Author: Facebook Posts

We left our digs in Lickey Hills this morning and went a few miles along the road to see Chris again and his MGF Anniversary (number 598 of 2000) that had been having a few issues with rough running…

We had previously been over with a replacement fuel pump, which was faulty and we all thought this had cured the problem, but on driving to the MOT station a couple of days later it started playing up again.

So this morning we went armed with a new coil pack, HT leads, various sensors. A bit of a head scratcher; coil pack, crank sensor, HT leads and coolant temperature sensor all found to be ok. Compression test showed that there was good compression on all 4 cylinders. Changed the spark plugs again, that we swapped out last time, and these were were quite sooted up. Valve timing was all correct, but one thing of concern was the bottom pulley bolt, which was quite loose, a timely find, thus avoiding an ultimate potential catastrophe.

We then checked out all the connections on the ECU and the fuel pump shut-off relay it seemed to spring into life abs behave itself.

A definite strange one as not one specific thing was at fault, it was a combination of things. At over 146k miles and 23 years old the car hasn’t done too badly!

So pleased for Chris that he can finally get the MOT done and start looking forward to getting out and about again. Thanks for the welcome warming cuppas Chris, great to see you!

Good run back home, with hardly any traffic chaos, with a quick stop off at the workshop to drop off a load of stuff and refill the oil etc ready for tomorrow.

Good to be back home in daylight and see our very chatty cat. – https://ift.tt/TUGnoeJ

What a really great couple of days spent in Carshalton…

Yesterday was spent working on Mark’s MGF 143 (in HFF). Initially booked in for cambelt service and a few other things we noticed that the coolant had dropped and there were signs of mayo on the dipstick. Having a bit of long trip planned to go to Le Mans Classic in the car this year, the right decision was made to crack on and replace the head gasket, and sure enough it had leaked through the fire rings on 3 cylinders on the inlet side. Cambelt, water pump and tensioner and alternator belt all replaced.

While we had the head off we replaced the rubber seals on the VVC plunger as this was leaking quite a bit and the seals were found to be quite brittle and past their best. Mike Satur slick shift also fitted.

Next on Marks list is to fit some Lambo door hinges, but just not enough time on this visit. Bit of a late finish and too tried to go out for a curry sadly, next time…

Alan drove up in his TF 135 (in HFN) this morning…

Front nearside wishbone replaced, with all subframe mount bolts behaving nicely!

Undersealing carried out too, great to have the pit to work in, made things so much easier. Now all looking as good underneath as it does on top.

Really nice examples of both of these models, which are very well cared for.

Excellent catch-up with Mark and Alan, lots of good conversation and laughs! Made the most of the excellent bakery round the corner for our lunches and cakes. Thanks, Mark for the ginger bread person! It’s become a requirement on these visits.

Now we’re on our way to our next destination… – https://ift.tt/TUGnoeJ

We left our digs in Bromley this morning and had a short commute down the road, where it was great to meet Barry, who had got in touch back in November having recently purchased a TF 135.

Quite a few things needed sorting on the car, some of which he has done himself. When he took it in for the MOT it failed on a couple of things.

So this morning we replaced one of the front lower arms and both forward front subframe mounts. They had definitely seen better days!! Minor service carried out too. Only one of the subframe mount bolts was awkward, as it had obviously snapped off on a previous repair, and the head of which had been welded in to place. This was drilled and tapped out and new bolt fitted.

Bit of a wet and cold day, but fortunately Barry had borrowed a gazebo, which was very welcome as we forgot to transfer ours over from the camper!

Really good day apart from that.

Now at our new digs for the next couple of nights in Croydon. Had a bit of a walk around the place. Admin time now and room service steak is on the menu for Jon tonight. 🥩 Think he deserves it after lying in the wet all morning 🌧 – https://ift.tt/hCR5qPj

A very early and frosty start to travel down to Welling this morning, where it was good to see Simon again and his definitely not Eww TF 160…

Simon had got in touch as the car had suffered from coolant loss while out in December and had called upon the RAC, the chap who arrived to assist was a 160 owner himself and located the leaking hose and carried a roadside repair to get Simon home again, which included bypassing the oil cooler. A cracking repair, using a bit of ingenuity, which involved 2 long sockets used as coolant pipe joiners. As it was just a temporary repair Simon asked if we could come and see him when we were next in the area to refit the pipes with proper pipe connectors. All our usual tests carried out to see if everything else was ok and any signs of head gasket failure, but all found to be good.

The last MOT had advised on the brake lines, so the two front ones were replaced also while we were there. Had a chat about fitting a soft-ride-kit later in the year.

Now at our digs in Bromley. I enjoyed a lovely long walk around Beckenham Place Park this evening, what a fab place, well worth a visit. – https://ift.tt/nAl9Y5P

We managed to dodge the snow and hail fairly well today…

Great to see Lorna again in Yeadon for work on her fab TF 135, ‘Madge’ that was needing the discs and pads replacing. The reverse lights weren’t working so we fitted a new switch and got that working again. Pre MOT check done ahead of the test next week.

Thanks for the cuppas Lorna, nice to have a catch-up and hope you had a nice run out this evening.

From there we headed over to Keighley to assess what was occurring with Steve’s fab TF 160. He had noticed intermittent coolant loss, slowly getting worse and the engine management light had come on.

On pressure testing the system we found that the head was weeping externally and the oil had mild emulsification. Head gasket duly replaced and car back up and running lovely again. The EML codes were showing that it was down to the lambda sensor, but once cleared didn’t seem to be coming back again, but if it does will be looked into.

Great to see Steve and have a chat while we worked and we look forward to seeing him and the car again later in the year for some further work.

Almost home now, and thawing out, with a few more roadworks and hold ups, but it’s still light and lots of squalls to see over the hills. 🌨 – https://ift.tt/xgDo3FU

Out on the road today with a call in Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent, where we had last met Paul, for diagnosis of some
issues with his MGF Trophy 143, back in October.

The car had many oil leaks, from various places, so these were duly sorted by replacing the following; all 4 of the cam seals, the cam cover gasket, the oil pump seal and both VVC plunger seals.

One of the plunger bolts had been stripped, luckily there were still threads at the bottom of the casting, so a quarter inch longer bolt allowed us to fit a new one. With the bolt being stripped it meant that there was no support on the rear edge of the plunger housing, this would only leak at over 4.5k rpm, as the solenoids would open and pressurise the cylinder with oil.

Paul had also noticed issues with misfires on his own code reader. When looking at the spark plugs cylinder 3 was the worst for slight sooting up on the plug, followed by cylinder 4. Although there is no connection on the electrical circuits between cylinder 3 and 4 they do however share the same inlet cam.

While replacing the seals, we checked the roll pins that hold the timing cogs, two of these were found to be slightly crushed, while seemingly not a significant amount, when combined they allowed the small belt side inlet-cam cog to be 1 tooth out. One of the roll pins, which normally take a bit of removing, just came away. Definitely not good.

Once new pins were installed, together with all the above, the engine ran a lot smoother, and with no error codes.

Really pleased that Paul can now enjoy, what is a very good example of this model, once again and get out and about throughout the summer with the odd track day too, when he has time!

Good to see you again Paul, nice to have a chat and thanks for many welcome warning mugs of tea.

Weather a bit Baltic, but we did have a lovely garage to work in. Hold ups on the way there this morning making us a tad late and so many on the way home, totaling 3 hours in delays on the return trip. 😧 At least the admin got caught up on 📖 – https://ift.tt/xgDo3FU

Up bright and early on Monday morning, at the workshop, to get cracking with this fantastic low mileage, MGF 143 VVC that was spotted and saved from inevitable impending peril by Caroline and Tony…

– Head gasket replaced
– Cambelt, water pump, tensioner and alternator belt replaced
– Air filter, fuel filter and plugs all replaced
– Disc and pads fitted all round
– Caliper carrier replaced nearside front
– Caliper replaced offside front
– Offside front top ball joint
– Hydragas pump up
– Underfloor coolant pipes
– Wiper motor replaced
– Welding of all 4 sills
– Underfloor treatment carried out
A few other things sorted and then finally the MOT this afternoon.

What an enjoyable 3 days turning this one around, particularly as another rare one is saved.

‘Jugs’ is now all ready to be reunited with her owners at the weekend 💙 – https://ift.tt/5wlmV1z

A date for your diaries! So good that events are back up and running again. 😃

Just wanted to share this on behalf of the MG Northumbria group… – https://ift.tt/5wlmV1z