MG ZT 1.8T Holed Coolant Hose repair.
 

One of the many things I like about the MG6 Engine I fitted to my ZT-T 1.8T a few years ago was that the coolant level in the Expansion tank was always stable.

Following my fitting a new Clutch Slave Cylinder last Autumn, the coolant level remained stable then I noticed a slight drop. That was unusual. The coolant loss although slight started to increase and now there were sometimes tell tale small pools of coolant under the gearbox area.

That was about a month ago and I stopped using the car except for short journeys awaiting a return of milder temperatures to look at the car.

I found dampness on the hose near the 8mm Coolant Tube Bleed Bolt I had fitted, and more escaped coolant collected in the webbing on top of the Bell Housing. Also, a small hole detected in the area close to the sharp point of the Hex Headed 8mm Bolt. This had punctured the hose.

Using a very sharp Stanley type Carpet Knife, I cut the hose exactly across the spot where the hole was. I found a metal Tow Bar Bolt Spacer about 7CM long which was tailor made for the job. A perfect fit and two new worm drive fasteners completed this temporary fix.

I used two pieces of larger diameter coolant hose off cuts wrapped around the repair arera as added protection to ensure now more holes ..

Mine always ran at around 95C with the original (buff) PRT, which showed a nice response to pump pressure (i.e. engine revs). With an experimental swap to the then specified black version, normal running was brought down to 87-90 degrees, but with much less revs sensitivity. I suppose there will be differences depending on thermostat type. I believe the earliest 1.8Ts may have had the conventional stat, which became the PRT sometime after 2003, though I'm probably wrong on that. Anyway, the current selection of aftermarket PRTs is a quagmire. They're no longer specified with both temperature and relief spring pressure variations and can only be regarded as conventional inline thermostats. The latest meaningful recommendation from Xpart was several years ago and was for the grey version. Now, I doubt anyone knows what's right.



TC

Yep mine runs between 89-91.

I have one too, but found the display much too dim to read. I made a radical adjustment to the way the screen is backlit.


https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/c7...93h29zwy6g.jpgTC

yep -88-92 for me - with a buff thermostat - landrover i think .

I have an MG 7 unit and like you found it way too dim to see in sunlight - can you in laymans terms explain what you have done so i can ask my autosparks to upgrade the unit which has been in my boot for the last 2 years.

Cheers

I'll try - it's been a while, but I did take photos. Basically I replaced the frosted plastic slab behind the display screen with my own custom made light source. This is a separately powered array of 20 amber SMD LEDs soldered to a circuit board. The board was made in classic amateur fashion by copper etching the circuit traces and soldering pads of standard copper clad board. Of course I had to learn how to do it first and I bought the chemicals from ebay. I felt it was worth the effort having paid a lot for the MG7 kit and really wanted to keep it. It involved a lot of trial and error, but I found it all qute fascinating.


So, it's not for the faint hearted. I could write up a HowTo if there's any interest in the MG7 kit these days.


TC

I learn everything by the seat of my pants/trial & error - plus online articles/YouTube. The chemistry side of copper board etching is easy for me (was in chemistry), but it can be intimidating and without care is quite dangerous. And before that there's the etch masking to do which is another layer of it.

For anyone interested, there are loads of HowTos like the 'Instructables' range of online tutorials. I might do a write up on the MG7 aircon modification sometime, shame not to use the photos.

TC