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MG MGF Technical - engine problem - major


2001 MPi

just had a call from the garage trying to sort out my engine problem - diagnoses prior to strip down have varied from worn main bearings to loose flywheel...

apparently, the end of the crank at the flywheel end, has broken off, and they've never seen anything like it!

what are the pros and cons of rebuilding using another crank? decent k series engines seem to be attracting a bit of a price premium at the moment, and i'm wondering whether i'd be better rebuilding my own - there was a complete bottom end on ebay the other week, but DVA beat me to it.

i want to do the job properly, but not throw money at it as i am intending to sell it this summer and get a TF.

thoughts?

cheers

mike
mike roberts

Not good news Mike, do you have any idea what caused it? Hard to know whether the broken crank has caused knock-on damage until it's been stripped; if it just needs a new crank, bearings and oil seals then it may be worth rebuilding on a parts-only cost basis, but a complete engine swap seems the tidier & better option. Perhaps worth a call to Dave Andrews to see what he suggests, or TechSpeed, as I've only previously heard of broken cranks on race engines.



Mike Hankin

IIRC a new crank only costs about 30GBP, but to get to it requires a full stripdown of the engine - head off because of the stretch bolts.

It's not terribly difficult if you have the engine out, but time consuming. You might be better off with a new engine and retire this one to play with on the bench.
Will Munns


Thanks guys - I'm coming to the conclusion that engine swap is the only realistic option now - especially as I've been quoted £548.56 for a crank by my local (ex)dealer...

perhaps you were thinking of the crank seal Will.. ;-)

not sure of the cause, but the engine has definitely run 'rougher' since HGF and head replacement last year.. i posted on this a few weeks ago without a response

mike
mike roberts

For just the crank they are having you on.
The cost from Ivor Searle may have have been as high as £60, I remember because it was a toss up between drilling out mine and getting a new one, I chose drilling because it meant I didn't need to change the bearings as well.

If you include a set of stretch bolts you add another £60 (£6 a bolt) and a head gasket kit, and some GEC108 to seal the oil rail, and a new sump gasket (they gave me one of each off the shelf for free as I couldn't remember the bolt size), and add the labour...

Thing was for me I already had committed to all the items in the second list, and the only choice was
new crank + bearings + shim
vs
drilling current crank (labour)

and there was very little in it.


Go on, make it the first item in your kitcar build, and get a replacement to fill the hole
Will Munns

lol

I've found a low mileage TF 135 engine for a reasonable price, which comes complete with 52mm throttle body and PRT, so I've gone for that.

perhaps the price has gone up just a teeny bit now that cranks are not churning out of Powertrain by the thousand...

and as regards a kitcar, I already have a Westfield, albeit CVH powered, that I built about 5 years ago, so that's not ready for an engine change just yet...

cheers

Mike
mike roberts

This thread was discussed between 13/04/2007 and 18/04/2007

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