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MG MGF Technical - TF160 possible HGF?

Driving along, temperature gauge climbs rapidly, oil gauge follows, pull off the road quickly and stop. Yes, I reckon it's the dreaded HGF, however garage is yet to confirm this.

Never revved it hard from cold, treated with kid gloves, but still a HGF......:-( :-( :-(
John Wilkes

John...what year TF do you have?
Blue Max

2002 (I guess it's one of the first off the line)
John Wilkes

Did you inspect the condition/level of the coolant John? Good news that you're still covered by warranty! :o)
Rob Bell

Rob, Coolant last checked just over a week ago, all looked OK at that time. After the failure needless to say coolant bottle was empty. I hope they don't try "wriggling" with the warranty stuff!
John Wilkes

Garage have now confirmed it as a HGF. The only good news is they said it would be back with me today.
John Wilkes

My TF160 is also an early build car...must keep a close eye on coolant levels after this worrying news :-(
Blue Max

Might be worth considering the new TF thermostat chaps - it certainly seems to be the best way to ward off future HGF according to LandRover...
Rob Bell

Still waiting for mine, with baited breath, the parts are simply not coming through. Very frustrating. Regards.
H.R. Bridge

I had my May 2002 TF160 HGF Oct/Nov 2003 ....best of luck people!
Darran

Rob,

Just wondering, is the new thermostat layout compatible with the F ???
Do you think my local dealer may be able to do the change ??? (part number ????)

maxime

ps : hello to your wife ;)
mabonnet

Hi Maxime

I'll pass on your greetings to Yimmy! :o)

Is the TF thermostat compatible with the MGF? The answer to that is yes! Dave will be having a kit supplied from Victoria fitted to his car shortly - the reality is pretty straightforward.
Can your order the parts from your MGR dealer? Then the answer to that is a theoretical 'yes' - but as Roy mentions above, these parts are in short supply, as very kit made seems to go straight onto a new-build car!
Part numbers? See http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/hgf_pages/cooling_system_modifications.htm for the parts listing - but be warned: the complete kit of parts costs somewhere in the region of 200-250 quid from MGR... :o( Hopefully the same parts will be a good deal cheaper from the MGFC once they're able to source more kits...
Rob Bell

When I picked the car up I quizzed the service manager about any modifications that may have been applied at the time of repair. His response was one of 'the head gasket is designed to fail when the coolant level drops'. Seems a bit of a drastic measure to me! Anyway I'm not convinced, I just think that MGR must have instructed all dealers to gloss over the HGF facts.

Car seems to be OK now, just hope it doesn't get another HGF else it's off to pastures new...........
John Wilkes

Your service manager isn't exactly wrong, but it is a dramatic gloss over of a somewhat complicated problem John!
Rob Bell

Thanks a lot rob :)

maxime
mabonnet

-Donīt you guys consider abnormal that many brand new TF may suffer HGF?.
-Have you become so used to awful building quality that do not realise that no other actual car would present such a number of failures?
-Donīt you think that is time to seriously start complaining to MG Rover?
BJ Lathwell

>His response was one of 'the head gasket is designed to fail when the coolant level drops'

It's much more of a case to say, the head gasket isn't designed to cope with the massive temps encountered when there isn't sufficent coolant. And why should it, the head gasket is a (relativly) cheap piece of kit to replace when you compare it with what might be next!!

>-Donīt you guys consider abnormal that many brand new TF may suffer HGF?.
No, any car can suffer HGF, and they all do in varying amounts, the fact that a very few people have reported it does not show a inherent weakness in the TF160

>-Have you become so used to awful building quality that do not realise that no other actual car would present such a number of failures?
See above

>-Donīt you think that is time to seriously start complaining to MG Rover?
In general the K does seem to chew gaskets faster than other engines, work has been done to help rectify this, time will tell on the TF160. Re time to complain, you are several years late with that comment, the Hall of Shame was set up specificly for this>
Will Munns

This thread was discussed between 02/04/2004 and 08/04/2004

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