MG MGF Technical Head Gasket Replacement - On a budget BBS discussion at MG-Cars.info

MG MGF Technical - Head Gasket Replacement - On a budget

Over the past ten years, my MG and Rover mad son and I have replaced the CHG on about ten K-Series cars, including three VVCs. Mostly family cars but a few cars owned by friends and relatives. In each case we have used the MLS ( Multi-Later-Steel ) gasket and it's head saver shim. It is very similar in construction to the "Klinger" MLS gaskets used by Rover on their turbocharged T-Series engines as fitted to the Rover 620ti. With one exception, no new through bolts were used. Just the originals as fitted by the factory on the engine production line provided they look in good condition, and the engine did not severely overheat when the gasket was damaged. Touch wood, every Cylinder Head Gasket we have repaired has continued to give good reliable service and the coolant levels hardly move at all except by normal expansion and contraction. My son runs a Lotus Elise S2 with the 1.8 K-Series. Has a similar engine configuration layout to the MGF/TFs. In the three years and over 20,000 miles he's had it, the coolant level has not moved. The most important thing we believe is identifying and rectifying the cause of the cylinder head gasket being damaged. Also, checking and the cleaning up preparation of the block-head interface is very important of course. In most cases it was a worn water pump allowing coolant to escape and in one instance, poor pro-servicing fitting an exhaust manifold gasket incorrectly which did not allow the coolant elbow to seat and seal properly so coolant escaped that way. Fortunately the owner spotted it in good time and stopped using the car before more serious overheating damage. Two K-Series cars bought new in the family, one Rover Metro in 1993 and the other an MG ZS 120+ in 2003, still no sign of CHG so called 'failure'. The Water Pumps have been renewed. When renewing the CHGs on the K-Series, ALWAYS renew the Water Pump. In my limited experience, worn water pumps are a prime cause of coolant loss leading to so called CHG "failure" damage. After close on fifty years of rover and MG Motoring, I have again sampled 2-Seater motoring after over forty years when i sold my MGB back in 1970. Bought this little beauty with a long list of 'fails' on the MoT failure sheet. Been enjoying lots of top-down motoring in the superb recent sunny weather. Here's the MGF and my MGB from the 1960s. Close on fifty years of MG Motoring ... can't be bad ... ;).

MGJohn

and the current MG 2-seater :~

MGJohn

This thread was discussed between 28/07/2013 and 16/08/2013

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