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Cooling System
- Overview
- Rob Bell has
this excellent page which graphically explains the cooling system
and possible routes for improvement.
- Head gasket failure (commonly known as HGF)
- Tell tale signs of head gasket failure
- a sudden eruption of steam out of the engine vents
- a sudden increase in engine temperature
- loss of power and/or engine misfire
- 'mayo' on the dipstick
- an oil film in the expansion tank (assuming there is still
coolant in the tank !)
- temperature gauge is in the red
- 1955deisel from the MG-Rover forum, put together
this excellent thread covering the diagnosis of possible head
gasket failure.
- Rob Bell has the subject well and truly covered
here,
here, and
here.
- Tony Thompson's site covers the subject well
here, lots of useful links at the bottom of the page.
- Andy 'Scarlet Fever' Phillips made a fantastic
post on MG-Rover.org covering they subject really well.
- Andy gave another mammoth post
here again on MG-Rover.org concerning HGF.
- and yet another of Andy's terrific posts
here, again imparting some of his vast knowledge concerning
HGF.
- Dieter adds more information for you
here on bolt stretch.
- some wise words from Chris Reeves
here, about 1/3 of the way down the page.
- Erik on
The English Fantasy site relays his thoughts on the subject.
- Dieter covers the improved Landrover head gasket on
this page.
- An article
here talking about HGF and the remote thermostat.
- Visit the MGF
Hall of Shame to register your HGF or see the failure statistics.
- MGFmad on the MG-Rover.org forum
posted this thread giving his thoughts via words and pictures
after he replaced the head gasket on his VVC powered F.
- Roger Parker
has this article on the MGOC website giving the development
of the K series head gasket.
- Coolant refilling
- Tony Thompson gives detailed instructions on
this page.
- Dieters web site has
this
page on bleeding the coolant.
- Richard Wigley (Rich_W on MG-Rover.org) has
produced this page on how he did a low pressure coolant flush
and fill.
Sorry, this link is now dead.
- Radiator
- Tony explains what to do if your radiator fan stops working
here.
- The OE bleed screw was plastic and the threads can be easily
stripped or the head can be sheared off easily, replace with a new
bleed screw.
- On the F, replace the 15amp radiator fan fuse for a 20amp one.
- Regular maintenance
- Replace the expansion bottle cap at yearly intervals. Andy Phillips
explains why
here, and Dieter also has
this page on the header tank cap.
- Visually check the coolant in the expansion tank, both the level
and for oil contamination, at least once a week.
- Check the dipstick for coolant contamination at least once a
week.
- Visually inspect the under floor pipes for corrosion, and all
joints on the cooling system for leaks.
- Keep the engine below 3000rpm until the coolant and oil are
up to temperature.
- Prevention
- fitting a coolant level sensor can certainly give prior warning
of coolant loss before the engine suffers any heat damage. Have
a look at the options in the links
here.
- philmgf, on the MG-Rover.org forum,
posted this thread giving details of his home brew low level
coolant alarm, a simple, cheap and effective solution.
- Jerry Herbert from the SWMGF'rs found a fix for a possible coolant
loss, his return hose was rubbing on the clutch slave cylinder bracket,
read how he fixed it (you need to be a SWMGF member to view
the thread).
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