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MG MGA - Finally got to drive my MG! But...

I finally got to drive my MG! The thing hasn't moved under it's own power in 20+ years, so this is a real feeling of victory.

I want to thank everyone on this BBS for their helpful answers to my sometimes stupid questions. Now I know that:

* My breaks work in real conditions. I couldn't bleed them by pumping the break, but with Eezibleed it was very simple.

* I didn't destroy my transmission like I was afraid I might have. (see earlier post)

* These cars are really fun to drive.

But unfortunately I have a caveat. Some of you might remember that I had a damaged cylinder head that was leaking water into the oil. I got the head repaired, torqued it to 40 (cold) as the directions for the HRG head says, and let it idle. I didn't adjust the oil filter right, so it was leaking oil REALLY bad. And it was mocha colored. (I had added new oil.) I finally got the filter adjusted right. I may have to invest in one of those adapters that let you twist in a filter...

I was told that this mocha oil is probably oil coming from the oil cooler and parts of the engine you can't drain, so I drained the oil, added new oil, and let it idle a little. Not quite mocha this time, but still a little cloudy. So I drained it again and added new oil. Then I couldn't resist and drove it (and loved it!)

So now, I get back home after a short drive, check the oil from the dipstick, and it still looks a little cloudy. Sometimes when I check it, it's a little more cloudy than others. I still seems like an improvement, though. Here are the best pictures I could get:

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/4286/dsc07795je6.jpg
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/1395/dsc07796hr0.jpg

I don't think I have a leak as 1) my cylinder head was just repaired, 2) I put on a new head gasket and 3) when water was getting into my engine, the radiator fluid level was going down and this time it hasn't changed at all. Does anyone have any ideas about what's going on? Is this just a little discoloration from some water residue that I shouldn't worry about, or should I be worried?

Sorry if this was too long-winded. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

Darian
Darian Henderson

Real hard to see those pictures but the second one doesn't look bad.Your car has been sitting a long time and your Dad probably didn't bother changing it when he quit driving it.I'd just keep an eye on it, get it good and hot and change the filter and oil one more time.
gary starr

Congratulations!
Del Rawlins

Hi Darian. When coolant and oil mix ,it turns white/mocha which you already observed. This mixture gets pumped throughout the entire oil system, and can cling to internal parts. As Gary mentioned, just keep changing the oil and filter until all traces of white sludge are gone. Cheers, Glenn
Glenn

Thanks, I was beginning to worry that I'd finally brought this car back from the dead just to have a ruined engine...

I really appreciate it.

Well, here's to one more MG on the road!
Darian Henderson

This thread was discussed on 02/04/2007

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