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MG MGF Technical - New car blues engine light on

I have had my mgf for less than two weeks. So far I have paid out for a new battery and exhaust. When the exhaust was fitted I was told the oxygen sensor was seized in situ and would have to be replaced with a universal unit. Since then the green engine light has stayed on. The car seems to run ok the exhaust company seem at a loss what to do. The old mg dealership say it has to go onto computer but cant do it for at least a week. Can anyone help.
h kelly

Where abouts are you in the Highlands - anywhere near Inverness? If it's the engine management light that needs resetting a garage will charge you £40 to £50 for the 2 minute job. If your MGF is a Mk I (earlier that late 1999) you will need to go to the garage. However if it's later than that then it will probably have Mems 3 which means that it will be OBD2 compliant and a simple reader will be able to reset it. You can buy them cheaply on Ebay or if you are near Inverness I can give you a name of someone that may be able to help you.
David Clelland

Hi David
I live in Drumnadrochit only 15 miles from Inverness my mgf is a 1.8i first registered may 2001. To be honest I havent worked on cars for quite a few years and you lost me at mems 3. But if you know someone near who can help that would be great.

Thanks Hugh
h kelly

Hugh,

If you have a coloured windscreen surround I would think that your car is OBD2 compliant.

Send me your e-mail address to -

dc at csmgf dot co dot uk
David Clelland

Hi David
There is a black surround around the windscreen will forward e-mail address
Thanks again
h kelly

Hugh,

The MY2000 MGFs (Mark 2) came out at the end of 1999. At the changeover there seemed to be a bit a mix of parts being used. By May 2001 though I would have thought that your car would have had all of the new parts on it including Mems 3 with OBD2 compatibility. One of the easy ways to tell a MY2000 car is the coloured windscreen surround and an adjustable steering column with updated interior. However, what you really want is 2 lambda sensors (one before and one after the cat). If your car only has one sensor then an OBD2 reader won't work and you'll need to go to a garage.
David Clelland

David

Thanks for all the info my car has two lamba sensors and all the other parts listed..Thanks for sending the e-mail again will get in touch and let you know how I get on.
h kelly

Just as an aside,

I have one of the newer MG's with colour coded surround and my engine light came on, I had the AA out at the roadside just to check there was no more serious problem, and as I have AA insurance for any mechanical repair, so I need to call them to claim, and they connnected their OBD2 compliant reader.

However, before he did this, he said, "I have been to quite a few MG's over the years and Rover swapped over one of the connections, so that any standard reader won't read this, so I doubt this will work.

And he was spot on it wouldn't read. He seemed to infer that 2 pins were interchanged, so that for instance pin 30 was positive and 31 was negative, Rover swapped this round. Now I don't know if this was incompetance on Rover or to get more dosh, or just a story by the AA.

Interested to see if the ebay reader will work, and why AA's won't
Brian

I bought an OBD2 reader for my 2001 MGF about a year ago and it works perfectly. I also know of numerous other people in the same situation as me and I've never heard of connections being swapped over.
David Clelland

I have also have 2001 MGF and my hand held OBD2 fault code reader bought on ebay works perfectly. I also have an ElmScan ISO USB device for real time information to use with a laptop. I had to open it up and swap the connnections over as Brian says for it to work, I was given to understand this before I got it, it is pins 4 and 16 that are reveres polarity.

If you look at the MG wiring diagram pin-out connections on the OBD connnection plug socket - see image and compare it with the standard SAE pin-out plug connnections at; http://www.interfacebus.com/OBDII-pinout-signal-assingment.html you will soon see where the diffence is.

A J Duthie

This thread was discussed between 09/03/2009 and 12/03/2009

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