I always suspected that my MGF had HGF before I bought it.

Last year I noticed the coolant dropping and Russell found the problem - a coolant leak to external from the head gasket. Russell whipped the head off to find an MLS gasket but no head saver shim.

Not sure how long the MLS gasket had been on, but I suspect less than 10,000 miles. The head was a bit of a mess as the liners had bitten in to the head.

Are you enquiring because of a bad experience?

 

its looking that way at the moment only done about 8,000 since it was last done

 

Hi Bob, you having problems??? I beleive there was a faulty batch of head gaskets last year but not sure how long the problem took to show

 

looks like I may have had one, only done about 8,000 since last change.not used the car much due to having a knee replacement done so a bit shocked

 

Ditto on mine-the previous repairing garage had used a cheap MLS gasket together with no shim. It failed after 7,000 miles-the gasket developed an external coolant leak on the exhaust manifold side of #1 cylinder.

 

thats just about the same as mine external leak that dries up on the block so no sign of any leaks on the garage floor

 

My MLS gasket failed at 4,500 miles. Failure was identified by exhaust gases pressurising the cooling system. It was the latest gasket purchased from an X-Part dealer and fitted by an MGF specialist.
It was replaced with another MLS gasket (as I couldn't source a Payen gasket in time) and that has so far outlasted the first MLS.

 

I think it all depends on whether the head gasket was done properly in the first place to be fair. As you can see from some of the replies on here, someone's failed because it wasn't fitted with the shim, well it could fail again if the original cause of failure wasn't found and fixed during the head gasket replacement, or whether the surface of the head wasn't flat, or even the head was scrap and refitted instead of a replacement one being sourced. Or, because of liner/piston issues etc etc but any of that could happen using the original gasket too not just the MLS gasket. If yours has gone again i'd expect it's due to the job not being done properly in the first place, or because of the things i've mentioned above. x

 

picked this up from another thread



• Coolant Leak running down the block – often from beneath the exhaust manifold could be from the head gasket, but is sometimes from the inlet manifold gasket as it runs around the head joint before showing itself. Look for rust or coolant stains on the front face of the block. Head gasket leaks in this area are usually caused by the rubber sealing bead deteriorating and becoming displaced or crushed. However, there have also been reports of new MLS gaskets leaking in this area. So far, these seem to be confined to unbranded gaskets - another reason to stick with the OE supplier of Payen.


I have also read on another thread that some of the unbranded mls gaskets have been manufactured with a fault which results in one corner of the gasket being slightly thicker .thus this does not allow the gasket to seat correctly

 

picked this up from another thread
I have also read on another thread that some of the unbranded mls gaskets have been manufactured with a fault which results in one corner of the gasket being slightly thicker .thus this does not allow the gasket to seat correctly

In a visit to Summit Motors of Maidenhead just recently to have a health check on my MGF plus a check to see if my MGF has had a head gasket change, they confirmed that it had the a MLS gasket, BUT they use them any more due to the problem as listed above....

 

any chance someone who is a member can make this into a poll so we can get a good idea of the fail rate of the mls gasket

 

Is it defo HG again Bob,....?

 

everything is pointing in that direction mindy.only other thing it might be is a leak on the pipes that go into the head dripping onto the head from the joint ,but a pressure test has been done and nothing showing.going to have to try and get a look at those joints just to make sure it is not a leak there

 

On my old F it went just after approx 130 miles.

 

I replaced my first mgf vvc with MLS with shim, and also on a TF the latest MG version which comes with the layers riveted together, stronger bolts and stronger oil rail and have not had any problems. I think failures must be due to incorrect fitting or overheating due to coolant problems.

 

The MLS gasket is by far and away the better gasket and reading above most of the fails were down to a muppet not understanding what they were fitting and leaving out the saver shim

The shim is a major component as its coated with a heat activated bonding agent

However the MLS was designed to work on a head thats in a good condition, flat and clean, also the same with the block

The payen gaskets, now beefed up with castle type ridges is a better option for a more ropey engine simply because its silicon type construction makes it more forgiving

 

from an earlier thread may be reason old gaskets still get used ,although mine is definetly mls

wrote at length about liner heights.

MGRover had 2 sets of tolerances.

0-3 Thou

then they changed it later on to

4-5 Thou

in an attempt to increase clamping forces on the fire ring and reduce head gasket failure.

MLS gasket is only compatible really with 4-5 thou protrusion heights.

or 0-3 thou if your lucky enough to have the 3 thou. if not, elastomer is the only choice.. thats why Payen and FAI still sell the elastomer as well as the MLS because it depends on the engine liner heights which choice you go for.

because with MLS gasket, 3 thou is about the minimum acceptable, 2 thou is pushing your luck.. and anything less than that is unlikely to offer a good fix.

the technical reason for this in short is..

1) engine was never originally designed to have an MLS gasket, but rather the elastomer type.. so with a tollerance of 0-3 thou it wasnt a problem.

2) liners are steel, block is alluminium.. different metals, different expansion rates... block will expand more than the liner.

3) the above expansion isnt a problem with the elastomer type, because it has fire rings that protrude above the surface of the gasket... so bearing in mind the above (number 2), if liners are flush with block surface.. when the block expands, liners may go slightly below the surface.. but seal is maintained... but with an MLS which has no fire rings, because they are reasonably flat.. with no protrusion around the fire rings, block expands, liners go below the surface slightly, seal gets broken... thats why its important as well that liners are flush at the very least.. if they are below the surface, or un-even in height block has probably gone soft and liners have sunk into it.. in which case its unlikely it will ever seal properly



Also worth noting, that despite the debates on the oil rail, whether you think its worthwhile or not.. any warranty on an MLS gasket is void without the oil rail... so its a case of, whether it does anything or not.. need to fit to maintain gasket warranty.
Last e

 

is there any way to tell which type of mls has been fitted when I get round to having the head gasket done

 

who manufactures the LR gasket set ? id be tem,pted to go that way if the need ever arised - hoping our MLS last a hell of a lot longer yet

 

I had a Chinese Aftermarket gasket fail after all of........1 mile! Bloody thing just pee'd oil straight out! Would only ever use genuine OE gaskets now. In fact on the MGBK build and with my road car I'll be using the N-series gaskets, bolts, etc.