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MG TD TF 1500 - Engine breather tube photo

Today I'm installing that breather tube the PO threw away. I've seen some photos in archives, etc. but still not real clear so I've posted one of my own. Does this look anywhere near correct?

I'm also concerned about the proximity between the tube and the engine ground cable. Can they touch?Maybe I should move the cable to the underside of the A-tower plate? (And Dave B., if you happen to read this, I know you used dialectric grease here but I cannot find that picture on your site. Your breather photo was taken before your cable was installed so I can't see how you did it. Can you direct me to the right page?)

Gracias,
Ed



efh Haskell

Ed you will have to reposition the connection on the tower as it will interfere with its (tower) installation. Here is a picture of mine, not the best as all is in place. The cable goes forward of the tube and the wiring harness sits on top.
Mike


Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Your install is fine Ed except as Mike has said, you will have to remove the frame bolt and mount the tub tower and the your ground cable. The ground cable won't hurt anything touching the tube. I prefer your ground bolt on the rear of the tranny but Mike's ground on the sump bolt will work just as well.
LaVerne

Thanks guys. Okay, here's the real test. Can you spot the markings for the grade 8 helicoiled 5/16 standard bolt vs. the proper 8x1 original metric?
efh Haskell

Yes. Tom
t lange

Ed,

I didn't publish my ground photos. Sorry. The ground on Tommy runs from the rear inboard firewall tower (A-Tower) bolt to the rearmost oil sump bolt, one that is going up vertically. Probably not the way everyone did it, but worked for me, and made sense as I can reach that bolt anytime.

warmly,
dave

ps there are a lot of pictures I never published.
Dave Braun

Here is a picture


Dave Braun

And another. I stand corrected, they are in the electrical section.

dave


Dave Braun

Dave, thanks. What is that flex line that looks like it's bolted to the bell housing in the firxt pix? Or is it just dangling there? I don't have one of those. My oil line goes from a vertical spin on filter assy. a banjo in the block.
efh Haskell

Ed, if you are still working down in that area you might consider following: the earth connection between engine and frame is extremely important (you never ever want that one to fail or to have a bad connection)and that's why I made two of them ,each to one tower. Greetings, Huib
Huib Bruijstens

Ed, the flex line that is just dangling is the oil pressure line from the lower banjo bolt that will connect to the solid copper pipe to the oil P gauge. The fitting and the firewall bolt is already attached (so much easier to attach it than to find the bag and put it on when I needed it)

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

perhaps i am not viewing it correctly, but isn't that the ground cable that goes to the stud on the side of pedal box? regards, tom
tom peterson

Tom, not sure if you're referring to mine or Dave's photo above, but this photo shows how I wound up doing it. I removed all paint from A tower base and bottom of A tower itself, smeared on some dialectric grease then sandwiched the cable connection between the two. Hope it's right!


efh Haskell

showing final "sandwich" taken looking down at top of A tower from above. My blood is just off camera to the right from tightening those aft 2 bolts. Thanks Abington!


efh Haskell

Hi Folks,
I've been watching this thread (like I do for most of them), and realize that that breather tube is missing on our TF. Can anyone supply some measurements for me? e.g. dia., length, location of bend and how much? Might have to find a pc of tubing and "give it a kink".
thanks, Al
A W Parker

Ed, I'm pretty sure it goes on top of the tower plate not sandwiched. Mine does.
Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Mike, wouldn't the contact stay cleaner sandwiched? Mine was burried in road gunk on top of the tower before the rebuild.
efh Haskell

You need to move that cable connection on top of the tower flange Ed. Top of the bolt getting dirty is no bog deal. As you have it now your tower will be out of Kilter.
LaVerne

hello ed, where i THOUGHT the ground strap was attached was the stud on the lower forward inspection plate that covers the side of the pedal box. that cover has three bolts and one stud. the stud is located on the lower forward corner on the side of the pedal box. regards, tom
tom peterson

No Ed. You are also throwing the angle off on the tower position somewhat that could make the holes to the bulkhead tight. Needs to be on top. Yep, more blood.
Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Al, Moss has the pipe, #451-160, $32.95. Might get it cheaper from Abington Spares, don't know. But it is available. The "P" clip, that's questionable. PJ
P Jennings

Hi PJ,
I should have reposted here, I did privately to a cupla the guys. I looked at my original car pix (car's still at upholstery shop), and found/remembered, that I have an aftermarket alloy tappet cover which doesn't use the breather tube. It has "local" vent caps.
thanks, Al


A W Parker

I've moved the ground to top of A tower per above and it's all done. But as long as this is back on top of the list I have a question. What exactly does my shiney new breather tube do? The car has run fine for years without one but since this is a total resto I decided to install one.
efh Haskell

Hi Ed,
Since there's already a breather from the top of the rocker cover that gets sucked by a slight vacuum to the carb intakes, I don't think the tappet cover needs much of a vent. Especially since, as seen in my pic, the aftermarket cover just vents to the side of itself, not down past the bell housing. There was no evidence of oil at them when I bought the car, or after driving some. & I guess you hadn't noticed any w/o your tube? I'll keep a watch when we get ours back on the road, hopefully this wk or next.
Al
A W Parker

My car us missing the tappet cover breather tube and also has an aftermarket alloy rocker cover without a breather. Despite this there was very little oil around the breather tube (unlike other areas such as around the front crankshaft seal). Matt
Matt Davis

But I'm still not clear on the purpose of the "breather tube"?? Why does the tappet cover nead to "breath"? (In layman's terms please)
efh Haskell

Ed, my understanding is that the breathers are there to prevent a build up of pressure in the crankcase as a result of the escape of combustion gases past the pistons. Excessive pressure would result in significant oil leakage. What I do not know is why the TD has two breathers, one to the rocker cover and one to the tappet cover. Both areas must be connected to the crankcase to allow the oil to drain back, so in theory only one breather should be required. Matt
Matt Davis

Matt's response brings up another question (funny how that happens!). I removed my standard oil bath air filter a few years ago and run pancake style filters (because I like to polish chrome). Someone here recommended I just plug the tube on top of my rocker cover to keep dirt out, which I did (picture below). Am I screwing up the "breathing" under the rocker cover and causing potential damage of some sort?


efh Haskell

Reactivating. Bud
Bud Krueger

The pic with the dielectric grease answers a question I've asked about a couple of times, on how best to connect earthing cables to the chassis. Seems like the way to go. Enables the elimination of paint at the point of contact & also protects the exposed metal against rust. Can't see why this wouldn't work for the earth/ground from the battery to the side of the battery shelf. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

This thread was discussed between 30/01/2011 and 08/12/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

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