Mobile mechanics & garage services

[mail@alaister.co.uk]

I thought I should bring you up to date with the work I've been doing on that blown head gasket. During the rebuild, I discovered why the auxiliary belt tensioner bolt had not been even finger tight, it's because it's inaccessible with a normal socket, as it's behind part of the subframe that should be removed to do this job, but which is pretty well impossible to remove and hadn't been by me or the last mechanic. This definitely contributed to the access difficulties I'd encountered. I persevered by trying sockets with smaller and smaller drives till I found that a tiny 1/4" drive socket with its slimline extension just squeezed on, whereas that incompetent mechanic, as with the seized bleed screw, simply hadn't bothered!

So, after much effort, the mechanical side of the job was finally finished, with still bits of panels etc. to fit, but I was leaving those till I was sure all was well. I filled it with plain water at that stage to ensure there wee no leaks before charging it with expensive coolant and commenced the bleeding operation. I was surprised by the amount of air that came out, especially from the bleed screw in the engine bay, as it took almost three litres to refill the reservoir after that one!

I started the engine - first time! - and it settled down to a nice tickover. There were lots of tappety noises, but I figured the hydraulic tappets were probably not yet filled with oil and that they would settle down with running and so it proved. There was also lots of vapour from the exhausts, but that was probably not surprising considering the gasket failure occurred on the exhaust side and that too disappeared on running. I let the engine run up to temperature and left it running to ensure it didn't overheat, but it remained reassuringly steady. However, the battery light was on, so I made sure I'd made all the alternator connections correctly, but after only an hour the engine faultered, died and wouldn't turn over again; the battery was dead. This is a new, heavy duty battery and should have kept the car running for longer, so something was wrong. I hooked the car up with jumper cables to another car, restarted it and checked the output from the alternator - nothing! I ran it to to 2000rpm and still nothing, the alternator was indeed dead, probably short circuited when it was drowned with water from that burst cooling system hose.

I ordered a new alternator on the Thursday and paid extra for delivery next morning - I wanted to be driving it that weekend! However, the cable connections were quite different: two screw terminals instead of one screw and one multiplug. Contacted Rimmer and after some checking by their customer services guy, he confirmed I'd been sent the wrong type, it was the one for the non AC model, whereas I'd ordered the one for the car with AC. (Despite this mix up, I have to say Rimmer's online ordering system is quite superb, as I found it very easy to identify and order even the smallest nut or bolt.) The correct model was sent out FOC on overnight delivery, even though it was almost 5:00 on a Friday afternoon, but due to a courier cockup it didn't arrive till the Sunday - the best laid plans of mice and men!

Fitted the alternator and fired up the engine again - I'd charged the battery by then - but the battery light was still on! Hooked up my multimeter and it showed only 8 volts at the alternator when I was looking for at least 14. Was it also dud, which seemed unlikely? So it was back to this forum to see if anyone else has had this problem and eventually I found what could be the answer: an 80 amp maxi fuse mounted on the bulkhead between the boot and the engine bay blows when the alternator packs up and so it proved. Halfords had to get one in, but fitting it the next day solved the charging issue and now I'd 14.4 volts at the alternator.

Took the car for a couple of short drives to sort out those tappets, clear the exhaust and make sure it was behaving properly, but, while all was well, I decided to remove the two fans at the radiator to ensure they were working, as I hadn't heard them activate. They were both indeed working well, as was the one in the engine bay, so I was now happy to take the car on a longer journey, which proved to be an excellent test of the cooling system and those fans. After draining the cooling system of water, filling it with proper coolant and bleeding the system twice: once when cold and engine not running and later when hot with the engine running, I was finally ready for that longer drive. I drove it to the Dorset Steam Fair last Friday and, such was the traffic, it took us over an hour to get from Blandford to the site, about three miles, so we were sitting in a virtually stationary queue with the engine running for all that time - a major test of the cooling system! - and it behaved faultlessly and I was delighted!

One other point worth mentioning: when I bought the car it was well down on its suspension and the steering wheel wasn't aligned properly, so I had the suspension pumped up and the wheels aligned and what a difference to the steering, handling and ride quality. The car may look as if it's on stilts by comparison, but the improvement in comfort overrode any aesthetic concerns! Then, when I'd finished the engine and lowered the car onto rough ground I thought one of the tyres looked a bit flat, so it was off to the garage to have them all checked. I found these low profile 215/40 R16 tyres were all OVER inflated and, after I'd reduced the pressure, the difference in handling, steering, roadholding and ride quality were again improved immensely, and now the car feels so much more chuckable and almost like new. In fact, I consider it worth all the expense and hassle I've had to get to the car I now have, so please, anybody else in the position of deciding whether or not to carry out expensive repairs I say do it - but properly!

But finally, to return to the topic of this thread, I had to take another car to our trusted mechanic for its MoT and told him my tale of woes, blaming that rogue mechanic. He was having none of it, saying there were 'ways around that seized bleed screw by putting the car at various angles', suggesting he too had not bled these cars properly either! He then went on to say the HG was guaranteed to blow on this engine, blaming the 'crazy through bolt way of attaching the head', saying they stretched and allowed the steel liners to move and the seals at their bases to go. He told me of a neighbouring mechanic who, in the early days of the MGF, made a decent living out rebuilding these engines, saying he could take the car in at 9:00, remove the engine, replace those seals, replace the HG and have the engine back in the car running by 5:00! Maybe he could, but I doubt he did it with us much care as I took.

Anyway, my mechanic, a major Honda engine fan, reckons my car's HG has probably been replaced many times - I don't think so! - and he has bet me my car will need the same work done within a year or 10,000 miles. Well if you don't do the work properly, maybe that's true, but I hope the care I took to do the job properly will make the difference, we'll just have to wait and see!

[talkingcars]

That was good customer service from Rimmers. The 2 nut alternator is for mk1 cars, the alternator with the multi plug is for mk2 F and TF, the extra wire is so the ECU can monitor current draw and adjust the engine fuelling to compensate.

A simple way to test the front rad fan (2 are normally only found on A/C or export models) is to unplug the black coolant temp sensor (blue on mk1).

Pleased the car is running well.

[Stan_B]

most recent thread to resurrect. is Russell at MG Rover Solutions still in business. i have sent him an email and left a voice mail but have not had an answer?

[Charless]

He was always a bit haphazard with communication, so I stopped using him years ago and learned to do it myself. I don't know the answer to your question but there are a couple of others who are well reported - John of Roughluck racing and Mike at MJS automarine. Again I don't know for a fact that they are still going but worth contacting as both are more responsive.

[nigelandjo]

John & Clare at Roughluck Racing are still in business )but you may have to wait a couple of months for them to be in your area as they are busy). Mike at MJS has just become the new MGCC General Manager.

[David Dixon]

Seven to eight months wait I was quoted recently from Roughluck.

[c13amb]

Seven to eight months wait I was quoted recently from Roughluck.

What did you want doing David? I was thinking of asking them to do a cambelt service and sort my window shutting problem along with my ongoing emissions issue!! When did you ask? I might have to "book in" earlier than I thought

[David Dixon]

Investigate coolant loss likely pointing towards the first sign of HGF, though other than the coolant loss no other symptons. They fitted amongst other work S/S underbody coolant pipes in July 2021 (standard of work was excellent by the way) and the MG has only done just over 100 miles since for unexpected and unconnected reasons, and then winter SORNed. I noticed coolant loss in February after periodic start up and out of garage airing. Emailed back and forth in February discussing symptons, with final email in early March saying they couldn't look at the car until October. Fortunately I have found local specialist that is (by trailer) picking up the car next week. For clarity I realise that any HGF symptons/issues if that is the case may predate the fitting of the coolant pipes, but as only just over 100 miles travelled and a few engines start ups since they should be allowed the opportunity to investigate it first. However I am not prepared to wait until October.

[Stan_B]

Thanks all. Really helpful feedback. I was not going to try MJS anyway so I may contact Rough Luck to check lead time as I know someone who got outstanding service from them.