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MG MGF Technical - Rotten radiator

Should a radiator core in an MGF which is coming up to four years old be so rotten that it has to be replaced ??
The car has just had its 36K service and is still in warrenty (for three more weeks), although they didnt change the radiator at the time, just told me it was rotten and likely to start leaking. They are questioning the warrenty.... im still waiting for an answer...... :(
Simon

No, it shouldn't- but I had exactly the same problem in September when the rad on my car holed itself due to corrosion.

Can I make an odd request? Would it be possible for you to take some pictures of the radiator on your car and send it to me? When mine was done, it was thrown out before I could get at it - and I wanted to know how the failure occured (it does not seem to be an uncommon occurance- although unusual on a car of your's age). I know that a number of us would like to know more about the problem inorder to develop some kind of prevention against it for other enthusiasts.

Thanks!
Rob Bell

Simon

The short answer is NO!

If the radiator is 'rotten' then it should be changed and if the car is still under warranty then it should be done 'under warranty'.

However what I do not understand is 'rotten' - what do you/they mean by this? If it has corroded and the car has been correctly maintained then the radiator is faulty and should be replaced 'free of charge'. If it is damaged then it would all depend on how that damage occured.

Ted
Ted Newman

yes, by 'Rotten', I assume they mean corroded....
My girlfriend has taken the car to work, but ive told her to look at the temp every minute and stop to call me if it gets above normal !!!

The service document has this printed as needing 'urgent attention' and is dated a month inside the warranty expiry. The rest was explained by the service manager. I will chase them up for an immediate replacement, but had to wait three weeks to get it in for a service with a courtesy car.

I will use the car tomorrow and hopefully get some digital pics of it on the car for you.... and try to get a look once its removed.... ive not seen it in daylight yet, so cant comment on the damage.

thanks,
Simon
Simon

Thanks Simon, I appreciate it.

Be careful though if the GF continues to use the car- if the radiator is perforated, then air can enter the cooling system, potentially leading to airlocks, over heating, loss of coolant pressure and boiling off of coolant- the consequences of which I need not mention! Basically watch the water level like a hawk!
Rob Bell


Hi all,
me thinks there are more to this than meets the eye... Without any substantial evidence yet I think that the very fast deterioation of the rad. on the "F" is due to electric currents going places not intended to carry ground return currents ! Last time this topic was up I was amazed at the corrosion on my own "summer only pampered " car. Some day in the comming spring /summer I will try to measure what potential drop there is on the chassie at various points. Remember that on a fairly modern car as the "F" there is a heavy current demand almost all the time , ABS ,EPAS, generator aft and battery front could upset things and create fractions of a Volt - enough to start corrosion between diff. conductors.

Any pictures would be nice !

Regards , Carl.
Carl

We cool power semiconductors using deionised water and glycol antifreeze. There are all sorts of rules about mixing of various metals in the cooling circuit. Certainly no aluminium if you have copper and I am sure there must be other not admissable combinations.

Brian

Don't the headlamps "earth" somewhere on top of the radiator (from memory...)

Neil.
Neil

This thread was discussed on 10/01/2002

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