MG MGF (1995 - 2002) - 96 1.8 Coolant leaking

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Tue 2 Sep 2008 23:51
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - Niller
I have owned my 96 MGF for 18 months but have noticed in the last few months it has started leaking coolant. There might be a spill under the car and it wouldn't happen again for 3 or 4 weeks. I've been topping it up and when I mentioned it to my mechanic, he said "get rid of it" The previous owner at some point spent a grand having the head skimmed so I assumed all was fine. Is it worth trying to resolve this (can it ever be fixed permanently) or should I take his advice.
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Wed 3 Sep 2008 00:17
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - Screwloose

I'd take his advice pronto; others will disagree....
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Wed 3 Sep 2008 10:20
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - Galaxy
I wouldn't disagree, get rid of it quick!

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Wed 3 Sep 2008 11:05
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - Collos25
It could be no more than the inlet manifold leaking a common fault (just an O ring that goes)but due to the low water capacity of the engine and radiator you can soon get into the realms of cooking the head if you run on low coolant ,even if the head is gasget going its not a great problem depends if you want to keep the car or not.
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Wed 3 Sep 2008 11:54
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - bbroomlea{P}
Why would you get rid becuase of a coolant leak?

Check the waterpump - should have been done when the head was off and cambelt changed but some dont bother.

Likely culprits are either corroded steel cooling pipes under the car - stainless steel ones are available now from rimmer brothers/mike satur etc. It could also be the radiator at this age as well - again fit a TF one which is aluminium.

Whatever you do, attend to the leak before the coolant gets too low, air locks your engine and then the inevitable headgasket will be cooked again. BTW someone saw the previous owner coming if they charged that much for a headgasket replacement.
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Wed 3 Sep 2008 12:56
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - daveyjp
A colleague made the mistake of buying one of these a few months ago. Head gasket had been done by previous owner so she thought all should be OK.

How wrong she was. It has failed her three times due to failure of various other coolant system components. It's in at the moment as another seal sprang a leak over the weekend.

A For Sale ad is being prepared.
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Thu 4 Sep 2008 10:29
96 1.8 Coolant leaking - Niller
Thanks for all the advice. Much as I love the car, living in Dublin I don't have access to suppliers of Rover parts and expertise so I think its the end of our relationship.
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