Wet Monty Turbo!!

[Ed]

Hi guys!

Just thought I'd let you all know I've just picked up the latest member of my Monty fleet, an original MG Montego Turbo with only one previous owner and a full service history. The bodywork in beautiful and the seats still have their original red stipes and MG decals with no wear at all!!! It drove all the way from Dorset to Ipswich with no trouble at all and I am now giving this car top priority over my others.

But.... all that said, I need some help. While vacuuming out the interior i noticed that the passenger side front and rear footwells are filled with water. Does anyone know what could be causing this? I have checked the door seals on that side and they seem secure and intact.

The car also seems a bit noisy while its driving along. It seems to creak and sounds heavily throaty under aceleration. Is this normal for a Turbo? My other Montys are alot quieter.

Thanx guys.

Ed

[TurboMG]

Nice car, the front foot well could be wet from the heater matrix pipes leaking.

One thing I would suggest is fit a boost gauge,all the old turbos Ive come across are boosting at 7psi, the actuator gets soft with age and opens early.

[H536NOG]

Just a suggestion, I have had 2 or 3 Montego's that had replacement windscreens in them, these had not been fitted correctly & there was a telltale trickle of water down the inside of the screen when it rained.
Not saying the bonding on your screen isnt intact but the car would creak if it was really bad because it relies on the screen to some degree for torsional rigidity (if it wasnt planned into the structure of the car it would be sat in a rubber seal)
Nige

[Ed]

Come to think of it, i did have to top up the coolant before I left Dorset. I will have to check to see if it is leaking through the matrix, or if the water in the footwells smells of antifreeze.

I also notice that the windscreen fitted has the blue tint at the top, could this mean its had a new one at some point? I believe the blue tinted ones were fitted to later ones. Am i right? If the windscreen is leaking, have I serious problems?

[H536NOG]

No it wouldnt be serious (he says !!!) get someone to pour a few watering cans full of water along the top of the seal as you sit inside & watch for a telltale trickle, if it happens mark the spot then when fully dried out you can bodge it up with silicone sealer from the inside with the help of a mirror.
It happens when the windscreen fitter applies the bead of PU & doesnt quite get the ends to meet.
Nige

[Ed]

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go. Its covered in a ton of snow at the moment, so perhaps next weekend! :D

[talkingcars]

Look under the carpets, you will see the antifreze if it is the heater pipes, a quick fix is some rad seal in my experience.

For windscreen leaks I have used a product, seak and seal IIRC, which you apply to the area leaking.

Another posibility is the drains for the sunroof, I removed the sunroof from my J reg estate last week, the hoses were so brittle that they just snapped, they run down the A and b pillers.

James

[talkingcars]

Yet another possibility is the damp proof membrane (the plastic sheet behind the door card) is damaged or missing allowing water running down the side windows to pass behind the card and into the card.

James

[Ed]

Thanks James

I have a lot of possibilites to check now, hopefully one of them ill cure the leak! I'll let you all know the outcome.

Cheers!

[Ed]

After much head scratching investgating the wet foot wells, I have finally discovered what is causing the leak. Last night I was clearing out the old leaves and mud in the area under the bonnet, underneath the wiper linkages where the sunroof drain tube goes through the hole in the bodywork. To my horror, i found that i was able to pull out handfuls of filler and now I can see the foam backing of the interior sound proofing behind the facsia. :horror: I was so shocked as the car is so solid apart from this. I don't really know how to tackle this. Would I be better to take the facsia out and weld it up that way as it looks impossible to get in and weld it from the outside. Anyone had a similar experience? Please help, before my footwells rot out! :banghead:

[MGTurbo]

After much head scratching investgating the wet foot wells, I have finally discovered what is causing the leak. Last night I was clearing out the old leaves and mud in the area under the bonnet, underneath the wiper linkages where the sunroof drain tube goes through the hole in the bodywork. To my horror, i found that i was able to pull out handfuls of filler and now I can see the foam backing of the interior sound proofing behind the facsia. :horror: I was so shocked as the car is so solid apart from this. I don't really know how to tackle this. Would I be better to take the facsia out and weld it up that way as it looks impossible to get in and weld it from the outside. Anyone had a similar experience? Please help, before my footwells rot out! :banghead:


Never heard of the rust being that bad where you describe before but i can see how it happens, as the sunroof drainage area gets blocked up very quickly with leaves and crap and water soon collects. To do a proper job you will have the take the dash out and weld some metal in.

Gareth

[Ed]

Cheers Gareth, i think this is the only option. Tomorrow I am going to get the car into the garage to keep her dry and then dismantle the fascia to see just how bad it is. Will then commission a mate to repair the area by welding in a new section. I will take plenty of pics to show the process and also to show you guys how shocking the hole is!!! Watch this space.

[Ed]

Can't really see much but as you can imagine it would be nearly impossible to weld from this side.

[Rich]

Dont worry, my LX rusted a lovely big hole around the speedo cable in that area, and after about 3 tubes of sillicone, and 2 welding jobs, it still leaks!

[e692wtt]

The Montego I'm scrapping is badly corroded to the nearside of the front bulkhead - worse than this one I would say... but we (RDGelder, Tony and myself) didn't discover this until the wiper motor was removed. There's also major corrosion to the base of the A-posts and the sills - but the bulkhead rot came as a bit of a shock...

Bits of the car are going to help several others survive (Tony's convertible, RDGelder's Ledbury and E_T_V's project) as well as my Monty, so it's not being wasted - just need somewhere to store all the bits... :)

[Ed]

Hi guys. Have stipped out the interior today. I'd love to hear some verdicts...

[Ed]

And just a pic to remind myself that she's still a beauty! :laugh:

[Simon]

Thanks for posting the pics -very helpful, I'm definitely going to have a look at this area on my car, as the water on my leak appears to be coming from around there.

[Ed]

No problem Simon, hopefully yours won't be rotten in this area but if it is, I'll be posting more pics of the repair as soon as its done.