MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
No surprise since this will be either the third or forth time. Darn heater valve leaking on distributor and getting it wet!! Even I should have know to look for that since it's happened in the past.
Thanks folks for helping out :)
why do you need a heater valve? I have mine off with a plate over the hole. no heater.<G>
But Mac, You live in Fairfield,CA. Do they even put heaters in cars out there???
another example of excelece in design , put a water valve with a low MTBF above a critical electric ignition component .. this is to insure that the operator pays proper attention to conditions under the bonnet...
I've seen some retrofits where folks have put a water valve that ya can turn off/on but has anyone really came up with a good working valve that can be bought?
didn't used to. had a 54 Chevy sans heater and oil filter!
but,,,if a little water causes so much fun, how about double DCOEs on a crossflow head. I've never seen a DCOE that didn't drip gas at some point.
Used to be common that a Lotus Twin Cam would go BURRRFF! as a drip got into the distributor and popped the cap off. Sometimes it just relieved pressure and kept on running, sometiimes it bvloew the sucker all the way off and onto the road!
used to also have that problem on my TR4 (had an SAH Stage 4 kit on it. too bad I didn't appreciate what I had back then...in '65.)
Naomi Wrote:
So. It was a wet distributor after all, but not by natural causes. Well, I guess it was natural being it happened that way on a B.
John D. Weimer Wrote:
You pretty well told me what was wrong then and this time. A wet distributor was the first thing I thought both times. I've seen those same symptoms too many times to not recognize them.
Always go for the simplest thing first.
Go to Bob Muenchausen's site he has some excellent on using a different type of heater valve. THose MG one are garbage anyway. Sort of the donkey cart of heater valves.
http://www.cibolas7.net/12272.html
mgjoc Wrote:
Shipping costs, mate. They'll eat your profit margin right up.
Yeah, the guy who designed that heater valve directly above the distributor has gone off to MGB hell where he's condemned to drive a roadster with a leaky top in a driving rainstorm and a distributor that shorts out for the rest of eternity. "Ah, this'll probably work just as well as locating the valve somewhere else. Hell, what could possibly go wrong? These cars will all rust away in a few years." I think his name was Nigel.
I'm using an in line ball valve style heater tap. It looks exactly the same as a RV8 tap, works great, slightly cheaper than the MGB tap. I just went to an auto shop and asked for a cable operated inline heater tap.