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MG MGF Technical - Failed engine mount bolts

hello,
first post from a distressed 'f owner,
after track rod ends, ball joints, coolant pipes, ht leads, all 4 Hydragas units and loads of odds & ends, I though the car would be set to cruise its MOT, how wrong! the rear drag rod and Lambda sensor replacement (with the obligatory change to the exhaust manifold!) ate up the lions share of a further £700 taking my expenditure on the beast to £1600 in the 4 months i've owned the car.
I got the treasured MOT certificate yesterday, less than 20 miles later a gruff blowing from the rear an a noticable vibration led me to believe something was amiss with the exhaust (did he fit the new manifold properly?. nursed the car home (10 miles!)and removed the cover - it was immediately apparent the engine had dropped. the pair of bolts on the drivers side had both sheared. I've had a look in the archive and can see 2 others have experienced this, are we three the only ones?

so a couple of other questions,

whats curently stopping the engine from dropping out?

Is it only co-incidence that the bolts have failed after this work on the engine? would it be unreasonable to place any blame on the garage?

how would you get the car back to the garage (Drive, tow or recover... 3 miles, I've already driven 10!)

Where might I find an engine mount block & a couple of new bolts (anyone got part nos?) - anyone care to speculate on what additional damage is likely to have been done (i'll report back once the diagnosis is done).

anyway,
wishing those with working 'F's a merry christmas and a fault free new year,
Jim
J LEWIS

What was wrong with the Manifold that could not be fixed with a little weld or helicoil thread insert.
The thread is 16 mm Spark plug (in my tool box)
Geoff F.
G. Farthing

Hi Jim,

Welcome, sorry to hear the tale of woe though 8-(

The lower mountings that attach the block to the subframe will be taking the weight, but driving will cause the block to twist and flex beyond usual parameters. If it's not coming from the gaskets on the manifold, the blowing noise may be coming from the exhaust downpipe flexi-section, it's designed to handle only moderate movement of the block.

Recovery is probably the best advice, the driveshaft joints will be under increased stress from working at more extreme angles than usual.

As exhaust manifolds are generally a bugger to undo, it's possible the technician jacked the block to gain better access and may have overdone it. Just speculation, sadly, no evidence to point to. Hopefully they'll concede that it's unlikely to be just coincidence, good luck...

Mike Hankin

I was probably 1 of the other 2.

It's happened to me a few years back, and it was fairly certain that the mechanics didn't use the right torque with the torque wrench.

Garage paid up eventually.

I had to order a mounting block from the usual suspects (MGFC), have them send it to Holland and the garage mounted it.

The bolts are standard bolts, don't know the length tho.

When they (or you) replace the block you may consider replacing the belts as well, considering they are there.

Johan
Johan Slagter

IIRC the manifold cannot be removed as is!.. The engine needs to be lowered slightly to remove said manifold, so therefor the garage must had to do the same!..

I am not 100% certain on this, but I do recall a post by SF (Andy) saying that he had to lower the engine to fit his new MS manifold..
Mark.L

Hi all,
it is very easy to get the bolts to take the thread the wrong way ! Especially as the engine not allways end up mating correctly in line with the mount. If this happends the bolts will get in ,but at a very high torque, ( "new" thread in the alu !).
And the threads on both bolts and the mount will be damaged. IMO if the bolts are forced in place like that they might after some time and load shear off... If so you have all the right to blame the garagre that did the job ! / Carl.
Carl

<<<<<are we three the only ones?<<<<<<<<

make that 4, happened to me too. :/


<<<<<whats curently stopping the engine from dropping out?<<<<<

The boot! (in my case)

<<<<<how would you get the car back to the garage?<<<<<

i drove 200miles to MGFC. (not recommended, but for the sake of 3 miles, just be careful!)
DaveyC

This thread was discussed between 23/12/2005 and 29/12/2005

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