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MG MGF Technical - Clutch gone

Hi everyone. I'm a new owner of a MGF 1.8 1996. Only had it a few weeks and already fed up with breakdowns. Can someone out there persuade me to keep this car or not! I had the clutch release arm greased 48 hours ago by a reputable garage after the pedal went straight to the floor and wouldn't return and this morning travelled [gently] only 12 miles and the coolant was spitting out of the reservoir. When I let the engine cool down I put in 2ltrs of anti-freeze and let it stand idling for 30mins. No probs with overheating and the cabin heater worked just fine so took it for a gentle 3 mile trip and the cluch pedal went straight to the floor again and wouldn't return to position. Could the clutch pedal be a failed slave cylinder or master cylinder or what?
G Thomas

Seizure of the clutch release arm can put a lot of stress on the master and slave cylinders. You may need to either service or replace one or the other. Have a look through the archives on this site and you'll find the most likely one to have failed (I can't remember off the top of my head, sorry).

Regarding the boiling coolant, my first port of call is to replace the expansion tank cap. They're cheap, a frequent offender and all will fail in time. Thereafter there are a number of other things to look at, but common things happen commonly if you know what I mean.
Rob Bell

"Hi everyone. I'm a new owner of a MGF 1.8 1996. Only had it a few weeks and already fed up with breakdowns."

Don't blame the poor car - it is 14 years old. Try buying a 14 year old Fiesta or Astra and see what condition that's in. If you buy a car of that age you must expect some problems. Back in the early 80s I bought a 5 year old Cortina and had numerous problems with brakes, engine and even rusty sills, so to be a runner at 14 is pretty good for what was an inexpensive car. I hope you get it sorted soon and can start to enjoy it.
Mike Howlett

The slave cylinder is usually the one to get toasted by a seizing clutch lever, but a new piston seal usually is all that it needs to get it back into shape. Check for fluid around the bottom of the rubber cover, and ideally have someone operate the clutch while you watch the slave cylinder - if it is flexing under the load, the greasing of the clutch lever may need to be looked at again. If the seizure is in the lower part of the lever, there is an O ring that will block any lubrication from above.
bandit

This thread was discussed between 31/01/2010 and 01/02/2010

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.