Going British...

[KIT :)]

Hullo, I'm new around here and new to the world of MGs. It's always been my ambition to own an MG so after 10 years of playing around with Alfa Romeos I've finally decided to sell my Italian motors (Mito & Spider) and go British. I am now the proud owner of an MG TF 160 in trophy blue, and what a car it is! I used to be a regular member of an Alfa club and enjoyed all the meetups and banter so thought that I better search out an online community for the MG marque. So here I am!

Typically with my new car comes my first new problem so I'll skip over to the technical forum and see if it can be fixed.

All the best,

Kit

[nigelandjo]

Welcome to the MG Car Club, MGF Register forum.

[KIT :)]

Many thanks! It's good to be here.

One question, when I bought the car off the fella he said that I should replace the coolant cap every 2 years. That sounded really odd, is this legit advice?

[Chris Tideswell]

I am not sure that I would replace the cap every two years but I would get one now and keep it in the boot just in case one fitted fails.

[talkingcars]

Hi and welcome to the world of MG, I got an Alfa 159 to replace my ZS as I could see so many similarities between the 2 marques.

Personally I change the header tank cap every year, a genuine one is only about £5 and is one of the important components in the cooling system.
I quite often buy 2 and put the second in the boot as a spare, when we sold my wifes ZR160 to my son we found 3 in the boot.

James

[KIT :)]

I am not sure that I would replace the cap every two years but I would get one now and keep it in the boot just in case one fitted fails.

How does it fail, what do I need to look out for.

Hi and welcome to the world of MG, I got an Alfa 159 to replace my ZS as I could see so many similarities between the 2 marques.

Alfas are great cars (contrary to popular belief) and they'll always have a place in my heart. It's a great community too, you often get a wave in passing from fellow Alfa drivers. I was wondering if the same went for MG owners, then I was driving into Hereford last weekend and passed someone in an MGF who waved at me. That made my day!

[talkingcars]

The cap is meant to release pressure.
It can fail by either not closing again after venting pressure so the cooling system no longer maintains the correct operating pressure.
Or it doesn't open to release pressure so causes something to fail and release pressure. This is either a hose or the header tank.

If any resulting leak isn't fixed it can lead to loss of coolant and eventually the head gasket fails.