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MG MGF Technical - Post HGF checks

I should, hopefully, be getting my F back from the garage tomorrow after having the HGF fixed. I'm a bit dissapointed that they have taken a whole week. Bracing myself for the bill.
Is there anything I should check or ask about when I collect it? Anything I can check to see if a good job has been done? What parts should have been replaced? Should I be gentle with her for a few hundred miles?

Any help would be much appreciated.....
Russell

There's not much you can check as there's nothing to see, but you can ask if

* they checked/changed any stretch bolts
* the head was skimmed
* the head was hardness tested

although all of these questions are a bit academic now that it's all back together.

Perhaps the important thing is to ask them why they think the head gasket failed and be wary that the root cause might still exist.

Dave
(also HGF in '98 VVC at 48K)
Dave

Thanks, It was a 97 vvc with 50K on the clock. You're right, the root cause is the main thing to check - but hopefully its just old age.
Russell

Remember to fill out the "Hall of Shame "

Johan

Johan Slagter

It will smell a bit as the gaskets bed in, so be a little gentle with it, but it shouldn't need 'running in' as none of the bearing surfaces have been replaced.
Will Munns

>>You're right, the root cause is the main thing to check - but hopefully its just old age. <<

Russell, was the coolant system checked for leaks? The rad and the coolant pipes may need replacing...

BTW, the hall shame can be found at http://www.shame.4mg.com
Rob Bell

Thanks for the tips so far.
The garage has just called to say its ready.
The 600 quid quote has gone up to a 800 pound bill as "there was a lot of gunk in the engine and we had to flush it three times and its still not clean"
Surely thats what happens with HGF? I'm not sure why they seem surprised.
Picking it up at 4pm.....
Russell

>>"there was a lot of gunk in the engine and we had to flush it three times and its still not clean"

I don't know if the K-series is unusually difficult to clean out, but when my '98 VVC went there was also a lot of work required to clean it up. I was advised to have a further oil change after 500 miles.

>>Picking it up at 4pm.....

Good luck and let us know what they say about the cause.

Dave
Dave

assuming the cause of the coolant/oil mixing is fixed, wont a good long run boil off the water content of the mayo gunk and leave relatively clean oil in the engine?
Russell

The engine can be cleaned to a certain extent, but a 'full' clean can only be achieved by running hot oil through it. After HGF it's therefore best to re-fill with a cheap oil, run this for a couple of weeks/few hundred miles, and then change the oil for better quality stuff.

Jim
Jim Hosking

>assuming the cause of the coolant/oil mixing is fixed, wont a good long run boil off the water
>content of the mayo gunk and leave relatively clean oil in the engine?
Yes, this will do the oil, but if the gunk is in the water then flushing with detergent is the only option

Will
Will Munns

Cross posting from the HGF#2 thread:

Posted 07 March 2003 at 11:09:44 UK time
Rob Bell, North London
>>but I would expect it to get better not worse as the water boiled off.<<

I wouldn't recommend waiting for the water to be boiled off. Oil is not soluble in water, and when mixed it exists as an emulsion.

As an emulsion, you could get blocking of small water ways, and blocking of the oil filter.

Blocking of small oil ways would be extremely bad news, as it would lead to localised over heating leading to another HGF, or even damaged bearings.

It is therefore essential that after any HGF the oil and coolant systems are both very thoroughly flushed.

Small (ie very small specs on the dip stick) may be acceptable - but any more than this get the oil system flushed and cleaned.

Dave

Updated the Hall of Shame.

No obvious cause, but if its the original gasket I'll assume its just old age (72 months). Garage said that HGF usually just resulted in coolant loss and that my severe coolant/oil mixing was fairly rare. They have advised that after a hundred miles or so I should return it for another coolant flush. I have looked at the coolant and it is still very very "milky" but as they'll charge for this on top of todays 800 quid bill I'm very tempted to do it myself. Plenty of archive material on coolant flushing and bleeding.

Cant really check for mayo in the oil. Have seen some on the dipstick but I expect this is very hard to clean for the garage.

Off for a long drive this weekend - wish me luck.
Russell

This thread was discussed between 06/03/2003 and 07/03/2003

MG MGF Technical index

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