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MG TD TF 1500 - high pitch sound at idle

New high pitch sound when engine at idle (only), '50 TD. Coming from engine bay front somewhere. Goes away as throttle is pressed. Any advice please! I've gotta drive it 150 miles next week. Couldn't find much in the archives but I tried.
Thanks,
Ed
efh Haskell

Air leak around carb base.
E F Gillam

The pump bushings might be warn,, can you wiggle the fan blades?? Can you wiggle the generator pully?


Steve
Steve Wincze

Ed,
Get a 2ft length of rubber hose and use it as a listening device,,CAREFULLY WHEN YOU ARE AROUND THE FAN!!!

Steve
Steve Wincze

+1 water pump. Give it some grease and see if the sound changes.
M Magilton

Matthew: Who still has a greasable water pump?

Ed: If you don't have an original pump but a repo, they still have fanthom grease fitting and you will get nothing into your water pump because they have sealed bearings.

I agree it's probably either the water pump or the generator. I am betting on the generator.
Christopher Couper

I think we may have found the noise. Please watch this short video and tell me if you agree:
http://youtu.be/vIXyOkowIzY
efh Haskell

Bingo!
E F Gillam

My wife asked me to look at her car (years ago), she told me that "it has a whistle noise, I think the carburetor is loose" (or falling off). I laughed at her............
Len Fanelli

Ed -

That is really a good video.

Any chance that the whistle could be around the throttle shaft?

If the leak is between the carb and the manifold, then I don't know if Permatex is a good solution for the air leak. I think that you will kick yourself if you need to remove the carb after you use the Permatex.

Perhaps a better solution would be to flatten the flange on the carb with some 400g paper on a flat surface such as cast iron table saw or jointer. Would be good to flatten the manifold, too, but it's difficult when it's on the head.

Then install a new gasket such as Moss #294-500 "GASKET, carb. to manifold". I wipe the gasket with some oil before installing.

My TF has an insulator spacer between the carb and the manifold (Moss #372-030) I flatten both sides of it before installing. Don't know if they are used on TDs.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

43 372-375 $36.99
SPACER
This spacer can be used for 1 1/4" TC TD carbs to prevent hot restart problems due to the fuel percolating in the float bowls.
Len Fanelli

Len,

I don't think those will work if you use the original air filter assemblies.

Gene
Gene Gillam

The results are in! Petronix Black gasket sealer. The sound is gone! I'll put in new gaskets when I get time. Hope the sealer holds under road conditions.
Thanks
Ed
efh Haskell

Len, I think it is worth mentioning if the over all under hood temps are high enough to percolate the fuel in the float bowls the insulators will be of no value. Regards, tom
tm peterson

<<This spacer can be used for 1 1/4" TC TD carbs to prevent hot restart problems due to the fuel percolating in the float bowls.>>

Or you could use the choke. :-)
Christopher Couper

Choke works great for me!
efh Haskell

Chris re your question, "Matthew: Who still has a greasable water pump?" Well I do. I'm working on a couple of pumps at the moment both of which I'm fully reconditioning. Hope to have them in action very soon. One for the car & a spare. These are the original late TD & TF model with the functional grease nipple. Why the grease nipple? I don't trust the quality of the modern sealed bearings especially those from China. I'm using the shielded variety with the internal shields removed so that the grease can penetrate the bearings. Still chasing a heavy duty internal 1/2" spindle circlip with eyes. The standard size circlip is just too thin. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Ed, glad you found the "leak". I had the same whistle but was located in the joint between the air canister filter and the aluminum plenum. The rubber gasket I installed left a small "hole" from the cut in the base of the air cleaner. This was not the case with yours as you removed the plenum. If the "leak was allowed to persist you may have lost a piston by a small jet of air eroding the surface of the piston.

New gaskets with a bit of Hylomar on them will seal them tight.
C.R. Tyrell

This thread was discussed between 26/05/2016 and 31/05/2016

MG TD TF 1500 index

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