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Cooling System
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Overview
- Rob Bell has this excellent
page which graphically explains the cooling system and possible
routes for improvement.
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Head gasket failure (commonly known as HGF)
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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.
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Coolant refilling
- Tony Thompson gives detailed instructions on
this page.
- Dieters web site has this page on bleeding the
coolant.
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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.
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Hose / clamp sizes
- Dieter has this page with an
excellent colour coded graphic indicating hose and clamp sizes. Be aware
though that this page is 'under construction'.
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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.
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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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