OMGFTP? MG ZR update.

[FakeConcern]

My youngest daughter's partners mother ( who is from Taiwan) exchanged her previous car when it failed the MOT for a yellow MG ZR. That was in August.

 

Now she has oil in the coolant header tank and the Dash has stopped working.

All this is complcated by her not having a great grasp of the English language and not telling us who sold (exchanged) the MG to her as it's " a friend".

 

I will try to confront the dealer over it as it's less than 6 Months since she got it, but if that leads no where as I suspect is K seal worth trying?

 

Any other suggestions?

[Cavcraft]

You are Toosavvy AICMFP

[sierraman]

Steel seal

[twosmoke300]

Steel seal doesn't work ! Tried it in two of my own vehicles and it just clogs all the passage ways up when you have to fix it properly

[sierraman]

I know but if you've nothing to lose. Replacing the gasket would run into the hundreds if you paid somebody.

[twosmoke300]

And cost more to clean all the steel seal shit out

[smellypoo]

what is the car worth to your youngest daughter's partner's mother, financially or otherwise. You mention a 'friend' who is a dealer who exchanged the car for her, she's had 4-5 months use of the thing - is it really worth the hassle? It sounds like the car might not be worth much in the first place although this depends on the circumstances of the swap with the MOT failure. I know the 6 months is a legal thing, between friends it can be complicated to go down that road - it really depends on whether someone feels ripped off. Can it be proven the fault was likely to have been present at time of 'purchase'? Can it be proven that the HGF wasn't caused by poor maintenance on the current owner's part?

 

Anyway, K-Seal/Steel Seal stuff might be a sticking plaster to keep it going a while. As implied by others earlier, cleaning that crap out for a proper fix will be costly/difficult so regard it as a stay of execution rather than a cure - go for a proper fix if the car is worth something, go with the quick fix if it's just an attempt to stretch it's life a little longer. 

 

The cluster fault is most likely unrelated. Could be a simple loose cable/bad earth or it could be a failure within the cluster itself. Does any of it work? Does it have any side effects such as the car being immobilised/cutting out?

[saucedoctor]

I bet it's where the earth strap goes onto the slam panel. TADT,S.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I bet it's where the earth strap goes onto the slam panel. TADT,S.

Hang on but off topic, is that a rwd rover 25 with what looks like merc power?

 

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[sierraman]

And cost more to clean all the steel seal shit out

I see what you are saying but you've got to be realistic about what you are prepared to spend to keep it on the road. If you had a look round chances are there will be other stuff coming up to needing doing. A £300 head gasket job then a week later a pair of shockers etc. Sometimes it might be worth chucking some k seal or whatever in, it might buy you a few months while you sink the cash into a potentially better prospect.

[saucedoctor]

Hang on but off topic, is that a rwd rover 25 with what looks like merc power?

 

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Photoshop.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Photoshop.

That's a shame.

 

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[srad34]

I bet it's where the earth strap goes onto the slam panel. TADT,S.

  Hang on a second, is that a Merc Kompressor engine in a 200 Bubble?

[Tamworthbay]

I guess if KSeal doesn't work you should try more KSeal.

And if that doesn't work you need to hammer a bigger bottle of K seal over the top.

[EssDeeWon]

Is the oil still clean or is there mayo on the dipstick and inside the cap?

 

Overheating?  Water loss?  excess smoke?

 

Personally I would not put K seal in my car unless you want to run it on that stuff until it dies?   I'd suffer the expense, live off beans on toast for a month and have it all done. 

[John F]

Dealer refund is the best option.

 

Failing that, MG ZRs are worth buttons so I wouldn't spend much on it.

 

It's not your car, so to avoid prolonged pain & hassle for you IMO it'd be frag time (or eBay SPARS & RAPERS) if K-Seal doesn't restore at least short-term functionality, but I'd still look for a more durable replacement in the long term.

 

As others have already suggested, the dash fault is likely to be a separate issue.

[FakeConcern]

Thanks for the in depth replies so far. It's all a bit difficult at the moment as I've not met the woman or seen the car, not even sure if it is a ZR! Also just been told that it's losing water fast as well as the oil in the header tank so I still suspect OMGHGF. I don't understand the relationship with the dealer, but it seems she has spoken to him about it & he said something along the lines of "It's probably the head gasket" so I don't think there will much joy there!

My daughter asked me to go and have a look and when I get a chance I will, I wanted to have an idea of the options available before I did. 

Someone suggested that about £300 would be the sort of price to get it sorted, do we think this is realistic?

I've not done anything like that since I owned an A series Mini so I'm not about to do it for her myself.

I will have a look at the earth strap though!

Thanks again to all who have contributed.

[sierraman]

Could be. Could be also more like £400. It all adds up when you consider the labour, gasket, new oil, belt and some stretch bolts. I know we like to not give up on something but I'd have a look what else is up with it. I'd be surprised if there's not more potential for grief in the near future.

 

I've been there with old snotter type cars where you think 'I'll spend that £300 and I've a known good clutch etc 'better the devil you know'". The silver Mondeo I had previously had the beginnings of the clutch going, exhaust would soon want doing and the diff was starting to whine. All expensive stuff to put right.

 

I'd sink the £3-400 towards something in better nick.

[John F]

I'd sink the £3-400 towards something in better nick.

 

^ This.

 

There's no shortage of reasonable cars out there for sub-£500, this sounds like a potential money pit tbh.

[saucedoctor]

  Hang on a second, is that a Merc Kompressor engine in a 200 Bubble?

 

That car did have a number of engine transplants while in my ownership, but that wasn't one of them, I'm sad to say.

[nisfan]

If somebody came back to me 3/4 months after buying a car saying there's something wrong with it I would tell them to FRO, anything could have happened in that time, there's no way it would have been running with HGF all that time.

[Mr A Lawrence]

I had wifes Mgf hgf repaired for £400 which included cambelt/water pump and "exchange" head skim and travel costs from Kent which wasn't too bad.

 

It all depends on how far your prepared to get involved.

[saucedoctor]

£400-450/500 is about the right money to get it done properly. Timing belt, water pump, stat, clean all the shite out of the tappets, cooling system flush/change and two oil changes, head pressure test and/or skim.

[Split_Pin]

Having 6 months or so usage out of an old car before something goes wrong is OK going IMO and certainly not something for which you can expect redress.

 

One to take on the chin and move on I would suggest.

[FakeConcern]

So after reading up on the subject in every MG/K series forum I could find, I went to have a look at the car. Put my fingers into the header tank and they came out covered in Chocolate milkshake(!) OMGHGF for sure!

 

The dashboard is actually just the lady not describing the problem very well, it seems the bulbs for the Temperature guage (ironic?) and the clock have blown. Doesn't look too difficult as the whole dash doesn't need to come out.

 

Anyway the car is pretty tidy and a good colour, no sign of frilly arches etc with lowish miles (50K) and good MOT history no advisories for rust, just slightly deteriorated CVJ boots for the last 3 years. So I think it would be a shame to scrap it or put K seal in it.

 

I had sort of thought that she had been ripped off, but now I don't think so. She paid £750 for it, which seems ok from a dealer (although plenty of private sellers asking much more for low miles good colour examples). In the end I could only tell her what I thought were the options, get it fixed properly, starting by asking the seller (who is an MG specialist & comes well rated on the internet) how much bearing in mind it was  bought from him not too long ago, K Seal & hope or sell as spares repairs.

 

She has opted to ask the seller about fixing it I'm pleased to say.

 

I felt that I didn't really do anything for her at all and felt bad when she gave us a box of biscuits, but my daughter thinks I was the first one to take the trouble to look and explain clearly what is wrong and the options so Oh well!

 

Pic of MG and daughter's Clio

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Good work FC. Sounds like you have helped her out a lot to me. Sometimes just an intelligent opinion from a neutral and trustworthy source is all thats required to decide what to do next.

[twosmoke300]

Getting the dealer to do a headgasket on a car he sold for 750 four months ago ?

Good luck with that 😂

[Dave_Q]

I don't think they're going to go down giving it the old sale of goods act spiel, I think I read that as paying the dealer to do the HG, or asking how much to get it done there seeing as they're an MG specialist.

[sierraman]

You have absolutely no chance of the dealer doing a £400 head gasket change on a car he sold for £750 six months back. I'd ask a local garage for a price.

 

Id stick the K Seal in it, or whatever, drain the coolant out and rinse the header tank out, get some from Poundland, fill it up and flog it on Bumtree for £300.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Fucking K seal/Steel seal should be chucked in the sea. It fixes nowt and just makes a proper repair (should one ever be attempted) a bit more hassle.