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MG MGF Technical - Remote Thermostat - Advice Sought

Hi All

Has anybody fitted a remote thermostat to their car?

Having had my '02 TF160 back from its HGF repair, I am keen to avoid a repeat, and as far as I can tell re-siting the thermostat should prevent a recurrence.

Does anybody know if the Eliseparts kit will fit a TF, or can anybody recommend another option?

Thanks in advance.

James
James Reinhardt

The Eliseparts.com remote thermostat will fit both the MGF and TF James, Thierry has one of these on his MGF.

And yes, some have already retro-fitted the PRT to their MGFs - Dave Livingstone and Tom Randel both come to mind, but I am sure they're not alone.

Note that it is possible to use the Landrover PRT kit, as fitted to the Freelander, if the TF item is not forthcoming.
Rob Bell

Hi James

I fitted the QED version and it is a high quality kit.
Blue Pocket Rocket

Hi All

Thanks for your responses. Blue Pocket Rocket: Is the QED kit available via the Web? Living, as I do in Brightest Africa means that it's sometimes hard work to get these things sorted.

I have read of the PRT thermostat option, but if I am going to make a change I figure I should go the whole hog and apply the correct engineering change to fix the problem, i.e., by moving the thermostat to a sensible place in the coolant circuit, rather than by improving a sub-optimal design with the PRT thermostat.

That said, I understand that the PRT thermostat has been very succesful in fixing HGF on K-engined Freelanders.

James
James Reinhardt

Personally I'd go with the well engineered, fully tested non-placebo Rover PRT, rather than one designed on the back of internet FUD.

But you pays your money, you takes your choice.
Will Munns

>But you pays your money, you takes your choice
LOL :)

http://www.qednet.demon.co.uk/
or
http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgbbs&mode=thread&access=&subject=69&source=T&thread=200505191350018178

Consider having a talk to a Land Rover dealer.
Dieter

And as HGF still occurs in Discoverys and mgtfs then maybe the fully tested, well engineered PRT isn't the best solution!

James - you can email them but unfortunately you can't buy one over internet.
Blue Pocket Rocket

>> fully tested non-placebo Rover PRT<<

Like the "fully tested" non-placebo Steel dowels and new Design head gaskits!.
Mark.L

>And as HGF still occurs in Discoverys and MGTFs then
>maybe the fully tested, well engineered PRT isn't the
>best solution!

And the Concord was the safest plane in the world till paris, whereas the 747 makes hundreds of trips a week all over the world, and had a very few accidents - Which is the safer plane?

Now after one accident the concord became the most dangerourous plane - how come? because hadly anyone used it.


>non-placebo Steel dowels and new Design head gaskits!.

Yes, both of these things made significant changes to the occurance of HGF, but they didn't fix the problem - you want a magic bullet then real world engineering is not for you.
Will Munns

"both of these things made significant changes to the occurance of HGF" - not significant enough Will and the fact that TFs even with PRT are suffering HGFs means that there is still something amiss. We're not searching for a magic bullet but the QED remote stat is a solution.
Blue Pocket Rocket

I have the PRT part fitted to my car and the main difference is the engines takes much longer to warm, up fully.

Not sure if I have a temperature gauge problem or if it is characteristics of the PRT part the temperature actually goes up and down once hot, the original setup once it reach temperature the gauge just sat still. Currently I find it goes down indicating the engine runs cooler.

Tom

Tom Randell

>>you want a magic bullet<<
>>Real world engineering is not for you<<

Will

My F is near 10 years old, if the gaskit fails tommorow I can have little complaints.
IF however I had spent upwards of £18k on a new TF and with little milage it suffered HGF, I would rightly ask the salesman at Rover WHY after 10 years is this same problem STILL happening??.

If he replied with the above comments then I am afraid he would be sliding down the nearist wall, feeling for whats left of his teeth!!!.
Mark.L

He would not be wrong to say that all makes and models of engines suffer HGF, and you had been unlucky. Just because in the past the F was more lightly to get a HGF doesn't mean that an HGF now mean it hasn't been 'fixed'


Tom: sounds like you have a stuck open stat, the gauge is severly damped, not moving, middle on the gauge is about 55 to 100 degrees
Will Munns

>> WHY after 10 years is this same problem STILL happening?? <<

The answer to that Mark is that the cause of HGF is not that simple: there are multiple problems that can result in HGF.

Regard the HGF as a symptom - not a diagnosis. There is an underlying cause - it is a question of identifying it.

There may be a problem with the original build process: the head may be porous, the cylinder liners are too high/ too low in the block etc etc

Cyclical temperatures are just one of many potential causes - probably one of the most significant after all early failures related to engine-build related problems.

The PRT addresses this problem - and from a variety of sources, it appears that it has been sucessful - but it isn't the 'magic bullet' as Will rightly refers it. HGFs will still occur. The question is whether there is an excessive number or not.

You could argue that even one HGF is one too many - but then you'd not be able to buy any car with as clean a record sheet as that...
Rob Bell

Well Will there are a lot of unlucky owners out there. Your original asertion that the PRT was well engineered and tested is flawed as HGFs are still occurring on PRT fitted engines, too many to be unlucky. Obviously Rover realised that they needed to modify the cooling system if only because Ford were concerned about the rate of HGFs in Discoverys but the introduction of PRT on those vehicles hasn't stopped HGFs. After my Trophy had an HGF last year I decided to fit either the PRT or remote but after research decided to fit a remote thermostat(ie thermostat on the output side of the engine) as that seemed to make more sense to me. It has stopped the hot/cold pulses which happens with the original layout, warm up time is virtually the same, but running temperature is slightly lower. So yes you take your choice and pay your money - I have - have you?
Blue Pocket Rocket

Hi All

Below is a link to the document that started me on the road to considering the remote thermostat. It's long and fairly complicated, but it makes for interesting reading.


http://pub.se7ens.net/data/KingK.pdf

James
James Reinhardt

This thread was discussed between 20/05/2005 and 24/05/2005

MG MGF Technical index

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