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MG MGF Technical - Windscreen washer, wipers meant to work?

I just picked up my TF 115, and am now going through the process of ironing out some teething troubles with the dealer. Some cant be fixed, such as the unpublicised absence of rear-speakers on the 115, which seem to cost a small fortune to get fitted after the fact....grrr.
I digress.
My question is, when the windscreen washer is pressed, should the wipers come on (as on every other car ever built), or is this another 'luxury' dispensed with to keep the cost of my entry level car down.
The dealer insists that none of the cars they have in stock do this, but the manual says that it should.
Sound like a disappointed brat? maybe a little, I do love my new car really...
:)
Dave

no, this is how it should be, it allows you to put water on the screen, let it spread and then wipe.
Will Munns

Dave, Ive owned over 30 cars from Xr2's through to Porsche, Jaguar, Merc and BMW. Only a very small percentage of them had the wipers coming on automatically.

Are you interested in coming on the CSMGF Run this Sunday ?
Meeting Stirling Services 9:30 to depart around 10:00 ?
D Jamieson

Hmmm. OK,..
The effect on my car is that the wash water shoots straight into the stationary wipers and runs down the front of the bonnet.
I havent owned such a collection of cars, this is my first luxury car, but before this my metro, micra, polo and clio have all activated the wipers, and on the whole I think this is a good idea!

SO, its just a typo in the owners manual?

Might be along on Sunday, depends on what the boss thinks
:)
Dave

>The effect on my car is that the wash water shoots
>straight into the stationary wipers

Thats wrong, the wipers whould be very low on the screen, four jets should hit reasonably centrally, giving good coverage (jet is quite good).
Adjust with a pin
Will Munns

Dave if the water hits the wiper blades then the jets need adjusting.

BTW I dont think any of us would refer to the MGF/TF as a luxury car - a bloody fine sporty little two seater Yes but luxury No.

BTW-2 if its any consolation none of the original MGFs came with rear speakers it was only with the introduction of the MY2000 *F* that rear speakers were fitted.

What ever - enjoy it, after all you have some of the finest *F* roads in Europe just north of your city - lucky bastard:-)

Ted
Ted Newman

SORRY :-

came withOUT rear speakers
Ted Newman


>came withOUT rear speakers

nope you were right the first time

>>none of the original MGFs came with rear speakers
Will Munns

<<none of the original MGFs came with rear speakers>>

you were right the first time ted ;-)
paul weatherill

Nope its not a luxury car in the merc sense of the word, but given the sizable lump out of my pay packet taken up by it every month, its a luxury to me!

;-)

Thanks for your help guys...
Dave

If you are talking about a programmed wash/wipe, then no. The F/TF (none of the variants) have this.

Apparently this is on purpose, because the car is a convertable, a programmed wash/wipe that delivers a set 'dose' of water runs the risk of soaking the occupants with the roof down. Manual suirting gives the driver the chioce of how much water to deploy. I heard this directly from Gerry McGovern at the first Birthday party at Gaydon in 1996, he did a Q+A session and this was one of the questions he answered.

SF
Scarlet Fever

The heat and fumes of London are getting to me;-)
Ted Newman

Dave drop me a line with your e-mail address and in the meantime have a look at the CSMGF site at http://www.csmgf.dsl.pipex.com
David Clelland

OK, just got the car back, and another problem not sorted was the sizable gap between the hood and the body of the car, just where the hood, door and body all meet on the passenger side. You can see daylight through it! In fact on both sides I have noticed water coming in here, and in a really good rain storm (which we get quite often in Glasgow) a little puddle forms. And I thought the leaky roof problems had been solved on the MGF!
Anyhow, our dealer says that you have to expect a bit of water ingress in a rag-top. My girlfriend, who used to have a Z3, disagrees...
Funnily enough the dealership manager used the word feature three times when describing the occurance of such things in the MG TF, but I didnt notice it in the brochure.....
Any advice?

Dave

Dave I sympathise with you mate. I bought my car in Sept. Its a 1995 and I paid over the odds for it. Within a week I had wondered what I had done .


For what its worth I like my F, Its great to look at, great fun to drive but has the build quality of a Friday built Lada.Welcome to MG Ownership.


Some of the enthusiasts may crucify me for these comments but I am an owner and these are my thoughts on the marque.

Hope to see you and the new TF on Sunday.

D Jamieson

DJ, I thought you were an enthusiast yourself as well as an owner.

FWIIW I replaced the 6 year old cantrail and b-post rubbers last week end and the glass now seems to fit rubber all round the hood and a better fit at the cantrail to a-post join.

I shall probably replace the a-post rubber soon as ...
JohnP - Herts

John P.... depends on what you call an enthusiast ;-)


I like my car, and in the bracket I found affordable the F seemed the best option. MX5's etc dont compare at that age and price....BUT..... If I had say around £13K-£18K to spend then im afraid a MG TF would be nearer the bottom of my wish list.


Id rather buy a Z3 , SAAB Conv., 944 Conv. or an older 911. Yes none of them will be brand new and yes they wont come with a 3 yr warranty but IMO they are far , far superior soft tops.

So in summary......yes...Im enthusiastic about my own car, but Im not enthusiastic about the MG marque, price or build quality.

Just my own personal thoughts and hats off to all those who are MG through and through. Its a big wide world and life would be boring if we all followed like sheep :-)
D Jamieson

I tend to go along with your thoughts a fair bit DJ on vehicle quality for the price.

I am enjoying my MGF ownership, I get a reasonable amount of pleasure from driving it and I enjoy the sense of family that I get from the BBS and from meeting other MG drivers.

It is very close to the comraderie that most of us feel and enjoy in the biking world - a shared sense of achievement. I never got that feeling driving a Mondeo although it was warmer and dryer and carried more people and luggage in more comfort.

Cars like the SAAB rule themselves out for me as I really didn't want 4+ seats this time round and that also, unfortunately, rules out the BMW 325 and M3 convertibles. Tried a Z3 and that ruled itself out.

Reasonable 911s are just getting into my price range but I'm still worried about service costs (although at least there is a reduced chance of HGF).

To me a car and a bike are a mix of transport and fun and certainly not long term investment. Buy it, try it, move on.

Would be nice to win the lottery so that I could change it to Buy it, try it, put it in the garage and try something else.

As you say - good job we can be different.

JohnP - Herts

This thread was discussed between 30/05/2003 and 31/05/2003

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