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MG MGF Technical - Coolant Loss

My 1996 1.8i has recently lost a very small amount of coolant from the expansion tank. I have not noticed any liquid on the garage floor, so I think that it is very gradual.

There are other symptoms that may or may not be related.

1) The water temp guage registers nothing, even when the car has been on the motorway.

2) There is a strong 'spicey' smell when I park the car.

3) Sometimes there is a small amount of 'mayonaise' on the dipstick, but not in either of the oil filler caps. Having siad that the car is generally only used for 2 small journies a day, so it couold just be condensation.

Any thoughts from anyone appreciated. Could this be a start of HGF or is it not too sinister?

Kris
Kris

Kris

It could be impending doom but, coupled with your probable dead battery, it could just be like mine and need a good thrash. The weekend is looking good - try a fast(ish) 100 miles or so but keep mobile phone and RAC card handy :-)
JohnP

I have had an on-going gradual coolant loss problem for some time now and this week i have traced the problem to be the radiator starting to corrode. So i think i ll replace it with an aluminium one for longer lifespan. I too only do short day journeys and find Johns suggestion of a good weekend thrash usually does the trick for shifting any condensation on the dipstick, also puts smiles on faces too ;-) . As far as the temp gauge is concerned, id get that checked out asap as this is going to be your first warning should the worst come to the worst (HGF). Good luck with the diagnoses. Davey.
Davey

Kris,

Also open up the coolant tank and look to see if there is any oil at all in the coolant. An early sign of HGF can be a slight film of oil on the surface.

Also do you know if the inlet manifold gasket was changed on early car such as yours (and mine) they had an inferior black rubber item now they are green. It is possible to check but a bit awkward to see. (I'm sure someone has a link for that somewhere.) Mine had perished last year and I started to noice a bit of coolant loss and a little bit of mayo on the dip stick but (then) it wasn't a HGF.

Being 1996 it is well worth getting the whole coolant system checked. joints can start to leak, pipes may be corroded and radiators may be on the way out. It's worth having done.

Re: Alloy radiators MGF Centre has some nice TF rads in stock for a good price!
tim woolcott

<<1) The water temp guage registers nothing, even when the car has been on the motorway.>>

Do you really mean that the temperature gauge shows nothing? Not even normal; one notch below halfway? If so then get the sender unit checked.

Is the spicey smell inside the car or outside? If inside then check under the carpets for leaks around the heater area. You have to lift the carpets, because you can't feel any damp through the carpet material.

Hope it's OK

Bruce
Bruce Caldwell

Like the rest of the gang, I don't believe that the mayo traces on the dip stick means anything too sinister - as you say, probably due to those numerous short trips.

The coolant loss is a worry, but your car is at that age where the coolant pipes and radiator do become compromised by corrosion. I'd recommend you get this looked at.

The non-functioning of the temperature guage is likely to be failure of the blue water temperature sensor on the engine water outlet pipe (left corner of the engine). Easy to replace, and is cheap. I haven't got directions for this, but is a similar job to the ECU temperature sensor that is adjacent to it (water temp guage sensor is mounted vertically, underneath the brown ECU temp sensor) - http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/hgf_pages/related_problems_overheating.htm
Rob Bell

Thanks to all for the help, I will have a good look at the radiator and sensor at the weekend. I will let you know what I find.

Kris
Kris

This thread was discussed between 13/03/2003 and 17/03/2003

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