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MG MGA - Sticky temperature guage needle

Hi folks, I just took my MG out of storage and took her for a run. It appears that the temperature guage needle is sticking. THe guage moves a bit as the engine coolant heats, and then stop s dead in it's tracks. Anyone have any recommendations? Cheers, Glenn
Glenn

If it goes up only a little when the engine warms up, and you can tap on it and it doesn't improve, it's knackered (lost some of its volatile fluid). Prepare yourself for a $100 repair bill.
Barney Gaylord

Hi Barney. If the tube containing the volatile fluid had any type of leak, wouldnt the gauge stop working entirely? My gauge goes from the peg when cold, up to 160 as the engine coolant heats up, and then wont move any further. It seems the unit is working, but perhaps "sticking" internally. Is it possible that a moving part inside the guage just needs a bit of lubricant? thanks, Glenn
Glenn

Could your thermostat be stuck open? Maybe the gage is OK but your engine is not warming up past 160 deg.
Ed Bell

I have heard of one case with a piece of dirt in a pinion gear tooth, but that would be rare.

If the thermal bulb or connecting pipe has a very tiny leak some of the volatile fluid can be lost, and then the gauge can have a functional upper limit to the travel. This is a fairly common intermediate stage before full failure. If you just wait a while it may get worse, and then you know for sure.
Barney Gaylord

I had my fuel and Oil press/Water temp gages rebuilt by MOMA last spring. Every thing was fine at first, the temp gage would rise slowly as the engine warmed up. After a few uses (maybe 300 miles) the temp gage began to stick. I would let the engine warm up normally and the gage didn't move and then would suddenly pop to the correct temperature. I discovered that tapping on the gage face would sometimes causes it to pop up when it hadn't moved. Only seems to happen on the first run of the day and doesn't always happen. Gage seems to read fine otherwise. I have no idea why it does this. No, I haven't let MOMA know about this. Too msny other issues to deal with. Car is still getting ready for final paint. (Yes, I drove it in primer) Thanks for the reminder.

GTF
G T Foster

This thread was discussed between 05/05/2007 and 08/05/2007

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