Topic

MGF Head-gasket this must have been the subject of much discussion! However, my car is 21 years young has covered 54000 miles and has not had the cylinder head gasket changed.
I keep a constant eye on the temperature gauges, have fitted a low level water indicator. The oil is clean, the cooling water is as it should be.
Talking to two independent mechanics who have looked after these amazing little cars say l am on borrowed time as the gasket will fail.
They both advise that I should not waste any more time as prevention will be a lot cheaper that waiting for a failure.
Your thoughts would be appreciated

What symptoms do you have?

If I were you I'd ignore your mechanics and keep on doing what your doing.

If the gasket fails your coolant alarm will go off or you'll spot a problem.

Fixing it wont be any more expensive than changing it now. If you feel happier changing it then that's your choice.

The old adage "if it ain't broken don't fix it" applies here.

No problems the car runs fantastically but if I do apparently the head may need to be skimmed

Ignore the mechanics!

With a low coolant alarm, you will be warned well before any head damage.
These heads don't take well to skimming anyway as they are case hardened Alloy and excessive skimming removes the hard 'shell'. Skimming should NOT be carried out as a matter of course,as you would with a cast iron head.

I have Had two head gasket failures( I have done 150'000 miles), both with the coolant alarm fitted and I still have the original head. Unskimmed, just cleaned up and refitted by MGROVERSOLUTIONS.com

While I do agree with the notion of not fixing something that hasn't failed, I do believe there is an element of truth to what the mechanics are telling you.

Within the last year, I have seen 2 early cars have head gasket failure when the mileage approached 60,000 miles. Also, shortly after I bought my F I remember reading on one of these forums that a large percentage of K-series engines suffered head gasket failure around about 60,000 miles.

I do agree with the guys that if you do have a low coolant alarm fitted and if you monitor the coolant level in the expansion tank, there is no need to replace the head gasket until you see/hear signs of failure (dropping coolant level).

When I purchased my TF five years ago it had low mileage but I knew that I would be driving it abroad during my ownership . With this in mind I went down the 'Peace of mind ' route and as it was due a cam belt / water pump change I thought it best to go the extra mile and change the gasket , even though my TF has a low coolant sensor fitted . Ownership of a ZR taught me that it isn't always the coolant that gives you the warning as with the ZR it was oil that went into the cooling system with the obvious sludgy result . As with most things they usually happen when you are least prepared . What ever you decide to do , I would advise against having the costly addition of the oil rail changed . The theory is that the improved and stiffened oil rail stops the ultra long head bolts from loosing their tension . When I did my ZR I was told that the improved MLS gasket was only guaranteed to solve the problem unless you fitted the oil rail . In reality and , this is open to debate , the extra cost and work involved fitting it is unnecessary . I didn't fit one on my TF and it has been fine . Also , I agree with the comment regarding the head skim , it is not required unless a serious over heat has been suffered and even then it should be checked before it is done .
John

Both my F and TF head gaskets went within three weeks of each other; both on similar mileages approx. 55k,how's that for sods law! Anyway I got them both sorted, heads were in good condition, and not previously skimmed; so straight forward gasket replacements.
The failure of one was attributed to a cheap water pump leaking which was fitted at the same time as the cam belt was done approx. 45k.

I'm of the opinion that I knew at some point the gaskets were going to go; so I wasn't surprised when they did, unfortunately both cars going at the same time was not in the plan.
With the cars I do tend to wait for a fault to happen before the fix takes place, mainly down to time constraints; otherwise I would be out there tinkering, or messing about as my wife calls it,....bless her. However in our mechanical and electrical workshops we are always carrying out what is called PPM,s, which stands for "planned preventative maintenance" (changing belts, bearings etc before they fail).
Almost everything has a life cycle; so at the end of that life cycle that particular piece of equipment gets replaced no matter what condition it is in as the cost has been budgeted and accounted for. Luckily I had money set aside for the inevitable HGF; therefore I think the jist of this reply is for the piece of mind alone, and the mileage is above 50k, still with the original gasket then plan on getting it done while you can still control it.....wish I had done! I love these modals!

I drive my tf and I've forgotten about all that hgf rigmarole...drive it enjoy it and if it breaks then fix it..

Well I can forget about my head gaskets for a while....hopefully!: