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MG MGF Technical - head gasket - how do I trust garage

My MGF had a head gasket blow (nothing new there I hear you cry) but the annoying thing is that I just had a new engine fitted four months ago. The garage gave me 12 months guarantee or 10K. I have done only about 4K. So in theory I should be quite relaxed that the garage will fix it but I don't trust them. I am suspicious that they will try to blame something else like the cooling system to get them off the hook. To that end I would like to get check the car first to ensure that everything is okay before I take it back.

So I need to ask a few questions:

1. Exactly what could a garage refuse to accept responsibility for, I mean if it is genuine engine fault and nothing else is wrong they will take it but what other things could they say went wrong first that caused it and so it is not their problem?

2. I can check the fan and I know there are no leaks but how easy is it to check the thermostat, the temperature gauge and the water pump?

3. Can these things be checked without actually taking the engine out of the car, because I certainly do not want to do that and risk the garage getting the hump?

5. Apart from the water pump leaking coolant how likely is it that it has failed? I thought it was a basic mechanical device that pretty much was guaranteed to work provided the belt was turning it and there were no damaged seals.

4. Finally is it possible to tell the cause of the fault even if these things are broken? I mean if the thermostat/temp gauge goes it can cause the engine to overheat and the head to blow, but if the head goes and the engine overheats could this cause the thermostat/temp gauge to fail. Is it possible to tell which came first in this circumstance thermostat/gauge failure or head failure?

The garage is a main dealership but I still do not trust them and think I would be a fool to allow them to get the car back and believe they would be deadly honest about whether or not they are responsible for about £2500 worth of repairs.
J Davidson

Did they supply and fit the new engine ?
Or was this a recon/second hand engine that you sourced and asked them to fit ?

If it's the first, then the garage should only refuse to honour the warranty if you've failed to take reasonable care - the engine's not been run-in as per instructions, or coolant / oil levels have not been maintained.

If you've done that, then do nothing more.
You've paid them to fix it, and they've guaranteed the work. Unless you can provide an *expert* opinion on what's gone wrong, then do not examine further than a 'reasonable' owner would.
If they don't honour the warranty, go to trading standards.

I would suspect that the cooling system was not fully flushed / bled. That's fully their problem.

If you really don't trust them, then get someone you do trust to check their work
Steve

HGF are normally the consequence of a component in the cooling system failing. If that fault was not identified & rectified at the time of your original HGF, then it is possible that that’s why the HG has failed again. In this situation, IMO you should be covered by the warranty on the work as it was the garage's fault they did not find the problem and fix it last time. It doesn't matter how many times they replace the gasket, unless they find the root cause it will keep failing. If they fitted a new water pump at the time of the first HG repair then it definitely should not have failed within 4 months. If however they re-fitted your original one or used the one of the replacement engine, then it is possible that it is causing the HGF's, as they do wear over time but you should still be covered by the warranty if they supplied the parts.

Steve
Steve White

Firstly thank you for your adive and opinions.

The garage supplied the engine. I think it was a recon engine but at any rate I had nothing to do with sourcing it, it was all down to them.

They did all labour and supplied relevant parts but I do have a list of parts used and they seem to have refitted the old coolant system so they put back on the water pump the thermostat and the temperature sensor.

My concern is that they would blame a broken sensor or thermostat. From what you say that would not be considered fair as you reckon if they were sensible they would have replaced these things anyway at the time.

Thank you both for your advice it is quite reassuring. I can get the AA to tow me back to the garage and I was figuring I could get the AA to check over the car just to prevent the garage from lying. The garage is okay but I do think they would have no hesitation in blaming another component if they thought they could get away with it. The car is old and I could not justify spending £2K more of my own money on it as I spent that just a few months ago. If I am unable to get them to fix it then I will probably be back on this website offering it for sale for repair.

But like I asked earlier when a car overheats can that cause the thermostat and temperature sensor to break? I mean if you opened up a badly heated car with HGF and found those things broken would you definitively be able to say that one happened before the other. I figured that as these are quite sensitive pieces of equipment that overheating could cause them to break anyway, so you could never tell. Or are they always only broken when they have broken by themselves?
J Davidson

>but I do have a list of parts used and they seem to have
>refitted the old coolant system so they put back on the
>water pump
not lightly, this will come fitted
>the thermostat
Not lightly on a recon, also unlightly to cause a HGF unless you drove it some distance in the red
>and the temperature sensor.
very lightly your old one

None of these parts should fail during/after a HGF.

So faulty temp sensor or radiator or fan fuse I might expect them to quibble, else you should be OK.

Again without details it is difficult to say if these things might have caused your problem. eg it is perfectly possible that you could drive around all year with a bust sensor and fuse and never overheat, depends on where you drive and how.
Will Munns

my head gasket has just gone and before i get it repaired i really want to find out how much i will be looking to pay to get it done.i dont want to get ripped off by any garage.can anyone help please thanks.Will.
WT ACREMAN

This thread was discussed between 05/01/2005 and 06/01/2005

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