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MG MGF Technical - Camblet died

Hi there

My cambelt on my '96 MGF 1.8i VVC appears to have died on me. My car broke down on the weekend and the Gleen Flag guy reckons that's the problem.

Is anyone aware of any MGF specialists in the Essex area who will be able to fix this problem and roughly how much will this cost?

I can purchase the cambelts myself for £40 and £20 pounds front and rear, so it's really the labour i'm concerned about.

I only bought this car recently!

Many thanks x
Manda

I can't help with a recommendation I'm afraid, but I fear you may be looking at a lot more than the cost of the belts. It depends on how serious the damage is. Unfortunately if a cambelt breaks it very often causes serous damage, as the valves can colide with the pistons. If you're lucky and the engine was running at low speed (like idle) when the belt broke there may not be so much damage - either way DO NOT attempt to start the engine until it's been to a garage!

Tim
Tim Jenner

Unfortunately as the k-series engine is an interference engine (unless you are very-very lucky) the minimum damage if the cambelt has snapped will probably be bent valves so the head will have to come off and if the pistons are damaged a ‘new’ engine will possibly be the best bet.
C Tideswell

Steve Tyler of British Legends is the guy for you! He is your local MGF specialist.

In a worst case scenario, a stripped re-con unit from XPart is £1800 plus VAT and fitting. Hopefully, your car can be fixed for considerably less than this.

Ralph
Ralph Gadsby

At the moment Rimmer Bros.are doing new vvc's for around £1700

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/cgi-bin/rimmer?findpart&PartID=LBB002300&Page=xpart/mg_rover

Don't know if they have any left though.
Pete C

Hi Manda, give me a call whenever you like. The number is 01702 511123, we're based by Southend airport using airport transfers sevenoaks.
P.S that number will divert to my mobile out of hours.

Steve @ British Legends


(Thanks for the plug Ralph)
Steve T

If the cambelts have been ignored, it might indicate the previous owner has been skipping the annual service. If it was my car, I'd go for a full 24 month service (ie all fluids) just to be sure and ask them to check the greasing points on the suspension as well.

Chris
Chris

This thread was discussed between 10/04/2007 and 11/04/2007

MG MGF Technical index

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