's occasionally shutting when it shouldn't that might explain the wierd (and fast) rise in temp...

[twosmoke300]

I'm betting it's an airlock caused by a trivial leak somewhere . Some garage jumped to conclusions , scared the customer who traded it in . Dealer punts it down the block

[scaryoldcortina]

I'd agree if the system didn't hold pressure... I've run it up to temp then let it cool off completely and it hisses when you open the cap. Also (steam escape non withstanding) doesn't seem to use or lose water (yet!)

 

I will try and get time to put the proper pressure tester on it, I forgot to borrow it from the MoT station today.

[ruffgeezer]

What we do is use the sniffer from the MOT emissions machine above the expansion tank to see if it picks up any combustion gasses (try not to suck any water up with it!)

[scaryoldcortina]

Yeah, I know that trick

[Bear]

Nice thing about getting a cheap F/TF with a buggered head gasket - if you actually WANT an F or TF - is that it's not too expensive to get the really high quality components to fully upgrade it, whereas the back-street bodge brigade most non-DIY owners would take them to would get the cheapest parts to just make it behave long enough for them to get paid.

 

TF subframe rot though. Ew.

[Bear]

Also how's the water pump? Sudden increase in temp - sudden failure of impellers. Car would still get hot at the engine end, how's the radiator end?

[Taff]

Most of these surely get bridged because the owner takes it to a disinterested garage, they get quoted a thousand pounds to fob them off, and they scrap it.

 

lot of debate on the various F forums about just that, given how cheap the cars are anyway.

 

Still, no shortage of good used spares about. Silver linings and all that

[Bobthebeard]

I have a BGA head gasket set with head bolts that is still unused and 'in stock' after bridging an MG a couple of years ago.

Part no HK6554UMB which IIRC also fits the TF.

Yours for a small sum plus postage (if indeed HGF has occurred ) if interested?

[scaryoldcortina]

That's very kind of you Bob, but I have one "in stock" as well. I bought it for the DoomRover almost two years ago and never actually fitted it because the HGF* never got worse.

 

 

ION - I put the doomrover cap on the TF and ran it up to temp on the ramp this afternoon. Everything behaved, all pipes get hot when they should, no gurgling sounds of air being shifted. Fan works. Rad gets hot. Didn't boil and the gauge stayed at half. I took it down and went for a "test drive" for 10 mins and it still didn't fuck up. Put it back in the garage and let it run for another half hour or so... No problems.

 

So I turned it off and welded up the hole in the front sub to celebrate. Pics later.

[rainagain]

These don't have a plastic impeller in the water pump? The type that works until it gets really hot then slips and it gets even hotter?

[twosmoke300]

That is a vag 1.8t trick too . Fucker to diagnose first time you find one

[scaryoldcortina]

A quick google later, and I can't find anyone reporting plastic impellers on a MGF/TF. Also, the 2002 TF I just did a water pump on had metal blades on the old pump (and leaky seals) but I'll consider revisiting the idea if the problem reoccurs despite ruling everything else out. It's a swine to get at for a start!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Ive never seen a placca impeller in any of the K's Ive looked inside.

[Taff]

+1 for metal impeller, mine got changed when the belts were done a couple of months ago and it was metally blades on it

[scaryoldcortina]

Anyway... pics!

 

Here's that hole again after some hammering and scraping.

 

 

Cut and grind. Why was it rusty? Would you believe that there is a forward facing hole in the subframe for access to the wishbone bolt, and the factory method of sealing it is Gaffa tape?.

 

 

Thankfully I have tape. There was quite a bit of muck and dirt inside here....

 

 

Some time later, involving some 2mm plate....

 

 

And a quick spray of satin black. A proper clean and rustproofing of the subframes may happen later. Maybe.

[scaryoldcortina]

Further update! The scrappy over the road got a MGF 1.8VVC in yesterday ("head's fucked mate....") so today I got the rear calipers off it, and fitted the nearside one to the car.

 

That's all the MoT items taken care of, so all I need to do is wait until middle of next week and it can have 13 months.

 

Still not overheating either. Fan cuts in and out, heater is hot, water level is stubbornly stable. By jove, I think it might have been the cap! I guess my poor old rover doesn't make enough pressure due to it's persistant internal leak to make the cap pop, and also doesn't get hot enough either.

[anonymous user]

Will there be a forthcoming raffle? We're running low on them at the moment.

[scaryoldcortina]

I could, but the tickets would need to be at least £20 each... I think I'll probably continue to tidy it up and punt it out in the spring.

[scaryoldcortina]

Today I did this.

 

 

Long story short - it wasn't the cap, or an airleak. It was the headgasket. Also, standing all winter made the clutch arm stick.

[dollywobbler]

Ideal opportunity to fit a 1.5 turbo diesel then?

[scaryoldcortina]

Transverse A series.