Coolant alarm kit fitted
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Not many rules really, this board being aimed at technical issues, it shouldn't fall foul (hopefully) of some of the more personal issues that can affect forums.
Rule 1 - Is that you need to think very carefully before posting anything technical or asking anything technical relating to the security system of the car - See 'Security Issues' sticky for more info.
Rule 2 - We (MGF Register) do not support copyright infringement and therefore references to CD ROM, PDF versions or paper copies of the workshop manual (for instance) should not be posted on the forum. We don't want to get into trouble and we'd rather sell you a genuine hard copy through our Regalia shop anyway!
Because advice is honestly and freely given in this technical section, much of it will be amateur experienced based, so any information is given in good faith and is not guaranteed as correct.
Coolant alarm kit fitted
Hi All,
Earlier this week I fitted B & G’s CL alarm kit. It’s working perfectly I.e. the self test does its thing every ignition and I tested the float before I piped the tank up.
In the original tank the coolant level was up the ridge about halfway up the tank. Now the level is as per the photo.
I need to add that at the same time as the CL kit was fitted I replaced the radiator bleed screw and lost about an egg cup full of coolant. When changing the tanks I siphoned out the original coolant into a 1 litre bottle that over flowed a little. I then put the coolant back in from the bottle. So, if anything the coolant level should be slightly lower. My first thought is there’s some air got in and if so it’ll need bleeding. Your thoughts on this would be helpful.
The temperature gauge is as it has always been and I’ve probably done about 10-15 miles since.
Cheers,
Michael.
Earlier this week I fitted B & G’s CL alarm kit. It’s working perfectly I.e. the self test does its thing every ignition and I tested the float before I piped the tank up.
In the original tank the coolant level was up the ridge about halfway up the tank. Now the level is as per the photo.
I need to add that at the same time as the CL kit was fitted I replaced the radiator bleed screw and lost about an egg cup full of coolant. When changing the tanks I siphoned out the original coolant into a 1 litre bottle that over flowed a little. I then put the coolant back in from the bottle. So, if anything the coolant level should be slightly lower. My first thought is there’s some air got in and if so it’ll need bleeding. Your thoughts on this would be helpful.
The temperature gauge is as it has always been and I’ve probably done about 10-15 miles since.
Cheers,
Michael.
MY2003 MG TF160. - 61k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
- Steve55
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2021 7:12 pm
- MGF Register Region: East Midlands
- Model of Car: MGTF 135 Sunstorm
- Location: E Mids
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
Photo?
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
Ah yes! Well spotted. SMH
Cheers.MY2003 MG TF160. - 61k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
- Charless
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- Location: Chilbolton
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
I would let it have a few cooling and heating cycles to establish the level before undertaking anything possibly unnecessary - the levels tend to settle after disturbance. The radiator cap is lower than the coolant reservoir so some water should have come out but no air should have got in up front.
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
Thanks Charles,
Reassuring to know. I’m pretty sure if any air got in it’d have been in the large pipe under the tank as I changed it over.
Cheers,
Michael.
Reassuring to know. I’m pretty sure if any air got in it’d have been in the large pipe under the tank as I changed it over.
Cheers,
Michael.
MY2003 MG TF160. - 61k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
- mgtfnut
- Posts: 788
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- Model of Car: TF 135
- Location: Dinas Powys
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
Good advice. In one sense I'm lucky as I park on my drive facing downhill, so over over time any entrained air finds it's way uphillCharless wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 9:05 amI would let it have a few cooling and heating cycles to establish the level before undertaking anything possibly unnecessary - the levels tend to settle after disturbance. The radiator cap is lower than the coolant reservoir so some water should have come out but no air should have got in up front.
If your old header tank is ok, you might think about using it as a test facility for the pressure cap. If you're handy and have some sort of variable low pressure air supply.
I've been testing my old yellow Halfords cap for the last 17 years and it is still ok, lifting and re-setting on release of air pressure at the correct pressures. I still carry an OEM cap as a "spare" just in case.
Jerry
MG TF 135 - 100k
Suzuki SJ 413 - 309k
Skoda Yeti SE 110 4x4 - 131k
MG TF 135 - 100k
Suzuki SJ 413 - 309k
Skoda Yeti SE 110 4x4 - 131k
- RobboMC
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- Model of Car: 1999 Mpi
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
For the next person doing this job:
I changed my old weeping tank with a new one recently,
by strapping the feed pipe up to the boot lid it's possible to make the opening the highest point in the system, As you can see it's rough and dirty with some duct tape, but it works.
The red staining is where the old tank was dribbling. The new one is much better as I can now
actually see the coolant level
I changed my old weeping tank with a new one recently,
by strapping the feed pipe up to the boot lid it's possible to make the opening the highest point in the system, As you can see it's rough and dirty with some duct tape, but it works.
The red staining is where the old tank was dribbling. The new one is much better as I can now
actually see the coolant level
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
Thanks to all who took the time to reply.
Robbo, I did a variation of your method. I wedged a lump of wood under the bottom pipe to keep it as high as possible.
The level seems to have stayed where it was with no issues. I must have done a good 75 miles now so think it’s ok.
Cheers,
Michael.
Robbo, I did a variation of your method. I wedged a lump of wood under the bottom pipe to keep it as high as possible.
The level seems to have stayed where it was with no issues. I must have done a good 75 miles now so think it’s ok.
Cheers,
Michael.
MY2003 MG TF160. - 61k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
MY2006 Freelander Td4. - 151k
-
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2023 3:48 pm
- MGF Register Region: South East
- Model of Car: TF 135 Sunstorm
Re: Coolant alarm kit fitted
Its well worth fitting a low coolant alarm. Ive fitted Bruce Cotsell's alarms to both my 115 and 135. On the 135 i decided to incorporate a variable delay unit to avoid false positives during hard cornering.
Not that ive actually had any false positives but as the delay units are 2x for £ 4.95 on Ebay and very easy to wire in it seemed a no brainer
Not that ive actually had any false positives but as the delay units are 2x for £ 4.95 on Ebay and very easy to wire in it seemed a no brainer