Light at the end of the tunnel....finally!

Nebburns · 3rd April 2014, 12:43

Hi all,

Some of you may have seen a few posts of mine since the beggining of the year after I became new to the MG circles.
At the back end of December 2013, I purchased a royal blue, 2005 MG ZT-T 1.8k turbo with C.68k miles on.

I was very happy with my purchase - the bodywork was in brilliant condition and all appeared to be ok..... until I started digging a little further and finding more and more bodges from the previous owner(s).
The car had so many issues that at one point, I considered getting rid of it.

I'm the sort of person who has a 'I can fix anything' mentality, sometimes this is a good thing, other times its not (£££!)

So, firstly - I had a TPS / Cam phase sensor issue that was constantly flagging up DTC's that coupled with rough running, poor throttle response and stalling - I tried changing almost everything, including looms, sensors ECM's....all to no avail and only this last week did I manage to get that sorted!

Then, a week before we were due to go to France in the MG, the blue smoke on start-up that I noticed shortly after buying the car, (that i put it down to worn vlave stem seals) suddendly worsened with blue smoke on boost....so i decided to remove and replace the turbo with a reconditioned unit. The turbo was complelety worn, there was an amazing amout of radial play so much so, it was a wonder how it managed to work at all! Then, whilst removing the turbo - I decided to do some preventative maintenece and change the HG (no signs of HG issues, but I am more than aware of water/oil mixing when the HG fails and taking the new turbo out) so off the head came.

Only, when I removed the head, it was clear to see that someone had replaced the gasket not that long ago. Inspecting the head, the head was clearly annealled and was not fit for purpose! So thankfully, I just so happened to have a good servicable head in the garage which was given a minimum skim, hardness and pressured checked and delivered back to me. I relapped all the valves and used new valve stem seals.

Then, I noticed that the turbo to coolant pipe was badly damaged (and bodged with some repair tape) so a new one was ordered.

The car was then put back together with a new water pump, all the belts, sparks and tensioner including a decent coolant flush and refilled with OAT and fresh fully synthtic oil and OE filters. I also uprated the coolant fan resistor in the process and fitted a new lower engine mount.

I'm please to say that the car runs VERY smoothly now, and tends to hold boost so much longer than it did before.

Also, the front pads and discs have been replaced, together with a new backbox (it still had the original system on from 2005!!).

The only jobs left to do are:

Rear pads, discs including shoes
Boost solenoid
Replacement of lower coolant hose as someone has 'repaired' this in the past.

I now feel that the car is almost there and can start fully enjoying it. To date, I've spent just over £700 on all the repairs, even though this sounds like a lot of money, I think for garage to do this I dread to think how much they would have charged (closer to £1700 maybe more??)

Lets hope it offersmany more miles of enjoyment.

Ben.

Telferstr · 3rd April 2014, 13:46

Hi Ben,
Well done done and now all that has been sorted out I hope you can now start to enjoy your ZT.
All the best.
Regards,
Telfer.

Nebburns · 3rd April 2014, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telferstr

Hi Ben,
Well done done and now all that has been sorted out I hope you can now start to enjoy your ZT.
All the best.
Regards,
Telfer.

Thanks, Telfer - let's hope so!!

Ben.

Saga Lout · 3rd April 2014, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebburns

Hi all,

Some of you may have seen a few posts of mine since the beggining of the year after I became new to the MG circles.
At the back end of December 2013, I purchased a royal blue, 2005 MG ZT-T 1.8k turbo with C.68k miles on.

I was very happy with my purchase - the bodywork was in brilliant condition and all appeared to be ok..... until I started digging a little further and finding more and more bodges from the previous owner(s).
The car had so many issues that at one point, I considered getting rid of it.

I'm the sort of person who has a 'I can fix anything' mentality, sometimes this is a good thing, other times its not (£££!)

So, firstly - I had a TPS / Cam phase sensor issue that was constantly flagging up DTC's that coupled with rough running, poor throttle response and stalling - I tried changing almost everything, including looms, sensors ECM's....all to no avail and only this last week did I manage to get that sorted!

Then, a week before we were due to go to France in the MG, the blue smoke on start-up that I noticed shortly after buying the car, (that i put it down to worn vlave stem seals) suddendly worsened with blue smoke on boost....so i decided to remove and replace the turbo with a reconditioned unit. The turbo was complelety worn, there was an amazing amout of radial play so much so, it was a wonder how it managed to work at all! Then, whilst removing the turbo - I decided to do some preventative maintenece and change the HG (no signs of HG issues, but I am more than aware of water/oil mixing when the HG fails and taking the new turbo out) so off the head came.

Only, when I removed the head, it was clear to see that someone had replaced the gasket not that long ago. Inspecting the head, the head was clearly annealled and was not fit for purpose! So thankfully, I just so happened to have a good servicable head in the garage which was given a minimum skim, hardness and pressured checked and delivered back to me. I relapped all the valves and used new valve stem seals.

Then, I noticed that the turbo to coolant pipe was badly damaged (and bodged with some repair tape) so a new one was ordered.

The car was then put back together with a new water pump, all the belts, sparks and tensioner including a decent coolant flush and refilled with OAT and fresh fully synthtic oil and OE filters. I also uprated the coolant fan resistor in the process and fitted a new lower engine mount.

I'm please to say that the car runs VERY smoothly now, and tends to hold boost so much longer than it did before.

Also, the front pads and discs have been replaced, together with a new backbox (it still had the original system on from 2005!!).

The only jobs left to do are:

Rear pads, discs including shoes
Boost solenoid
Replacement of lower coolant hose as someone has 'repaired' this in the past.

I now feel that the car is almost there and can start fully enjoying it. To date, I've spent just over £700 on all the repairs, even though this sounds like a lot of money, I think for garage to do this I dread to think how much they would have charged (closer to £1700 maybe more??)

Lets hope it offersmany more miles of enjoyment.

Ben.

The mend it attitude is what I have, it smply keeps cars on the roads...

MG Tom · 10th April 2014, 20:04

I'm glad you've stuck with it Ben!

Mine drives infinitely better now than it did when I got it.

Also try a Tazu master cylinder, it makes the clutch a pleasure.

Remap next?

3rd April 2014, 12:43	#1
Nebburns Regular poster MG ZT-T Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Midlands Posts: 30 Thanks: 3 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Light at the end of the tunnel....finally! Hi all, Some of you may have seen a few posts of mine since the beggining of the year after I became new to the MG circles. At the back end of December 2013, I purchased a royal blue, 2005 MG ZT-T 1.8k turbo with C.68k miles on. I was very happy with my purchase - the bodywork was in brilliant condition and all appeared to be ok..... until I started digging a little further and finding more and more bodges from the previous owner(s). The car had so many issues that at one point, I considered getting rid of it. I'm the sort of person who has a 'I can fix anything' mentality, sometimes this is a good thing, other times its not (£££!) So, firstly - I had a TPS / Cam phase sensor issue that was constantly flagging up DTC's that coupled with rough running, poor throttle response and stalling - I tried changing almost everything, including looms, sensors ECM's....all to no avail and only this last week did I manage to get that sorted! Then, a week before we were due to go to France in the MG, the blue smoke on start-up that I noticed shortly after buying the car, (that i put it down to worn vlave stem seals) suddendly worsened with blue smoke on boost....so i decided to remove and replace the turbo with a reconditioned unit. The turbo was complelety worn, there was an amazing amout of radial play so much so, it was a wonder how it managed to work at all! Then, whilst removing the turbo - I decided to do some preventative maintenece and change the HG (no signs of HG issues, but I am more than aware of water/oil mixing when the HG fails and taking the new turbo out) so off the head came. Only, when I removed the head, it was clear to see that someone had replaced the gasket not that long ago. Inspecting the head, the head was clearly annealled and was not fit for purpose! So thankfully, I just so happened to have a good servicable head in the garage which was given a minimum skim, hardness and pressured checked and delivered back to me. I relapped all the valves and used new valve stem seals. Then, I noticed that the turbo to coolant pipe was badly damaged (and bodged with some repair tape) so a new one was ordered. The car was then put back together with a new water pump, all the belts, sparks and tensioner including a decent coolant flush and refilled with OAT and fresh fully synthtic oil and OE filters. I also uprated the coolant fan resistor in the process and fitted a new lower engine mount. I'm please to say that the car runs VERY smoothly now, and tends to hold boost so much longer than it did before. Also, the front pads and discs have been replaced, together with a new backbox (it still had the original system on from 2005!!). The only jobs left to do are: Rear pads, discs including shoes Boost solenoid Replacement of lower coolant hose as someone has 'repaired' this in the past. I now feel that the car is almost there and can start fully enjoying it. To date, I've spent just over £700 on all the repairs, even though this sounds like a lot of money, I think for garage to do this I dread to think how much they would have charged (closer to £1700 maybe more??) Lets hope it offersmany more miles of enjoyment. Ben. Last edited by Nebburns; 3rd April 2014 at 18:09..

10th April 2014, 20:04	#5
MG Tom Posted a thing or two ex. MG ZT+ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Northampton-ish Posts: 1,484 Thanks: 156 Thanked 98 Times in 95 Posts	I'm glad you've stuck with it Ben! Mine drives infinitely better now than it did when I got it. Also try a Tazu master cylinder, it makes the clutch a pleasure. Remap next? __________________ '03 MG ZT+ 1.8T X-Power Grey with Monogram 'WTD' black alcantara trim. [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] My project thread HERE

3rd April 2014, 13:46	#2
Telferstr Posted a thing or two Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 3. 1.5 Petrol 6 Speed Manual Gearbox. Great fan of the Mk1 75 which I had 3 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Inverkip, Scotland. Posts: 1,223 Thanks: 23 Thanked 68 Times in 44 Posts	Hi Ben, Well done done and now all that has been sorted out I hope you can now start to enjoy your ZT. All the best. Regards, Telfer.