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MG MGF Technical - Rad change

Just thought I'd mention this. Last night at the ER meet had my car pumped up back to a 4x4. (Thanks SF). Took it for a drive to check the height. On my return a small dribble from the front end. Further investigation pointed to a rad on the rotten side.

Changed it today, but Steve F suggested clamping the two pipes on the rad so as not to drain the rest of the car. Did this with some blocks of wood and a couple of G-clamps. Worked a treat. Not a single leak from the main pipes. Fitted new rad and connected bottom hose. Filled rad using the top bleed screw. Reconnected top pipe, and bled the clamped of area (the rad). Did this by squeezing the top pipe after the clamp and before the rad, forcing air/water out of the bleed screw and then with water free flowing from a bottle on the bleed screw, gently released the pipe so it sucked water, not air through the bleed screw. Removed clamps, opened pressure bottle and re-bled to be sure.

And now a question. The new rad is ally, is this normal? Don't mind as it's lighter and you can see it through the mesh :)
Richard P

TF rads are ally, F rads are brass. :-)

Top job Rich, what did the old one look like when it was removed mate? Looked pretty shot to me through the grille by torchlight last night mate. Any chance of a photo or two for the web? You know, just to illustrate the problem and hopefully help others out.

If you can get a decent pic or two and then an estimate on how old the rad is and approx mileage that'd be great.

:-)

SF
Scarlet Fever

Pics sent. Including my new ally one ;-)

Forgot to say 62500, 97 R year.

Shot wasn't the word. The bottom mounting bar had all but fallen off! When I wiggled it water poured out, can't believe it didn't pour out when hot and under pressure. Someone up there is smiling on me.

R
Richard P

I hope that you bled it properly in all that!

very important

Neil

1997 62,500 ill look at mine sunday...............................
m e johnson

Moving the battery ground connection all the way back to the engine block / generator or at least to the gearbox will solve the problem with corrosion on the radiator. Any heavy duty (minimum 35 sq mm) insulated cable will do.Some pict. on Dieters site. / Carl.
Carl Blom

Some tips for checking the radiator...

The rad sits on the front subframe cross member, between the bumper carrier / armature and the sparewheel recess (under the bonnet slam panel). It is therefore very difficult to inspect properly.

Some inspection can be carried out with a torch, in the shade / garage, through the front grille. Hold the torch behind the radiator, shining up onto the spare wheel recess, you should now be able to see the light through the radiator.

The rad is a series of horizontal tubes with a myriad of vertical cooling fins between them. The cooling fins are the first to go, becomming crumbly to the touch. Reach up to the rad from underneath and gently run your fingers over the rad surface (when the car is cold obviously), if it starts to crumble under your fingers then there is corrosion present, it tends to be patchy, and access isn't good so it is unlikely you will be able to get to the entire rad surface this way, as a last resort (particularly if it does feel crumbly, or there are substantial amounts of cooling fins missing from your visial inspection), you can access the top of the rad by undoing the securing bolts around the perimeter of the slam panel (no need to undo the bonnet release mechanism bolts, although with the slm panel off it is also a good idea to wrap some wire / zip tie around the end of the bonnet release cable to prevent it becomming detached).

Rich's pix make frightening viewing - i'm working on getting them hosted at the moment...

SF
Scarlet Fever

Carl,

I've noted from similar posts that you've made in the past that you put a number of corrosion problems in the F down to electrical current problems. This sounds like a good explanation to me - not that I know much about electrics, but I'm curious about one thing. What would make some cars more prone to this than others? My own '98 VVC is still on the original radiator and underbody pipes (all still in good order) yet I've seen three year old cars with them rotted through. What would make this happen? I mainly ask so that I can continue to ensure my F doesn't suffer :-)
Dave Livingstone

Rich's pix...

>> http://tinyurl.com/7yj2f << - Old rad
>> http://tinyurl.com/5e7qo << - Old Rad (close up)
>> http://tinyurl.com/4wlc7 << - New (TF) rad

SF
Scarlet Fever

The shame of it ;-)
Richard P

Hi Dave,
made voltage drop measurements some years ago along the structure of my beloved F. Initially started due to corrosion on the lower part of the radiator. And this on a car that NEVER seen any rain and due to garaging in a heated garage+ softcover doesn´t get too frequent washing.
So there had to be some other reason for the corrosion...
Had the chance to measure the circulating currents/voltage drop (with running engine and lights on as mandatory here in Sweden) with professional gear and found that some parts had to give in due to electrolysis ( sp?) even if keept normal dry ! This was even more so when using the EPAS that is a big electric power consumer.
By connecting a thick insulated cable ( 35mm sq.) from the neg.pole on the battery all the way under the car to the engine/generator/gearbox almost all voltage drop along the chassie was eleminated.
Have since then keept a close look on the lower part of the radiator - no more accelerated corrosion.
The radiator is placed in grommets that should be a kind of insulators BUT they probably are the same type of re-inforced "rubber" that SAAB used along the door-seals. This gave severe problems within one year with flaking paint and rust.. This was corrected on warranty and new seals without filler material were installed. / Carl.
Carl Blom

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the explanation :-) Might some cars have better insulation between the rad and the body? Could this explain why it happens on some cars and not others? Out of interest, my car has EPAS, so should be more prone then?

Dave
Dave Livingstone

This thread was discussed between 17/09/2004 and 20/09/2004

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