mgf died

http://www.ukmgparts.com
Ask the Gurus - Use this board to discuss problems or technical issues you have with your MGF/TF - there's always an expert around to help you!

Moderator: Committee Members

Forum rules
Not many rules really, this board being aimed at technical issues, it shouldn't fall foul (hopefully) of some of the more personal issues that can affect forums.

Rule 1 - Is that you need to think very carefully before posting anything technical or asking anything technical relating to the security system of the car - See 'Security Issues' sticky for more info.

Rule 2 - We (MGF Register) do not support copyright infringement and therefore references to CD ROM, PDF versions or paper copies of the workshop manual (for instance) should not be posted on the forum. We don't want to get into trouble and we'd rather sell you a genuine hard copy through our Regalia shop anyway! :)

Because advice is honestly and freely given in this technical section, much of it will be amateur experienced based, so any information is given in good faith and is not guaranteed as correct.
Post Reply
Lambypie
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:01 pm
MGF Register Region: Hertfordshire

mgf died

Post by Lambypie » Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:04 am

Hello,
I have a 51 plate MGF 1.8, (not VVC), that suddenly died while I was driving. The dash lights all come on, the radio, hazard lights don't work, but the electric windows, horn and indicators seem OK. (Although the indicators stop if the hazard light button is pressed). The remote key fob does not set the alarm and the red alarm light does not come on at all, I had to lock it manually.
My first thought was cam belt, (or ECU?). The car will not start or even turn over and I couldn't bump start it either. I had a quick look for any damage, bits of belt etc. and found none. The fan belt seems OK. I have acquired a DVM and will start to test battery and fuses, but I was wondering if anyone has any idea or things, other than the above that I might check for, (or had experience of similar?), before I have to resort to getting it to a garage.
Thanks in advance.

ZSx
Posts: 97
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:23 pm
MGF Register Region: South Coast
Model of Car: MGF VVC & MG ZS T16
Location: South East

Re: mgf died

Post by ZSx » Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:00 pm

I would suggest an earth point.

Grab the negative lead on the battery and pull gently, see if it is loose.

I would say... the lead that connects to the gearbox has snapped (did this on my MG ZS a while back with similar symptoms)... Worth a check and easy cheap fix if it is!

Lambypie
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:01 pm
MGF Register Region: Hertfordshire

Re: mgf died

Post by Lambypie » Fri Sep 08, 2017 1:21 pm

Ok, will try this.
Thanks.

User avatar
cath's mg
Posts: 1181
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:02 pm
MGF Register Region: Hertfordshire
Model of Car: MGF
Location: Broxbourne

Re: mgf died

Post by cath's mg » Fri Sep 08, 2017 9:01 pm

A friend had almost the same symptoms yesterday in their TF, turned out to be the battery.
I am probably asking the obvious but have you tried jump (not bump) starting it?

Gary
Cath's car but Gary's plaything :-)

User avatar
talkingcars
Posts: 5766
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:44 pm
MGF Register Region: South East
Model of Car: mk1 VVC
Location: West Sussex
Contact:

Re: mgf died

Post by talkingcars » Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:04 pm

ZSx wrote:I would say... the lead that connects to the gearbox has snapped (did this on my MG ZS a while back with similar symptoms)... Worth a check and easy cheap fix if it is!
I had similar on my ZS a while ago, the bolt holding the earth to the gearbox (and the clutch slave bracket) was loose, problems were worse when hot.
Home to black Alfa 159 3.2 V6 Q4, blue MGZR160, green MGF VVC and grey MGF 1.8i, and red MG Maestro T16.

MGF chatting on the Register and at http://www.the-t-bar.com

Lambypie
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:01 pm
MGF Register Region: Hertfordshire

Re: mgf died

Post by Lambypie » Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:36 pm

Quick update....I found a blown 60A fuse (battery) in bonnet compartment and have ordered a couple from Amazon £1.99
each. I'm hoping it may be a fuse just failing rather than a wiring/component I will see when I fit the new one in a few days. It explains the failure of some of the electrics as the positive terminal connects only to parts of the circuits via this fuse.
(I didn't want to jump start the car, Gary, in case it was the cam belt and I did more damage, but thanks for suggestion).
I hope this may help anyone who has or had a similar fault.

User avatar
talkingcars
Posts: 5766
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:44 pm
MGF Register Region: South East
Model of Car: mk1 VVC
Location: West Sussex
Contact:

Re: mgf died

Post by talkingcars » Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:26 pm

Lambypie wrote:(I didn't want to jump start the car, Gary, in case it was the cam belt and I did more damage, but thanks for suggestion).
You would know about it if the cambelt went while driving, there would be a lot of noise..........
Home to black Alfa 159 3.2 V6 Q4, blue MGZR160, green MGF VVC and grey MGF 1.8i, and red MG Maestro T16.

MGF chatting on the Register and at http://www.the-t-bar.com

User avatar
RobboMC
Posts: 1058
Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 1:36 am
MGF Register Region: Eastern Australia
Model of Car: 1999 Mpi

Re: mgf died

Post by RobboMC » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:41 am

Big fuses don't normally blow without reason.

If it starts and runs I would drive it home without touching anything, no blinkers, headlights, windows, nothing.

Then once safely home activate each item one at a time and work out which electrical circuit melts the fuse.
I'm guessing it's the hazard/blinker circuit since blinkers shouldn't stop when hazard switch is on.

mowog73
Posts: 512
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:48 pm
MGF Register Region: Canada

Re: mgf died

Post by mowog73 » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:23 pm

talkingcars wrote:
Lambypie wrote:(I didn't want to jump start the car, Gary, in case it was the cam belt and I did more damage, but thanks for suggestion).
You would know about it if the cambelt went while driving, there would be a lot of noise..........
No, you wouldn't. I've had a cambelt go and there was no perceptible noise.
Mark

User avatar
Tipper
Posts: 720
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 3:39 pm
MGF Register Region: Devon & Cornwall
Model of Car: RV8 + ZS180
Location: Exeter, Devon, UK

Re: mgf died

Post by Tipper » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:36 pm

I'd guess it's the alternator which caused the battery to go flat. Don't change the battery without checking the alternator output first.

User avatar
talkingcars
Posts: 5766
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:44 pm
MGF Register Region: South East
Model of Car: mk1 VVC
Location: West Sussex
Contact:

Re: mgf died

Post by talkingcars » Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:31 pm

mowog73 wrote:
talkingcars wrote:
Lambypie wrote:(I didn't want to jump start the car, Gary, in case it was the cam belt and I did more damage, but thanks for suggestion).
You would know about it if the cambelt went while driving, there would be a lot of noise..........
No, you wouldn't. I've had a cambelt go and there was no perceptible noise.
On a K series?

The K series is an interference engine and will make noise (as it damages its internals).

I had the belt go three times on my first Maestro, powered by a 1.6 S series, no noise, no damage.
The third time it went I changed the water pump as well, and all in under a couple of hours.
Home to black Alfa 159 3.2 V6 Q4, blue MGZR160, green MGF VVC and grey MGF 1.8i, and red MG Maestro T16.

MGF chatting on the Register and at http://www.the-t-bar.com

mowog73
Posts: 512
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:48 pm
MGF Register Region: Canada

Re: mgf died

Post by mowog73 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:38 pm

talkingcars wrote:
On a K series?

The K series is an interference engine and will make noise (as it damages its internals).

I had the belt go three times on my first Maestro, powered by a 1.6 S series, no noise, no damage.
The third time it went I changed the water pump as well, and all in under a couple of hours.
Yes, on a K-series. It happened on my MGF and there was no noise. When I took the head off I found 8 bent valves. Talking with Roger Parker at the time, he commented that normally you don't hear any noise from the engine when the valves hit the pistons.
Mark

User avatar
talkingcars
Posts: 5766
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:44 pm
MGF Register Region: South East
Model of Car: mk1 VVC
Location: West Sussex
Contact:

Re: mgf died

Post by talkingcars » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:03 pm

My only experience of valves and pistons kissing (and resulting in bent valves) was defiantly audible but I was next to the engine
(not my fault, someone else screwed up a belt change.
Home to black Alfa 159 3.2 V6 Q4, blue MGZR160, green MGF VVC and grey MGF 1.8i, and red MG Maestro T16.

MGF chatting on the Register and at http://www.the-t-bar.com

User avatar
RobboMC
Posts: 1058
Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 1:36 am
MGF Register Region: Eastern Australia
Model of Car: 1999 Mpi

Re: mgf died

Post by RobboMC » Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:22 am

talkingcars wrote:My only experience of valves and pistons kissing (and resulting in bent valves) was defiantly audible but I was next to the engine
(not my fault, someone else screwed up a belt change.
Care to explain, do you know what went wrong?

So the rest of us don'y repeat the mistake.

Did they try and do it without the proper locking tool ?

User avatar
Charless
Posts: 2362
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:52 pm
MGF Register Region: South Coast
Model of Car: 96 Mpi, 99 VVC
Location: Chilbolton

Re: mgf died

Post by Charless » Thu Sep 14, 2017 2:21 pm

There definitely is a noise when the kiss of death happens. I was unlucky enough to have the belt go just short of its due(and already booked) replacement service a couple of years back. Otherwise I would have a completely original engine with well over 200000 miles on it which burns no oil - instead it is 'mostly' original with a guest head!
The noise at low speed is like a dull momentry tuning fork followed by ominous silence from the engine because you push the clutch. I intend getting it back on eventually and will fit all new valves, guides etc Only two got bent due to the very low speed at the time.

User avatar
talkingcars
Posts: 5766
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:44 pm
MGF Register Region: South East
Model of Car: mk1 VVC
Location: West Sussex
Contact:

Re: mgf died

Post by talkingcars » Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:41 pm

RobboMC wrote:
talkingcars wrote:My only experience of valves and pistons kissing (and resulting in bent valves) was defiantly audible but I was next to the engine
(not my fault, someone else screwed up a belt change).
Care to explain, do you know what went wrong?

So the rest of us don'y repeat the mistake.

Did they try and do it without the proper locking tool ?
Yes, they did use the correct tool, all I will say is it does a good job of stopping the engine turning......
Home to black Alfa 159 3.2 V6 Q4, blue MGZR160, green MGF VVC and grey MGF 1.8i, and red MG Maestro T16.

MGF chatting on the Register and at http://www.the-t-bar.com

Post Reply