Well I was warned - failed head gasket.

Pigeon

Pigeon

Pigeon

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,633
My MG TF is now in the garage with head gasket failure. I knew this was coming and did the best I could to spot the problem early by checking water levels everytime the car was used. Even so the gasket is leaking water from the join between head and block and there is a minor oil contamination in the rest of the water system. I am hoping to get away without the head needing flattening (as it did not overheat) or the entire water system getting replaced (just a flush through we hope).

So this is how to spend £750 just before Christmas which is pretty much all the money I am taking home from my current self employment. The car was booked in for checking out on this coming Monday with a suspected water leak but I took it in Wednesday when I noticed the water going black and the garage is hoping to have it ready for next Wednesday or Thursday am which I think is a good turnaround. On the good side the new land rover gasket and oil rail are guaranteed for 5 years so hopefully it will never go again and the service the car needed will effectively be done as part of the repair.
 
I hear that you can buy a sports car for almost the same price that doesn't suffer HGF?

Called an MX-5 i think?


Either way it was going to happen at somepoint, seems you did all you could :(
 
I think I am still quids in against the MX-5. The MX was about £2k more for the same year of car and I didn't think the performance was as good.

What should have done is kept my pennies safe and saved for an S2000 (or a house)
 
Pigeon said:
I think I am still quids in against the MX-5. The MX was about £2k more for the same year of car and I didn't think the performance was as good.

What should have done is kept my pennies safe and saved for an S2000 (or a house)
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Heres what is recommended, copied from Rovertech.

Seriously - as he has said, check liner heights (4 thou protrusion), ensure the head is flat and not gone soft (95 brinnell minimum, any lower and it's scrap).

You only need new bolts if the old ones are out of spec (screw them in fully and measure the length under the head flange to the block - 97mm or less is fine).

PRT stat helps the engine, especially in mid-engined configuration (elise/mgf) as the coolant runs are very long and you get thermodynamic shock when the stat opens and closes in gulps.

Use an MLS gasket if the liner heights are spot on, use a payen BW750 if the liner heights are lower as the pressure exerted on the liners/fire rings is greater, so less likely to fail.
 
Thanks for the information but I took the car to my friendly specialist. They solely work on MGFs and do a lot of this head gasket malarky. I'm not diying this car as I haven't got the skills/tools/space/time.

A horse would be a great idea but I think they cost more to buy and run than most cars?
 
Even if the engine has to come out that seems excessive. My MR2 is mid engine and the HG can be done with the engine in situ.
 
The price is not fixed just an average estimate, it may go up or down depending on the damage. Waterpump and cambelt will probably need changing as well?. Add to that dealing with the water system that is potentially leaking as well. Then it is the new gasket and oil rail.

It is not as simple as changing the gasket as dealing with the cause of the issue in my opinion. Yes it is a big chunk of money, possibly over average but I have been a regular customer there and they have cut me some deals in the past and critically I trust them to do a good and proper job.
 
My dad got one of these for a pittance to add to his fleet. I have no idea why considering what he already had. I think he thinks it might go up in value, or at least hold it. I drove it and it was quite nice with the top down, but it was the first car i had ever driven with the top down! I didnt really see what its finer qualities were beyond that. It was not quick and didnt feel special.

Oh, and the switchgear/fittings were all terrible?!

I did like the seats though.
 
Marf said:
+1

And thats including a head skim.
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-1

The labour alone is going to be around £400, its a good 8 hour job

£750 is probably the average price including a cambelt kit and water pump (which should be changed at the same time!), coolant system will have to be flushed as even a slight bit of oil contamination attacks the water pump seal.

your looking at about £850 for a full job on the VVC unit.

the last time i did a headgasket for £300-£400 was a a-series mini
 
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