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MG MGF Technical - Blowing steam

Just got back from my 'Highlander' up through Glencoe, Ardnamurchan, Skye and then Wester Ross. Fantastic few days - brilliant weather and great motoring. Only thing is, I returned to Glasgow by train.... :-/

Yesterday (day 4), my car starting blowing steam out of the expansion tank after about an hour of driving. I immediately stopped and opened up the boot to let the clouds of steam disperse. Couldn't see any other leaks other than the water boiling out of the expansion tank cap. I let the car cool, filled up the coollant with water and set off again. Again after about an hour the same thing happened, so I repeated the process, limped into my Grandad's house in Dingwall and left the car overnight. I took it to the MG dealer in Inverness and have left it with them for the week.

Not sure what the problem is - there's no oil in the coolant and no mayo in the oil. Anyone got any suggestions? I'm hoping just a thermostat has gone or something, and it's not anything 'major'...
Ian Matheson

Ok, im gonna tell you what happened to us but its no reflection of what MAY have happened to YOUR car. However it sounds similar on the face of it.

To cut a long story short we were having intermittent overheating problems (although not as dramaric as yours). My partner broke down but the AA man couldn't find anything. MGR dealer could not either. Suspected dodgey or broken thermostat. Fans not kicking in when hot.

One day while polishing it i noticed leaking coolant from the radiator, new radiator fitted. New underbody coolant pipes. Still problems with overheating.

Went for its service, and...HGF! but not in the 'normal' way. The HG had failed internally i.e. between the water and oil ports, while being invisible from the outside. Since then the car has been running well, no overheat trouble. However the difference between your and mine experience is we had mayo just before the garage found it and you dont.

Im sorry if this scares you, but when we had this trouble we found it useful when everyone passed on their experiences. If it is HGF its better to find out now than when your engine grinds to a halt.

I sincerely hope its not a HGF mate, good luck

jon
Panthro

@ Ian,
did you check the front fan fuse ?
Dieter K.

The same happened to me about 20000km ago: Front radiator fan fuse was gone. No HGF or other engine probs since that incident.
Good luck!
Beat
Beat Fischer

I didn't check the fuse, but now realise that should have been one of the first things I should have looked at!

I'll ask the garage to check it first

(btw, my car is an MY2000 Steptronic, with just over 20k miles on the clock.)
Ian Matheson

Hi Ian

I had a similar case last year, turned out to be the inlet manifold gasket. Check for a film of water flowing down the back (boot side) of the engine block.

Good Luck

Jim
J. A. Farrington

>MY2000 Steptronic

Should have installed the bigger front fan fuse already. I'd wonder if it had failed. *daubts*

-- chat mode on ---
@Beat, :)
You missed this ;)
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7913183908
(LOL)
--- chat mode closed ----

Jim,
MY2000 Steptronic should have no problem with the inlet manifold gasket. (modified version installed by factory)

Ian,
apology, but now I fear you should check the bank account for head gasket repair cost capability :(
Dieter K.

Just heard from the garage - confirmed HGF. :o(

There goes the suspension upgrades I was planning... I've asked them to do the cam belts at the same time as they'll need done at next year's service, so I suppose there is a bit of a silver lining...
Ian Matheson

Sorry to hear that mate.

However, our car came back from the garage with a lot of little niggles solved and it drives better than ever now so that was our silver lining. oh and the AA paid for it ;-)

jon
Panthro

This thread was discussed between 08/08/2004 and 10/08/2004

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