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Week commencing 3rd July – tour to the West of England.

Day 2 – Tuesday – Wirral & Wilmslow…

Our first call took us from our digs in Chester over to Wirral, where it was really lovely to meet Samantha for work on her ‘96 MGF 1.8 mpi that her husband, Andy, bought for her, earlier in the year, but it came with no service history.

This morning we carried out a full cambelt service. What a good honest car, with all
original features, they had even got hold
of some cassettes to play in it, so fab! It had been dry stored and sat for many years prior to them taking ownership. So it now has a new lease of life and will be used for fun outings.

From there we headed over to Wilmslow for work on John’s, also fairly new acquisition, ‘04 TF 135 in paint code JFM. He’d bought the car knowing it had potential issues with the head gasket, so had it transported home, as didn’t want to risk running it.

Sure enough, all the signs were there, and on removing the cylinder head it had been fitted with an elastomer gasket and had gone into cylinders 3 & 4. All gaskets replaced and the car is now back up and running lovely. John was so pleased to hear it spark into life. He’ll take it for the MOT and then get out and about and have some fun over the summer on his retirement.

Really great to meet him and have a chat while we worked, accompanied by many cuppas, he’d read that bit about us!

We managed to dodge the forecasted bad weather, with only one small shower. So, all in all a busy one, but a really pleasant days work.

We bid our farewells and are now in Altrincham for the night, before heading over to Blackpool in the morning. – https://ift.tt/2RALEnb

Week commencing 3rd July – tour to the west of England.

Day 1 – Weaverham & Birkenhead…

On a very very wet Monday morning it was nonetheless good to meet Layton for work on his ‘02 MG TF 135 in paint code JFV.

Head gasket replacement, cambelt service, underfloor coolant pipes replaced, plus a couple of other bits. On running the car up to temperature we found no return to the expansion tank, so we flushed through a lot of solidified gunk in the return hoses from over the gearbox. Happily the car is now back up and running as it should be.

Thankfully, the gazebo sheltered us from the majority of the torrential and continuous downpour, but still a bit soggy and cold, and guess what, the sun came out just as we were packing up! Big thanks to Layton for lots of cuppas.

From there we went over to Birkenhead for investigation on a problem Mark had been experiencing with his MGF 1.8 120 mpi for about a year, he had gone through all of the usual suspects, replacing parts, some on a couple or more times, only to have the same problem reoccur.

Hooked up the diagnostics, only a single error code coming up, which is known to be false anyway, set about checking all the ignition system, coil pack, the distributor, HT leads and plugs, found the distributor cap had a loose central core, replaced that, replaced one of the plugs as the porcelain was cracked, but still the same result.

Checked the wiring for the throttle body, tried various different throttle bodies, still no joy. The only thing left was that the diagnostic had shown on live data that zero volts were coming back on the Lambda sensor, even though Mark had replaced with a Bosch sensor.

We temporarily fitted another one to make sure it wasn’t just the cabling, this showed .44 volts on live data, so the sensor that was fitted was faulty.

We also noticed that the throttle body was permanently showing open-loop, which it should be closed-loop on tick-over. Finally the manifold air-pressure was static all the time at 99 Kpa.

It would come down to possibly being the ECU and a faulty Lambda. Mark will source a replacement ECU and then go from there.

Bit of a head scratcher, shame not to be able to fix it on one visit, but we will keep in touch and see what progress he makes with this other information. It was although, great to meet Mark and have some interesting chats.

Bit of a late finish and a long day, but we’re now in our digs near Chester, I’m on the admin and Jon’s going to order his delectable delights from Just-Eat. – https://ift.tt/2RALEnb

Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees today…

Our first call of the day was in Darlington, where it was great to meet Alex for work on his ‘96 MGF 1.8 mpi in paint code HAM.

Unfortunately, the head gasket, having fairly recently been replaced by another company, had gone again, due to a faulty ECU temperature sensor. The sensor was reading too low, allowing the car to boil over before it had attempted to put the radiator fan on, this was most likely the cause of the first failure.

All gaskets replaced, and new ECU temperature sensor and the temperature gauge sensor both replaced with new. We’re so pleased for Alex that the car is now up and running for him as it should be.

Lovely to meet him and have interesting chats while we worked, along with many welcome cups of tea. It was great to hear from him later on after a run out that the car is running lovely and smooth.

From there we headed over to Billingham where it was lovely as always to see Gary, Liam and Claire. Their TF 135 was due for the annual service and a couple of other bits. Service carried out, and a new key fob programmed, as the one they had was being temperamental. Jon pointed Liam in the right direction for replacing the track-rod-end on one of the fronts. His apprenticeship at Porsch is going really well we’re pleased to hear. He had recently replaced the calipers, discs and pads on ‘Madam’.

Good to have a chat and a catch-up before we left to head off home. Now on the A19, it’s a beautiful evening following a really good day and now it’s admin time! Then tomorrow is unpack the van day from our recent trip and restock it all again to head over the Lancashire etc for the week first thing on Monday morning. – https://ift.tt/XTr7FRe

Days 9 & 10 – Banbury, Worcester & Pershore…

We drove up from our digs yesterday morning to arrive in Banbury for work on Gary’s ‘04 TF 135 in paint code MBB.

Having recently bought the car earlier in the year it came with no service history. So Gary got on with carrying out the minor service and replacing the underfloor pipes and he asked if we could come over to do the cambelt service. Plus we replaced the gearbox oil and flushed through the brake fluid.

Really great to meet him, and his colleague, and have a chat before we went on our way. We were only staying fairly local last night in Wroxton.

This morning we headed further north to our first call of the day in Worcester, where it was really lovely to see Tim for work on his LE 500 in paint code 106 and number 494/500.

Tim had noticed that the wishbones were starting to look a bit flaky and a small hole had appeared in one of them. So these were replaced for him, without any drama of snapping off subframe bolts we were very pleased about! Minor service also carried out for him.

Great to have a chat while we worked, and thanks to Tim for the supply of beverages and biscuits. Hope to see him at a show or an event some time in the coming weeks.

From there we headed over to Pershore, where it was great to meet Richard for work on his ‘99 MGF 1.8 mpi. Richard had noticed oil leaks from both of the drive shaft oil seals. So these were duly removed and replaced with new ones for him.

We’re now heading back home, after 10 nights away and a total of 964 miles, looking forward to seeing the cat. It’s been a successful trip, great to see some old faces and to meet some new ones too. Plus the added benefit of mostly decent weather. ⛅️ – https://ift.tt/nKXY0zl

Days 7 & 8 – Around & About & Liskeard…

A day off yesterday for some much needed R&R and in lieu of our wedding anniversary tomorrow.

This morning, Tuesday, we made a reluctant departure from our absolutely fantastic digs we’ve been in for the past 4 nights, and started to head back up the country, with our destination being Liskeard.

It was good to meet Ray for work on his ‘02 TF 160 Sprint, in paint code MBB.

Full cambelt service carried out for him, plus gearbox oil change. We had to resort to plan B, as the engine mount bolts were definitely not coming undone, which proved successful, thankfully. A few missing and wrong bolts replaced and she’s all good to go.

We’re now in our digs for one night, as a sort of halfway point, before we head further north to Banbury in the morning. – https://ift.tt/MoGEpQS

Day 5 & 6 – Longrock & Cranborne

A short commune along the road from our digs to Longrock for our visit to Charles’ TF 160, in paint code JFV. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see him this year, as he was working away, so had left his keys with his neighbour.

This time was for the annual service, and to replace the air temperature sensor, as Charles had reported that the engine-bay fan was on constantly.

We took along with us some pre-tensioners, as he had also reported that the SRS light was coming on, intermittently. On code reading it was found that both pre-tensioners had dodgy connections, so these were cleaned up.

While we were in there we noticed that the coolant was fairly low in the expansion tank, so pressure tested everything and ran all our usual checks. The only obvious thing that we noticed was staining on the hose for the main outlet from the block, so we replaced both of the clips on this.

Made the most of the fab weather and location so we headed over to Mousehole for a cuppa. I walked and Jon drove, with a stop off for a hearty lunch for Jon on the way. What a beautiful little place, that I last visited 30 years ago. Not forgetting, of course, the dreadful Penlee lifeboat disaster that occurred off the coast there in 1981.

This morning found us not too far along the road to Cranborne, where it was really great to see Alan for work on his TF 135, in paint code JFV. He had recently had a couple of advisories on his last MOT, so asked if we could come over when next in the area to sort these for him.

Both rear subframe mounts replaced, we did take the welder with us as a contingency, knowing what an absolute pain those bolts can be! Fortunately, all but one, of them came out no problem, and the awkward one was duly drilled out and tapped.

Both front wishbones replaced too, as they had done their time.

Big thanks to Alan, for a constant stream of tea, and good to have a chat with him. Plus he went off to the local motor factors for us to the pick up a gas cylinder for the blow torch, an essential item when doing this job, as it decided to run out half way through.

Alan had also been experiencing an intermittent starting problem, with the car, which was due to the spade connector on the starter motor being a bit corroded, so this was cleaned up as it was quite green and crusty.

The weather wasn’t as bad as forecast, we only got one dousing, and soon dried off again when the sun came back out again.

Pleased to have him all set for his run up to the north east coast later in the year. – https://ift.tt/0vpUub3

Day 3 & 4 – Newton Abbott & Penzance…

We left our digs just near Burnham on Sea and headed over to Newton Abbott, where it was lovely to meet Alan and his wife Sharon for work on their LE 500 in paint code 110.

Cambelt, water pump, tensioner and other service items all replaced. Alan had noticed a very slight coolant loss, which only seemed to occur the day after a long run. We searched all over and carried out all of our usual checks and couldn’t find anything specific, apart from some staining below the water pump when it was removed. Let’s see if that’s cured it, Alan will report back.

Very nice interior of this car, that I didn’t get a very good photo of unfortunately.

Good to have a chat and a cuppa whilst we worked. We look forward to seeing them again next year!

From there we headed over to just near Buckfastleigh where we found ourselves at our next set of digs right next to Buckfast Abbey, what an incredible place, so much history, and set in a stunning location. We had a look into the Abbey in the evening and were lucky to have the place to ourselves to listen to the guest organist, for the coming weekends’ recitals, rehearsing.

Today was a ‘travel day’ and we now find ourselves in our next set of digs for the next few nights a mile or so out of Penzance. Had a stop-off for a walk round the harbour, couldn’t see any pirates though! 🏴‍☠️ – https://ift.tt/NUkPyY2

Day 1 & 2 – Wombourne, Bromsgrove & Gloucester…

Tuesday morning and an early start to head down to Wombourne, with a lot of hold ups on the way, we eventually arrived to work on Stephen’s ‘01 MGF 1.8 mpi in paint code CMU.

The head gasket had gone a few months ago, so we set about replacing it, clearing out gunked up coolant channels etc. as we went.

When it came to firing the car up, it had issues with a misfire on one cylinder, although changing the plugs and coil packs seemed to calm this down, then it had a Lambda sensor fault, which kept coming up, causing a rough idle anyway. To top it off, the radiator fan would not cut in even when unplugging the sensor, which is meant to default by putting the fan on. The relay was tested and found to be ok, the relay was then bridged, which put the fan on, so the fan is ok, so it’s either down to a wiring fault within the car, or the ECU.

Good to meet Stephen and Bridgen and have a chat while we worked, with lovely hospitality, loads of tea and snacks, always welcome.

From there we went over to Bromsgrove to sort out the heater issue Lee had been having with his ‘00 MGF 120 mpi, in that he couldn’t turn the heater to cold and had been burning his feet on long runs.

The control arm on the valve had come off, as we suspected, because it was badly worn. We managed repair it and reshape it so that it once again moved freely. Lovely to meet Lee briefly and have a chat before we headed off down the road to our digs for the night.

This morning, Wednesday, found us back in between Cheltenham and Gloucester where it was lovely to see Jon and his Dad again for work on Jon’s ‘ 99 MGF 1.8 mpi Mk I and Jon’s son Alex’s ‘01 MGF 120 mpi Mk II.

Cambelt service carried out on Jon’s along with fitting of a Res pack as all his blowers weren’t working and cambelt service on Alex’s, he wasn’t there so didn’t get to see him again.

I knew I would forget something when packing up the van, alternator belts 🙄 Big thanks to Jon who popped over to the local motor factors to pick some up for us!

Great to have time for a chat with them both, and enjoy the fab weather, an enjoyable mornings work, plus the bonus of having doggy fusses with Treacle!

We then headed further south, with time for a visit over to the Clifton suspension bridge, as we were virtually passing. We’ve always wanted to see it, it’s really interesting and worth a trip.

So we’re now in our next digs of the trip, not too far from Burnham-on-Sea. I’ve been trying to get the admin done as we’ve been traveling so I shall endeavour to catch-up fully now. – https://ift.tt/IJMkH5n