Dear Gary:
Gary Davis wrote:
It seems that when the
> engines is hot, there is no seepage, but as it cools, a little bit of
> antifreeze appears near the top of the cyclinder head and rolls down to
> the plug. How serious is this and what should I do to figure out what's
> going on?
From your description, the head on your MGB is cracked. The
typical crack will go from the valve cover seating surface down to the
#2 or #3 spark plug hole. The crack will seep when the head is closed
then seal as the temperature rises. That is the bad news. The good
news is that this type of crack is not terminal and you should be able
to drive the car for many miles in this condition. When the engine is
cold do not immediately head for the freeway. Antifreeze will tend to
be blown back into the distributer until the casting heats up. I found
this out in my 65B which had a similar crack. Early morning banshee
raids down the freeway caused the engine to start missing. One morning
I rigged up a corner of shoe box to protect the distributer. Tacky but
effective. The problem was solved, and the shoebox has remained on the
car for four years. It gets stares at car shows, but it is cheap and
effective. The engine has over 200,000 miles on it and when the engine
dies the car will be scrapped, so the longer I can keep it going the
better.
> My clutch seems to have slipped overnight. Yesterday it was fine - this
> morning, it barely engages. Is it difficult to adjust the clutch? Anyone
> want to explain it for me?
Probably leaking hydraulics. Chances are the slave cylinder is
leaking. Check where the pushrods go into the master and slave for
leakage. Rebuild or replace as necessary.
> I changed light bulbs in the taillights last week and one brake light doesn't
> work. The taillight works but not the brake light. I know there was
> recent discussion about brake lights, but I don't think it answered my
> question. Any suggestions?
Take a piece of wire and ground the socket. If this causes the
lamp to work you have your culprit. Many times the socket will lose
connection to the grounded lamp body. If this is the case grounding
wires can be soldered to the socket, then attached with ring terminals
to the lamp mounting screws.
hope this helps
Kelvin.
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