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MG MGF Technical - Amber engine light

ive recently purchased an MGF 1.8 vvc 160 trophy (2001), had the car for 5 months and its been back in the garage 4 times due to the amber engine light appearing, the guys in the garage at first thought it was the spark plugs which they have now been changed twice, couple of weeks after that the car was running even worse than ever, took it back to the garage again and they replaced the spark plugs (again!) and the coils, 3 weeks later the engine light has come back on, does anyone have any ideas what might be causing the problem, the car is still under warranty and the garage i'm dealing with seem to be a bunch of A***holes

Many Thanks

Paul

P.S. The garage is a main MG dealer where i originally purchased the car
Paul

isn't the amber light (i don't have one) the cat failure light? if so then you most probebly have a dodgy lamda sensor, or dodgey connections (pull aprt spray with lots of contact cleaner and reconnect).
Will Munns

Will
looking at the fascia warning lights, the amber cat light is the lower left warning lamp.
The problem is attributable to the CC and any MGR dealership should have the ability to fix the problem.
If the cat has failed this would explain the poor running.
Tony Harrison

Even if the cat has not failed (probable) and the sensor is duff, the engine switches to "get you home" mode and will feel poor.
Will Munns

Paul

My 2001 Trophy 160 is at the dealership at the moment due to the engine warning light flashing.

The car first did this on the way to Brands Hatch for the BTCC in May. I was slowing down for a traffic queue on the M56 in pouring rain, and the amber light (instrument binnacle, left side, half way down, picture of an engine) flashed about 5 times. However, the car was running fine, no problems at all. Got it to a dealer who plugged in the computer, and it said there had been a missfire. The engine and cat were checked, and I was given the green light - the cause was a mystery.

No problems since, until last Sunday. I was stopped at some traffic lights, and this time the light flashed about 10 times. Again, the car was running fine (I would not have known there was a problem had I not seen the light). All gauges were normal, and the fuel tank was half full. I slowly drove the car home, and the dealer came to collect it this morning. I phoned about 5 minutes ago, and they still have not found out what the problem is.

I'll keep everyone posted!

Cheers

Paul
Paul

it always seems to be when you stop in traffic or slowing down for a junction, the garage related the problem to the coils but something must be causing the coils to fail if this is 4th/5th time i have to go back to the garage
paul

Paul...this is EXACTLY what happened to me (TF160) back in the winter (see my earlier thread on the matter...where I was semi-flamed for driving at 35 mph in top and for daring to question some members comments on the workings of alternators!!!). Raining, driving slowly in traffic, heater on, wipers on CD on...my light flashed about 10 times. Only happened the once and has not happened since.

When I finally got it to the dealer he could only find minor problems in the "log"; nothing that would cause the light to flash....UNTIL, in the course of general conversation, I mentioned the exhaust flap mod, at which point he decided it MUST've been that had caused the snag and he promptly reconnected the relay.

SimonKE

>daring to question some members comments on the workings of alternators!!!

LOL, I beleive the phrase you used was
"Obvoiusly you don't know how an alternator works"

which was asking for it really ;-p
Will Munns

Sorry...my previous message was addressed to Ainsdale Paul!!!

(BTW...Annie hails from Guildford Road Southport (well Birkdale, REALLY!!!) just down the road from you!! Maybe meet up for a pint next time we're up with the in-laws???)
SimonKE

Oh, bugger, you remembered Will!!!!

SimonKE

Electrical problems are *very* difficult to diagnose, and need experience to get it right. Few places have that experience.
Does an MOT type exhaust emissions check reveal anything ?
Does driving the car hard show any problems - does it accelerate to the cutout (esp 2nd and 3rd gears) ?
Can it idle OK till the radiator fan cuts in - and continue till it cuts out again ?
Your best bet is to get the fault to appear while the garage has the car, so leave it with them if at all possible. You could always ask them if their technician is an electrical specialist, or perhaps the specialist is on holiday?
I wouldn't be surprised to hear it's the coils, or wiring/connectors to coils - or the drive circuitry in MEMS.

Good luck - and let us know if you get a positive diagnosis !

Steve
Steve

SimonKE

Let me know when you are up our way, and we'll meet up for a pint for sure!

Just spoken to the dealership, and they tell me that it's a problem with the spark plugs. The metal contact at the top of the plugs apparantly corrodes on the original MG plugs, and this has caused an imperfect spark. Last time it happened they replaced 2 plugs, and this time they have replaced the other 2. The new ones are much better, and I am assured they are not going to corrode this time!

No damage done, and the car is being delivered back to Ainsdale as I write this!

As for your dealer blaming the exhaust flap - what a load of rubbish! It seems they will look for any excuse these days!

Cheers, see you next time you are 'up North!'

Paul
Paul

>> As for your dealer blaming the exhaust flap - what a load of rubbish! It seems they will look for any excuse these days!


Well, exactly!! Anyway, altho' the flap solenoid is re-connected, the flap actuator must've packed up cos it's STILL permanently open!!!!!

(We're in Morecambe end of September for a music fest, but probably won't have time to visit Southport...will definitely be up sometime before Xmas tho', I'm sure. Where do you tend to drink??)
SimonKE

Paul, Ainsdale

thats exactly what they said about my car after the second time they changed the plugs, and i am now going back to the garage for the fourth time next friday, i would get them to check your coils

Paul
paul

I think Steve is right. To me it sounds like an electronic problem related to the MEMS. I think that's what the amber light means anyway. I would ask the dealer to change the engine ECU rather than the spark plugs.
Anthony Braham

This thread was discussed between 22/07/2003 and 24/07/2003

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