Newbee with samo hgf

Hi, MGf owner from Lisbon, electro-mechanic technician with some experience on cars but mostly on bikes, older stuff anyway.



Bought the car a few years ago with 35.000 km (about 20k miles?) it always smelt of antifreeze which sporadically disappeared. I think it was when the car idled for long periods on traffic.

No signs of oil contamination.

Recently coolant consumption increased and since my mother used the car, she was not use to it and drove it empty, which caused a burning smell but the temp never went past normal 1\2 scale so she claims. It was a short run anyway.



I pulled the dipstick and found signs of emulsion but only the upper part so I guess vapour vented to the crankcase through the hg.



Since I'm unemployed (like everyone else here) I'm taking an automotive mechatronic vocational training course, which allowed me to temporarily use the workshop facilities there (very poor but it has lifts)



Disassembled, old type gasket with 2 beads torn around bolts holes, no damage to be seen on head or cylinders. Coolant plumbing inside coated with oil sludge. Otherwise nothing too bad no water on crankcase.Nice clean water galleries.



cylinder protrusion checked, .05mm on no.1 and 2; .03mm on 3 and 4.

So had the head skimmed the minimum possible by a reputed pro which said it was actually within specs, but for ease of mind.



Then comes the sad part.As I said I'm jobless therefore short of cash so I ordered the cheapest MLS gasket and bolt set of ebay UK, and decided to change the cam belt since the car is low on mileage but it's 13 years on the factory belt.

And of course oil,filter and coolant.



Upon arrival I noticed cheap quality cam and valve stem seals, and a general cheap feeling of the whole kit.

Only the belt was an up to date Dayco brand.

But I carefully fitted everything (what could I do)and finally when had everything ready decided to pressure test the circuit.

Let me say that by now I was on an ultimatum to get the car out of the premises by the end of that month by any means.



I started to pump air into the system by the top expansion line but could immediately hear a hiss from the filler cap, and the header pipe connected to the alloy flange on the head sprung a leak.



Got a similar cap from a Renault laying around, tested and fitted it and put a 2nd clamp on the half perished pipe to be changed later on.

So all sorted all seemed ok, even my "teacher" said it looked good, start the car.



Me being some times stubborn insisted on having the pressure up to the cap valve threshold.



When the pressure rose past 1 bar the cap released, but not alone.leaks sprung on both front and rear ends of the car.



After all the trouble and on the last day to get the car out I was truly gutted.With the car hung above my head on the lift dripping water from several spots I must have felt like a crew on a stranded submarine on the bottom of the sea.



So I have a leaking radiator and a bad HG, the leak is right along the case/head joint, worse behind the generator on the exhaust manifold side.

Let me say I'm very meticulous and have good quality dino wrenches and all the workshop man. guides were strictly followed.Less the only use quality parts.



But beware that only after the pressure rise these leaks became evident, below that pressure it would hold.

After spending the weekend reading related K-series posts I realise that not many people bother doing this test and perhaps many hgf are due to unseen leaks. The ebay seller that sold me that gasket set had hundreds of the same item sold, so I'm not alone and there are plenty similar.

Maybe even workshops use them

The radiator puzzled me since the car came to me with antifreeze and I kept adding it, only in the last 2 months the coolant was vanishing too quickly and I used tap water a few times.I does not account for the corrosion seen after pulling the rubber pipes from the bottom plumbing.



This car clearly requires at least a 50-50 antifreeze and distilled water mix, I've never seen anything like this.



So now I'm getting the car towed back home where it will sit waiting for wealthier days, when I can get a radiator, new gasket, maybe from a Lotus dealer or a reputable specialist supplier, and it's probably better to either reuse the original bolts or get new ones. And probably replace the dodgy valve stem and cam seals. What a buttload of work all over again and no place to do it.



I haven't pulled the head yet but what else could it be beside bad quality gasket and shim?? I used an almost new dino wrench which I use on sensitive motorcycle race engines, plus 2 half turns in sequence.Head was not pressure tested but it's dripping along the gasket, I can see the water seeping out at the joint so I don't believe is a crack. Oh well when ihave the chance to work on it I'll report back.



I still don't get this mls hg tho, how does it seals the case outer walls if the bolting force is being applied to the liners, there's the fire rings plus the protrusion, so no matter how much this is being crushed, the rest of the surfaces will lack in height since the rest of the gasket is plain.

Weird.I don't get it.In fact its happening just what logic suggests.



What I' also thinking is to replace the thermostat by an 82 deg and retrofit an old style expansion tank and cap with a 2nd reservoir that holds the excess water and returns it back to the system when the engine cools down, just like older systems. This is a better system!!It keeps the tank full at all times.



OK so now you HGF DIY owners know: get a pressure tester and don't quit until you get service pressure IE until the cap releases as this engine is unforgiving. The circuit must hold steady pressure for an hour and stay away from cheap HG



Peace out



Ferny

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