MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG 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 Midget and Sprite Technical - Cooling

I clicked on ‘MGB Technical’ by mistake and found this

as I know some here wont take my word for it I thought I'd put this it's a post from Stephen Strange, Virginia, USA on ‘MGB Technical’ forum

>> . . . and then be sure to use distilled water when you make your own mixture. Also, be sure to flush and descale the system in order to remove the 22+ years accumulation of muck, rust, and mineral deposits that act as insulators that retard heat from being dispelled by the coolant system If the heat is trapped in the metal of the engine, your water temperature gauge will not tell you. It measures only the heat in the coolant. The trapped heat has to be removed by the lubricating oil, which will shorten its useful life. You will be surprised at how much cooler the engine will run in the summer and how much warmer the heater will be in the winter.<<
Nigel Atkins

Go to MGA board, "coolant temperature".
You decide.

(biting tongue)

FRM
FR Millmore

well that done very little for my raging headache and started by eye twitching, I will come back to it

I'm (still) trying here to promote one of the basics which are unsexy, unmacho and non-technical but which are necessary for future progress and help with or prevent some possible future problems

these basics are also cheap and easy to do even for non-mechanical and non-technical owners (like myself)

whenever I've cleaned, flushed and reverse flush and flush again, engine, rad, matrix . . . (well you've probably seen the full lot of what I put) I've always found a load of crud comes out that I'm sure would have remained in there had I just drained, flushed refilled

back to your point - the tap water over here can fur your kettle up quite quickly in some parts of the country and carries a few additives for drinking purposes (other parts of the country you can almost watch it fur up as it comes out the tap)

if we rule out distilled and rain water then it leaves the premixed coolants, I've used one for many years and by coincidence it's also in my mate's 20 year old UK Toyota and I suspect it's the factory fill or at least not changed in his 8/9 year ownership and all my cars and his live outside, not mollycoddled and are at times driven with enthusiam

I used to just put tap water isn't always the best to use and not mention distilled perhaps I should go back to that
Nigel Atkins

I rarely if ever read other than the midget & Sprite BBS, but that link to the MGA Board discussion is really very interesting. Thanks FRM that is an excellent technical discussion and explanation!

I have always used plain tap water (+ anti-freeze) but then live in a soft water area. We get no kettle deposits at all; Ph is around 7 and-a-bit. Guess I am just lucky! I would never have imagined that anyone would use distilled water.
Guy Weller

Yes, good water = good. But, mineral deposits from Ca/Mg are easy to remove periodically with mild acids (vinegar etc), and will be minimal if the system doesn't require topping up a bunch. And beats having yr engine and rad et!

The cooling system should only see 2 gal liquid (half of it water) between changes, in a basically sealed system; your kettle might see thousands of hogsheads over years, and it is being boiled down constantly.

FRM
FR Millmore

Generally evaporation of hard water = deposits of lime scale. Disolved other reactive stuff = chemical reactions.

Sealed system with quality content = no deposits and no chemical reactions.

Simple's .....

Shame mine is not like that (yet)
Dave Squire - Notts

Thanks for posting that MGA link FR. A most enjoyable read.

My car is garaged all year long, so is no longer exposed to the frosts of winter. It's been that way since 1993. My garage is always above freezing in the winter. A combination of laziness, and money saving, gradually led me to not bothering to put anti-freeze in at all in the winter, and only topping up with plain tap water. Like Guy, my kettle element stays clean, and I have a 30 year old washing machine that has the original heating element, still only very lightly coated with deposits.

My engine runs at around normal if the gauge is accurate, and I can't remember the last time I opened the bonnet to clouds of steam. Being the pre-crossflow type, mine overflows to the underside, and comes out brown. If it's eating the engine, it's taking a long time to do it.

I've just bought an expansion tank on ebay, which should arrive any day now, and then I will have the recovery system that has been described elswhere. In the process I'll give it all a good flush, and see of the engine block collapses. lol.
Lawrence Slater

I wonder, will a domestic water filter jug filter out the calcium. Burton water is very hard, that's why they make beer here.
Pete Ottewell

one of my points is that if you've not had your car for donkey's years then you don't know the history so a good clean out and refill puts you in a postion of knowing what and when

my understanding is that the 'anti-freeze' will also have additives that will help maintain the cooling system too and these stop being effective before the antifreeze property hence the needs for more regular change than just just went the antifreeze bit goes off (more N-tech terminolgy there sorry)

we get fur on our cold taps here

lots of brewries over here 'Burtonise' their water for brewing
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 01/07/2012 and 02/07/2012

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.