MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGF Technical - Coolant questions

I was looking at my coolant level and it looks a little low so I would like to top it up.Its a green colour so what is the mixture I ask for and do I buy it at a dealers.The last question is about the coolant cap what should I look for
I have searched the archives but they were massive and i couldn't really spot the info I was after
Thanks chaps
Steve S790 TWJ
S C Holmes

Steve, the anti-freeze that you are after is stocked by your MGR parts dealer. It's a Unipart product - "Super 3" IIRC.

The coolant cap. Not much to inspect, really, that will give you a reliable indication of whether it is working properly.

Remove the cap, and look at the brass-coloured valve in its centre. The retaining rivit ought to be centralised. If not, then there may be a problem with it, although this is not a particularly reliable sign.

Best way to get it checked is to have it pressure tested - not something that you can do at home...

The other thing that you may read about are the famous 'white spots' - basically a blob of white paint on top of the cap.

This used to be a good sign that the cap on your MGF (if it were made before 1998) still had its old cap, as all the new ones had this 'white spot'.

Pretty meaningless now unfortunately; most cars now have the 'white spot' caps, and new ones you buy now don't have it...

Which begs the question: what exactly did this blob of paint actually mean? Clearly they were applied by hand - did it represent that the cap had passed a pressure test and passed quality control?
Rob Bell

Just top it up with water, it's a 50% mixture of coolant and water in a 5 litre systen
Will Munns

Make sure you know the min and max level indicators inside the expansion tank. Maximum is to the halfway seam. A minimum mark can be seen inside as a stepped marker on the boot side wall of the expansion tank.

A new cap only costs 3.50 so buy one any way when you're buying the coolant.

If the level is dropping it is worth finding out why, it is a closed system so should remain constant.
tim woolcott

Rob its a 98 car but with no spot on the cap so for the sake of a couple of quid I will buy new one.
I hardly ever look at the coolant level but it is below the stepped fin, which from the advice I recieved indicates its low so off to the dealers then for a few bits.
See you all on the 17th at MGF centre
thanks again
S C Holmes

Itīs even more,total system is 10,5 liters . So a slight dillution with pure water is OK. Try to find out if there is any damp spots under the car or even under the carpets after parking for some time.There are so many more places where a slight leak can be present other than thru the dreaded HGF or coolant cap.Lots of this in the archive...

BR, Carl.
Carl Blom

This thread was discussed on 27/06/2003

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MGF Technical BBS now