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 MGB Technical - B automatic

I read in an article this week that the Boeg Warner as used in an MG B does not take just any ATF. Does anybody know the reason / What oil should I use ?

Thanks, Bas
Bas

British Leyland Shop Manual calls for Automatic Transmission Fluid Type F with a capacity of 10 1/2 pints.

Gotta wonder if what you have is what they put in?

Manual (1970) says Castrol TQF -- Mobil ATF 210.

There's a complete section on auto gearbox and I'd be happy to try to translate any other questions.
glg

Just for what it's worth -- The MG 1100 Series:

"The engine and transmission on the 1100 series are both lubricated by the engine oil so it is doubly important that level be kept at proper level....." from a Chilton book.

hth - glg
glg

Thanks for the advice!!

Actually I am not working on an MG-B but I have put a Morris Marina + Autobox (Borg Warner type 35 ?) in a pre war MG VA. What puzzles me also is the fact that there is no oil cooler for the gearbox. Would that be correct ?
Bas

Have no idea what you are talking about.
glg

MG-B and Morris Marina both share a BMC B-series engine and in case of an automatic both have a Borg Warner type 35. Does the MG B auto have an oilcooler for the box ??

Thanks.
Bas

Bas
I would have thought that the oil cooler for any auto box is needed only when it has to work hard, ie towing. Your installation sounds intresting, but being a fairly heavy car I would have thought that you might like to install an oil cooler 'just incase'(?).
As the Magnette was also fitted with the same 'box may be you should as there if an oil cooler was ever fitted.
I understood that the authorities over here do not take likely any changes to a car. How did you get away with it?
BTW for those who dont know what a Morris Marina is, you may know them as Austins.
Another BTW the type 35 'box was fitted to the Stag until '76 then replaced by the type 65. The same for a Triumph 2000/2500PI. Plus many many others!!
Cecil Kimber

Bas --

Looked through the Brit Leyland Shop manual, which covers everything about the automatic, and as far as I could see, no mention of an oil cooler.

The Chilton book for MG, midget and 1100 series cars does not mention transmission oilcooler either.

There is no mention in any exploded view for any connection to a cooler.

How's that help you?
glg

I have a 1969 MGC with BW 35. It came from the factory with a transmission cooler mounted below the engine oil cooler. This MAY have been standard in the MGC auto as there is very little room between the transmission tunnel and transmission for air flow, trapping a lot of under bonnet heat.

I had a roommate in college (back in the very early '70s) that had a 1972 MGB/GT with autobox. I have no clue if it used a transmission cooler or not.

Obviously, do NOT use Castrol 20/50 in the BW unit! As Bob M. states, use type F Dextron, etc.

Regards...

rick
rick ingram

Cecil wrote:

""I understood that the authorities over here do not take likely any changes to a car. How did you get away with it?""

The car's registration only mentions 4 cylinder engine; nothing has changed to that, nor is there a mention about the type of gearbox. I guess and hope that I will get away with it at the next MOT !!

Useally the MOT testers don't have a clue what to look for at a car of that age.

Fancy a test drive ?

Cheers, Bas

Bas

Bas --

A test drive or road approved country tour would not be complete without a certian Lady Doctor!

Wishing you and your motor car well ---

glg
glg

Bas,

As far as I can tell all MGB's equipped with the BW automatic (sold primarily in the UK) were not equipped with the cooler from the factory. Rick Ingram has it correct with the MGC BW automatic were equipped with a cooler from the factory. The MGB automatic was never marketed here in the USA?

Regards,

L.C. '74 MGB/GT
Larry C.

Larry
The Auto 'box was primarly designed for the USA as it is 'you' folks who have a penchant for slush boxes.

Bas
We have to meet up soon as I am hopefully moving to Spain at the end of January. Email me to make arrangements
Cecil Kimber

The Austin 1800 probably had an automatic. It would have shared oil with the tranny. From what I have been able to uncover is the MGB automatic and the Austin automatic shared the same planetary gears and other components. I would suspect that the MGB automatic used motor oil. Worth checking out?
Dann Wade

Dann

The Austin 1800 is Front wheel drive and the MG rear wheeel drive they did not use the same 'box. The Austin used a 4 speed AP 'box where as the MG used the 3 speed BW 'box.
Cecil Kimber

The MGB Auto did not have a gearbox oil cooler (neither did two SD1s I had with the same box), and unlike the 4-cylinder manual the gearbox used automatic transmission fluid, as did the SD1s.
Paul Hunt

C.K.,

Too bad you weren't around to advise those poor marketing chaps at BMC/BL who never exported those "slush boxes" to the states. Like everything else built at Abingdon, we would have "happily" bought every one!

Say while I have you then, any word why we can't buy a new M.G. of any sort here now. It's been quite some time now, and I hear MGR could use the cash? Maybe a little nudge from you might help, what say you then?

Regards,

L.C. '74 B/GT
Larry C

I believe most Automatic B's went to Australia.

Funny a Rover SD 1 did not have an oilcooler while an MG C had one fitted.
SD 1 is certainly heavy and powerfull ??
Bas

I suspect MG will not ship any more MG's to North America because of the environmental gizmos and gadgets that North American cars are stuck with. They would not want a repeat of the MG fiasco in the '70s.
K.G. Martin

Auto B's in Oz have a BW35 which makes the car feel and drive like you left the handbrake on.

BW35 is probably best filled with treacle. Throw it away and buy a manual GB and clutch pedal.

PS. The 35 is interchangeable with the 40 which I beleive is a much stronger box (read reliable)

Allan
Allan

Allan
I belive Bas can not drive a car with a manual 'box. So he has converted his beloved VA. It may be slower but he can still keep using the car.
Cecil Kimber

"any word why we can't buy a new M.G. of any sort here now. "

To accumulate you have to speculate. To speculate you have to have cash up front. They haven't got enough money to produce in enough volume to make it worthwhile, and they have said they don't want anyone else to act as a franchise for small volumes like some small British manufacturers. They have also said that past problems with importers are not a bar to re-entry. There may come a time when they will be able to, which is why they do various things to put the MG name in the public eye. In the meantime you will just have to do a personal import from Mexico.
Paul Hunt

Paul,

Thanks, but if I had to speculate I'd say the only way we will see re-entry of M.G. here (state-side) their will need to be merger, or buy-out. Mexico doesn't even seem to be a good option for what it's worth.

Regards,

L.C.
Larry C.

I thought this was about oil coolers on BW boxes ?

Thanks for all the input anyway.

Bas
Bas

O.K. If we eventually get a new MG here in the States, will it have a BW auto box and will it use an oil cooler? Will it look like an SD1 or an MGC and will it be front wheel drive like an Austin 1800 or a rear wheel drive that runs like it has the handbrake on while using ATF? Just curious.
David
David

Trust the Septic Tanks to try and high jack another thread!!! :-(
Cecil Kimber

Bas,

Use normal "Ford" ATF Fuild and you will not need a cooler. The BW35 will only need a cooler if it is used for towing anything above 1.5 ton. The BW35 is on many Aussie cars from the seventies to mid eighties when it was superceded by the bw 40 and others. Many of these cars run fine without coolers. The cooler is related more to effort than ambient temps.

Allan
allan

BAS,
I looked in one of my old MGB owners handbook, and as glg says, it takes Castrol TQF. I also looked up BW type 35 and it says it was used in the L/M Capri imported to the states in the early 70s. The BW35 in the Capri used a transmission cooler, according to the factory repair manual.
Maybe you could order the replacement cooler and lines from FoMoCo and it would fit your tranny. ??? Just a thought.
Cleve

This thread was discussed between 06/12/2003 and 10/12/2003

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.