Preventative maintenance time

[100DashSix]

I plan to take my MG off to school during the nice weather (Shenandoah valley should have some nice roads, I hope!) and figured now is a good time to do some preventative maintenance. Here is what I plan to do so far, but I'd appreciate advice.

Changes points & condenser

Oil change, plus check gearbox oil and rear shocks (one had crud on it.)

I've been adding water to the radiator..probably will put some antifreeze & Water Wetter in to compensate

Clean the air filters, if they need it

Adjust the brakes --the rear left has been making noises, and I assume that this means it needs to be tightened, since it's drum.

Organize all those tools floating around in the car, and make sure I have spare hoses, a belt, and points.

I'll check the plugs, and see if I should put new ones in, though they're fairly recent. (How often do you change them?)


Sometime in the future I'm going to do a carb rebuild, as there's slop in the throttle shaft and a vacuum leak at idle (at least), but I think this can wait until I have some time off.

Sound good? What does everyone else do with their cars to shape them up?

 

[Deleted member 3577]

Once a month I tighten up all the nuts........

And replace the ones that have fallen off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

& once a quarter I take a different part of the car & clean all the electrical connectors/tighten grounds...engine compartment, interior, rear/under car

 

[jlaird]

Daily I look at the pics of my little Miss Agatha all over the place.

Actually when I was running a Bugeye I never did anything unless it broke, made noise or such except normal preventive maintaince.

 

[R6MGS]

I like the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' policy...But thats only to be applied once you know the car very well and have confidence in all it's components. Right now my wifes MGA is used daily, I pop the hood once a weekend, check the fluids and look for any other potential issues...This lead me to finding my current rad leak(rad is now in being redone) but other than that this car has been as reliable, if not more reliable than my modern cars.

One thing that wasn't mentioned would be to check all the heater hoses and rad hoses before leaving(if you haven't already done so) If they look tired, replace them...It's a cheap easy job that gives you one less thing to worry about while on the road.

 

[Steve_S]

Change the rotor cap also and keep the old one in the boot. The crappy caps these days have the bad habit of shorting out after a time. I'd keep the old points and condenser in the car as well just in case.

 

[JamesWilson]

[ QUOTE ]
One thing that wasn't mentioned would be to check all the heater hoses and rad hoses before leaving(if you haven't already done so) If they look tired, replace them...It's a cheap easy job that gives you one less thing to worry about while on the road.

[/ QUOTE ]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif

And that goes for the fan belt too. Easy to check and replace/adjust as needed.

How old's the battery? Check the teminals for corrosion and tightness.

PS. And take some spare fuses....

 

[100DashSix]

Will do, thanks.

 

[jlaird]

Always but always carry an extra fan belt under the drivers seat, then you will never need it. Boy are thay hard to find on a sunday.

 

[Nunyas]

not sure if your car has one, but I'd check the oil return line...

My B has a rubber hose that goes from the oil filter back into the engine block. For the longest time I thought it was fine because it had no cracks in it and it was still flexible. I had an oil leak though slow as it might have been I had a drip. One day while PM'ing me B I noticed that there was oil gathering at the joint where the rubber hose met the fitting. Replaced it with a part I ordered through Tony, and viola I have no dripping oil from my car anymore!


Soooooo... uhm... yeah, if you have oil lines, check those too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ronzet]

Speaking of Preventing Maintenance ....

Emily Latella "What's this Preventing maintenance?? I mean really, what can you do to prevent having to maintain an LBC??? I thought that you always needed to do schtuff on LBC's"

Chevy Chase "Emily, the term is PREVENTATIVE Maintenance. To reduce schtuff from happening when you least expect it..."

Emily "Oh, Neverrr Mind.."

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Nunyas]

maintain the little things so the big things don't break... is the best way to describe it IMO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Steve_S]

The best preventative maintenance you can perform on an MG is to drive it. They always run best when driven daily. Other than that, just listen to the car. It will tell you, literally, when something is amiss. I've always found that the more I fiddle with things, the more often they go bad. So my policy is to fix it right the first time with the highest quality parts available, and then don't touch it!

 

[100DashSix]

If driving an MG daily is maintenance my car should be in concourse condition by now..

Two things I have noticed: there is a slow oil leak (so it can't hurt to check the hose you mentioned, Nunyas) and there is a occasional misfire while cruising at speed. I hope points, rotor, condenser, plugs will fix that.

 

[Steve_S]

Don't forget that plug wires can break down and cause misfire as well. Not as likely as the other tune up items though.

 

[DrEntropy]

This really does bring up the: "What to include in the onboard spares kit" question, too.

 

[tony barnhill]

[ QUOTE ]
This really does bring up the: "What to include in the onboard spares kit" question, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doc, my answer to that question is: "Do the preventive maintenance & all you need ot carry is a credit card, cell phone & Moss catalog."

The things that wear will be caught & corrected in the preventive maintenance check; & you never have the part that just happens to break anyway.

Abn Example: I did all my preventive maintenance (except I forgot to lub the air pump) on my '79 B before setting out across the Pacific Northwest, Canada, & Alaska....no spare parts, just a basic tool kit & my Moss contact number....the only problem I had on the entire trip was - yep, you guessed it - the air pump froze up while we were soaking in Laird Hot Springs in British Columbia....my RV, tools, & trailer were back at Muncho Lake so I borrowed a pocket knife from a guy who was also enjoying the springs, cut the belt that drives the air pump & went my merry way! Months later, when we returned home, I replaced the air pump & belt.

 

[jlaird]

"Laird Hot Springs in British Columbia" Must be a nice place I am sure.

 

[tony barnhill]

Pool was so hot, it turned us bright red...& limp as a wet dish cloth!

 

[Steve_S]

I drive my MG to work everyday and it would cost the company thousands of dollars if I were late. So if you can't chance being stuck like I can't, then you have to carry certain spares. Rotor caps can and do fail suddenly and short out the ignition. You normally never see it coming. It isn't that common but it does happen, so I carry this $4 item in the boot of all my cars. I also carry the other ignition parts like points, condenser, cap, etc. I've almost never needed them but if it saves me from being stranded just once in my life then it was worth carrying them for all those years.