Topic

Hey again guys,

Its only been a few weeks since I had the MG TF, and I posted in the Pitstop recently (a conversation still ongoing). But I've just ran into a problem. I was driving urban last night, when all of a sudden a loud hissing noise appeared, and I could see in my mirror that a ton of steam was shooting through the rear vents! So I pulled over to examine, left the car cool down a little first and noticed the steam was coming from the coolant tank. The lid was on very tight. Also, the coolant temperature gauge was at maximum, earlier while driving it was less than half way.

So after a few minutes, the steam died down and I opened the tank to find no coolant in there whatsoever. Directly underneath the tank I could see there was moisture that had dripped out but it was dark and I couldn't get in properly to see. I added a large bottle worth of water into the tank, but it started to bubble and just disappear straight back out again. It appeared to be leaking back out underneath onto the ground.

I had to leave the car overnight as it was late. I returned this morning, added more water to the tank, and low and behold it stayed there. Even after a while, it wasn't moving as far as I could see. However I could still see some leaking onto the ground. So I started the engine, let it run for a while, revved it a bit. I noticed then after 30-45 mins that the leaking had pretty much stopped, and the water was still there. But also, liquid was being fed continuously (without overflowing) into the tank from the hose on the right of the tank while the engine was running.

I'm not an expert with an MG TF, nor am I an expert with cars in general, so excuse any of my ignorance. The car seems to be running fine now with the water, and the temperature gauge is now fine. I have purchased some ready-mixed antifreeze/coolant with 50% OAT. Would it be suggested to drain the cooling system and then add the new coolant asap? Or should I be doing something else? I'm concerned about driving it at the moment as I'm about to start using the car on Monday for long journeys every day.

It's also worth noting that the day before, after leaving the engine run while parked for a few minutes, the fans seemed to kick in quite rapidly.

I appreciate anyone's assistance, thanks!

Just a quick update.

It appears that there may still be some leaking. It's not going straight through like yesterday though. It's frustrating as it's late afternoon on a Saturday now and garages are shut, and I need he car for heavy use from Monday!

Tried to drain the coolant system, but I don't have a way of getting under the car at the moment, need to find a jack to borrow and some space on another street. In the mean time, I've popped open the radiator cap under the bonnet which just burst out with water. And I've tried to remove the plastic panel to get to the one underneath it, but my screwdriver just keeps turning and now the plastic screw itself has worn its Philips shape away, so the screwdriver barely does anything, is there a knack to removing this screw?



If anyone's local in Swansea over the weekend I'd greatly appreciate some help!

If you have the expansion tank cap unscrewed the water will burst out of the front rad cap. Just pull that screw out. It's just a placky screw spreader type thing anyhow. The bleed screw is underneath that. There are 3 bleed points in total. 2 can be accessed easily. Check the how to guides and follw CJJ Clive's guide or click here >> Coolant system. - How to fill and bleed.

Keep us posted.

Leigh Ping wrote: wrote:

If you have the expansion tank cap unscrewed the water will burst out of the front rad cap. Just pull that screw out. It's just a placky screw spreader type thing anyhow. The bleed screw is underneath that. There are 3 bleed points in total. 2 can be accessed easily. Check the how to guides and follw CJJ Clive's guide or click here >> Coolant system. - How to fill and bleed.

Keep us posted.

Cheers for the reply!

I still can't seem to get the screw out. It's just spinning with what it can feel is a spiky bolt that it's screwed into. I've tried hacking it. Dunno whether to brutally hack it...

waxmechanik wrote: wrote:

Leigh Ping wrote: wrote:

If you have the expansion tank cap unscrewed the water will burst out of the front rad cap. Just pull that screw out. It's just a placky screw spreader type thing anyhow. The bleed screw is underneath that. There are 3 bleed points in total. 2 can be accessed easily. Check the how to guides and follw CJJ Clive's guide or click here >> Coolant system. - How to fill and bleed.

Keep us posted.

Cheers for the reply!

I still can't seem to get the screw out. It's just spinning with what it can feel is a spiky bolt that it's screwed into. I've tried hacking it. Dunno whether to brutally hack it...

Go with brutally hacking.
You can just slide a stanley knife under the whole thing and slice the head off.What ever happens you'll need a new one or just use a nut and bolt.Do as Leigh suggested following CJJ's guide and keep a very close eye on your coolant level.Have a good look round for the leak and if you are unable to find one try a new coolant bottle cap they can be the reason for coolant loss.

Ok so I hacked it open, filled the tank with water whilst blocking the radiator drain, but nothing came through the drain behind the plastic.

So we switched on the engine, and although there was still nothing coming through the newly opened drain, the water started leaking from the tank onto the ground. So we jacked up the car, had a look, the water is coming through from deeper inside than is visual, I've shown a photo.

We are about to remove one of tyres to try and get a closer look. Can anyone offer any further advice please?

Take the drivers side rear wheel off. There is an inspection cover which you can then remove (three screws). Next take a look at the plastic cover at the end of the engine, (don't try and remove this, it protects the timing belt) under this cover there is the water pump. If the water is leaking from the plastic cover then the seal on the pump has probably failed.

If the leak is coming from higher up you could remove the engine inspection cover. It could be that the head gasket has gone and water is running down the engine block.

Wish I was closer, I would have popped round to give you a hand.

There is a pipe that connects into the bottom of the expansion tank. That is often the site of leaking.

pipe 9 in this diagram

David it looks like the leak is on the exhaust side of the engine from waxmechanik's photo above.

waxmechanik wrote: wrote:

Ok so I hacked it open, filled the tank with water whilst blocking the radiator drain, but nothing came through the drain behind the plastic.

The drain behind the plastic cover is part of the heater circuit, so you need to turn the heater to hot in order to bleed that part.

Plus sometimes even taking out the bleed nipple gives no fluid as the vent is gummed up and needs a quick poke to clear it.