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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Has the cold affected your motoring?

1979 1500.

Thought I'd share some of my recent problems, some of which are caused by the cold. It been -5 to -10 during the night in North London.

Went to get my car going this morning. Getting in was a pain - locks frozen solid... bit of hot water cured that problem.

Went to start... oil was so thick that the battery struggled to churn the starter motor over... perhaps a 10W 40 or even thinner winter grade, would be better if we are going to have cold winters like this. Eventually it fired.

I'm still having my idling problem where its idling too high as it gains temperature... although I'm hoping this will go away when I have the engine and gearbox out and re gasket everything next month... however, I'm having a clutch problem now... and the over idling isn't helping. I'm struggling to get it into gear from stationary... particularly reverse but also first...(does reverse have sycnhro?) Essentially, it appears that the clutch isn't de clutching all the time... wondered if this could be a temperature issue? damage to the slave or pipe work? It will work if I pump the clutch hard and release a few times... but its not consistent...

Its easy to see how the reverse idler gets mashed up in this situation... and therefore why first sounds horrible in these cars.

Glad I'm changing my gearbox and clutch next month... but need to get to the bottom of this problem before then!

Any ideas?

Also had bendix jam again in the cold. Any one else having cold problems?
C L Carter

Up until -12 the midget had no problems.
At -15 the wiperfluid and coolant froze.....
A bit of driving and cooling down when the temp hit 100 cured that.
Drained a bit off coolant and added an aditional 2L of coolant.
No damage and no more freezing.

Thought she started a bit hard yesterday but only realised I forgot the choke when I wanted to push it in!
Love my delorto 7 pumps and she started!
Though she runs smoother when cold with choke on ( a lot less explosions from the carb ;) )
Onno K

I've got 0W-40 ready for all year round use and I did think about doing the oil change early as I've noticed the cold has made starting more sluggish and I think it's the 20w-50 not helping

this is what I'm gonna use, shock, horror, engine will fall apart - http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-68959-mobil-1-0w-40-new-life-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

careful with the hot water, not too hot and not directly into the door locks as it can freeze back - you can buy very small can of lock de-icer (well you used to haven't used it for years don't like it

I'm going to put what I usually put but it could be a serious consideration - the oil in your gearbox could be old (and low) thick EP90 for what little it costs in effort time and money I'd swap it for a fully synthetic 75w-90 (GL4 too) - http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-739-castrol-syntrans-multivehicle-75w-90-fully-synthetic-mtf-replaces-smx-s-75w-85.aspx

I'd also stick this in your rear axle too

clutch fluid sucks up water and the older it is the more water it'll have could that be effected by cold?

as you say the high idle wont help the non-syncro reverse gear, perhaps you need to pump the clutch pedal a few times before holding down and selecting reverse slowly

of course if your battery is a little down and/or all it's connections and starter system and all it's connections are not in good condition, clean, secure and protected then any weakness will show up more in the cold

Nigel Atkins

What level should the clutch fluid be? The handbook says bottom of filler neck... but there isn't really a neck?

I'm thinking.. top it up until you can't get any more in... any objections?
C L Carter

If you see the level without a flashlight your fine
Onno K

Christian,

I think one of the problems in these exceptionally low temperatures is that batteries even in they are in good nick are well below par for cranking when it's this cold.

With a 1500 it may help to depress the clutch when cranking so that you are not turning over the gears as well (the 1500 gear oil being a lot thicker than in the "A" series)

Although with you clutch problem that may not help.

Dave
D MATTHEWS

Has the cold affected my motoring?

Well...of my British cars yes!
I park my MINIs...and now Midget also...in November usually.
I might get them out in April or so.

It get's damn cold here...and 20/50 gets pretty thick.

Also not a fan of collecting the salt from the roads.

We've had a relatively warm winter actually this year....but last week still dropped to -35. ( -23 tonight )

On the colder nights we plug our cars in ( block heaters come standard ). Many people also use synthetic in the newer vehicles so that helps starting.

Can't wait to try the Midget out though! ( after fixing a number of things that is
Matthew T

I fired up the Midget for the drive to work a few days ago when the temperature was around freezing, and got a growl from the starter when it disengaged, as if the starter motor shaft had contracted with the cold and was a bit small for its bearing. Aside from that, the car's run great. It's nice and cozy with the hardtop on, and the heater works really well.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

I had to use the midget a couple of weeks ago as the works van was in for mot. There was a forecast for a heavy frost and the midget was on the drive so I left an inspection light under the engine . She started first turn in the morning despite a really heavy frost.
Steve Norfolk

This thread was discussed between 11/02/2012 and 21/02/2012

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