MGF Leak

Hi everyone. First time MGF buyer here. I bought the car 2 weeks ago privately. Everything seemed OK, but it has just developed a leak at the front end. Looks like the radiator. The bleed valve at the top of the radiator is leaking, but looks like more leaking from the drivers side. Has anyone encountered a similar problem?

Not much service history except for invoice dated 6/12/10 replacing head gasket, new clutch assembly fitted 6/6/09 and list of work carried out by a sports car specialist in January 2008.

Hopefully get some pictures when I have tidied it up a bit.

Thanks

Alan

Hi an welcome to the forum

Your rad problem is easy enough, only one thing you can do really is replace it if its leaking on the drivers side

If its just the blead point you need an O ring most motorist places will do them

Check the drivers side pipe just to make sure its not that, that has gone an not the rad

The rad comes out by removing the slap panel, thats the one that has the blead screw in it, then once the pipes are disconnected it just pulls up an out

More important is bleading the system after

F an TF's have 3 blead points

1 on the top of the rad you know about
2 behind your spare wheel is a black plastic panel, remove it, 2 x 10mm plastic nuts on the left, 2 in the well at the bottom of the panel (not always there) and finally the screw on the front right of the panel, Now look at the clutch top up cylinder just to the right on the bulk head is about an 8mm blead nut, this is to blead the heater
3 The engine pipe, If you have an after market induction filter you can normally get to this from the boot by moving the filter to one side once unclipped from the throttle body, If not you have to remove the engine cover, to do this unzip the rear window, remove the parcel shelf carpet and padding, unclip the 5 clips round the outside of the rear softop, you can now fold up the rear of the soft top, remove the large hatch, above the gearbox (left hand side as you look in) are two thick steel pipes, one has an 8mm blead bolt on the top thats you final blead point

Make sure all air is out of the system run till warm while bleading, allow to go cold and top up again as required

MGF's use coolant called OAT available from Halfords its the best stuff to use in them
early F's did use normal coolant but its still recommended to use OAT if you can, however dont mix both together

Normal stuff is blue in colour
OAT is bright pink

hope that helps

Welcome again, Alan.:welcome2:

I think Jon's covered everything there.:lol: Except to say there's a HOW TO replace the radiator here. rad replacement


Oh, and fit a low coolant alarm while you've got the cooling system in bits.:rofl:

Thanks for the information it is much appreciated. Hopefully get this sorted as soon as possible.

regards to all

Alan

Hi Alan and welcome to the forum :woohoo:

Jon has covered all of the things to do and as David has said fitting a low coolant alarm is a must, i feel the one supplied by Brown & Gammons is the best and is based on the OEM type that was fitted to the 2005 onwards TFs.
Dont mix the ethylene Glycol antifreeze with OAT as you will have to drain the system to change the rad, flush it out and re-fill with OAT. Mike Satur does a bleed valve for the radiator, it is expensive, but it saves the antifreeze mixture ending up in the spare wheel well.

If you have any questions, just ask, we are here to help and welcome again to a great forum :lol: :woohoo:

David, that is an excellent price for a radiator, the OEM ones are £100. i wondered about that rusty bit under the slam panel (security shield) mine is in 4 parts. i understand they are difficult to get because so many rust away. you cant buy a new one and a slam panel from ebay will most likely have a bad one too. i thought you radiator fitting guide was excellent too :woohoo: :woohoo:

bryan young wrote: David, that is an excellent price for a radiator, the OEM ones are £100. i wondered about that rusty bit under the slam panel (security shield) mine is in 4 parts. i understand they are difficult to get because so many rust away. you cant buy a new one and a slam panel from ebay will most likely have a bad one too. i thought you radiator fitting guide was excellent too :woohoo: :woohoo:

The only slight downside of these radiators is that the bleed nut is a different thread to OEM, which means that the Mike Satur alloy bleed valve doesn't fit. As I found out after buying one. Doh!

Funny you should mention the rusty bit under the slam panel, as I have just finished rubbing mine down and repainting with Hammerite.:lol:
(I think it was made from flattened baked bean tins.:rofl:)

david aiketgate wrote:

bryan young wrote: David, that is an excellent price for a radiator, the OEM ones are £100. i wondered about that rusty bit under the slam panel (security shield) mine is in 4 parts. i understand they are difficult to get because so many rust away. you cant buy a new one and a slam panel from ebay will most likely have a bad one too. i thought you radiator fitting guide was excellent too :woohoo: :woohoo:

The only slight downside of these radiators is that the bleed nut is a different thread to OEM, which means that the Mike Satur alloy bleed valve doesn't fit. As I found out after buying one. Doh!

Funny you should mention the rusty bit under the slam panel, as I have just finished rubbing mine down and repainting with Hammerite.:lol:
(I think it was made from flattened baked bean tins.:rofl:)

I think baked bean cans would last longer!!! i dont think it was ever painted when it was originally fitted and its so thin. will probably end up making one to cover the bonnet lock. ~ did you use the B&G stainless steel fixing bolts kit on the slam panel? they are £5 part number BGF 191 :whistle: