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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.
- 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.
- 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'.
- 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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