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MG MGB Technical - White smoke

Hi, Just got in from a run in the B and a friend, who was following in his B, said that he saw puffs of white smoke from the exhaust whenever I changed gear. I've checked under the oil filler cap and the dipstick and cant' see any sign of coolant in the oil. Anybody got any ideas? The engine has done about 5000 miles since a professional rebuild and is running well.
Ken Martin

If it has power brakes the booster could have a ruptured diaphram allowing the engine to draw brake fluid into the intake manifold and then into the combustion chambers. Check the master cylinder to see if the fluid level has dropped. Ray
RAY

No, it's a '71, no power brakes. Thanks anyway.
Ken Martin

Ken, I would run a cooling system pressure test. If the pressure leaks down quickly there is a leak somewhere in the cooling system. After the static test check the pressure with the engine running. If pressure builds up there is a combustion leak into the cooling system. The obvious places for a leak are the head gasket, and cracks in the head or block. It wouldn't hurt to torque the head bolts or verify the torque is correct. Check this article for how to do a cooling pressure test.
http://www.dippy.org/svcman/sm07.html#TESTCOOL

Clifton
Clifton Gordon

Hi Clifton
Just had a good look at the head this morning and there are some spots of dried cooling fluid right by the side of the # 2 plug and what appears to be a fine crack - which is a pain, as the head was cracked when I bought the car and I had it fusion welded when the engine was rebuilt. #%$^&#@
Thanks for the advice anyway.
Ken
Ken Martin

This thread was discussed between 02/04/2006 and 03/04/2006

MG MGB Technical index

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