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MG MGF Technical - Wiper blades

Hiya, I am not having much luck with this car! The passenger side wiperblade has just completely stopped working, whilst driving and was stuck in the middle of the windscreen, getting a bit tangled up with the other one! Drivers side is ok, but making a clunking sound. Manually returned the passenger wiperblade to original position, but still doesn't work!

Any ideas??????
A Hall

Hello,

Had the same thing happen to my car over a year ago. It happened on the German highway in the pouring rain. Not much fun if your visibility goes to nothing ah high speed in a few seconds !!

Turned out a broker wiper mechanism (a bad design), one of the joints was worn out and fell off. If you would remove that big plastic cover behind the spare wheel, you would see be able to see it. You can click the joint back on again but after some time it will fall off again.

Best thing is to get a new wiper mechanism. The standard MG part is the same as the old one so it can happen again after some time. I think I recently saw that Mike Satur is selling a better one (and cheaper!).

Check his website : www.mikesatur.co.uk
Geert

Full step-by-step instructions for replacing the wiper mechanism are on the SOS site:

http://www.sfforever.co.uk

Click REBUILD

Then the '17th May - Wipers, Bonnet, Scuttle' gallery.

SF
Scarlet Fever

Thanks guys!! am i to expect anything else to go wrong, i have only had the car two months?????

Andrea
A Hall

> am i to expect anything else to go wrong,

Your going to regret asking that!!!
Bob Millar

Cheers Bob, i take that to be a yes then!!!! How come they are so poorly built....are there any good MGF's out there?

Andrea
A Hall

Mine - and it's not for sale! ;o) LOL

Now where's that bit of touchy-feely wood?
Rob Bell

I'll give you the explanation i gave my mate when he was slagging the F off after he saw some JD Power type survey.

The MGF is an enthusiasts car. It's not like a regular car i.e. a focus, golf etc that you can buy and leave it on the driveway and forget about. It requires constant attention but for me thats why I love it so much.

I'm never happier than when I'm out in the garage covered in grease & armed with a spanner (although dont tell the girlfriend that!!!)
Bob Millar

Ollocks, Cars go wrong, peroid. New cars go wrong because of design faults and badly put together pieces, older cars go wrong because of wear and or abuse. I'm afraid that if you brought a 3 year old Ford* you might have the same if not worse problems, but you wouldn't have resorces like this one to fall back on. welcome on board, here you will see lots of evil problems, but that is the nature of the BBS. The F is not a complex car, it is not made like a Rover 400 (thank god!), it is a sports car. I have had the F for over 2 years now (97) and have _never_ had a problem which has caused me to be off the road.
I have had a diagnosed HGF during a service, but I think that it wasn't and the garage just said TARDS, £500 sir.

Enjoy the car, it's what it's ment for!

Will
*A freind of beckys just brought a 3 yo ford Ka, the first MOT showed up £700 of faults, including a problem with a leaking PAS unit!
Will Munns

Personally, i think the "community or brotherhood" of MG-drivers is far more stronger then the 'normal' vauxhall/opel/ford... drivers (and that is what makes MG so special !).
Whenever we have the slightest problem, we make a new thread and since the most of us all are a little bit fanatic about cars, well there are a lot of threads :-).

I don't think the MG is poor quality, it had his little problems in the beginning but anyother car has faults too ! Besides it is a mechanical/electrical thing and mechanical/electrical things have a tendency to break (look at a washing machine, they break down too and they are so much simpler!!)

We have the benefit of this BBS to find quick and straightforward answers to the problems without spending to much money on sometimes incompetent dealers. You will always find someone here willing to help.

Enjoy your car and the friendship,
Like all MG-enthousiast do !
Geert

I am trying to enjoy it....honestley, but i am worried about things going wrong, and of course there is the money aspect aswell. I wouldn't be so bad if i could find someone local who could fix bits and bobs, i appreciate all your diagnostics and how to fix things, but i am not really mechanical.

For example, regarding the wipers i would buy the ones advertised on Mike Saturs website straight away (they are loads cheaper than a dealer), but i haven't got anyone to fit then (my boyfriend rubbish at DIY, so he will be even worse with cars!!!!!!!)
A Hall

As much as I love my F I've spent more on it on repairs etc in my 1st six months of ownership than I have on any other car in all the time I owned them.

Not a complaint as i knew what I was getting into when I bought it but most people dont
Bob Millar

Andrea

My *F* is going on 8 years now - like Robs!

Also like Robs no real problems, OK it blew a water hose two weeks ago but a few hours later with a new hose couriered across Germany to where I was and then fitted amd coolant refilled and bled and I was away again to catch up with all the other MGF 'nutters' doing the annual Treffen.

I have to say it is one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned and has cost me far less in repairs than any of the others.

And as a BTW I have owned a few cars in my time - my first car was an Opel Olympia Cabrolet bought in 1956.

Ted
Ted Newman

And there was me thinking Ted's first car was an Olympic Charriot, bought in AD 01!

;-)

SF
Scarlet Fever

We bought a 2001 1.8i and after 25,000 miles of everyday use it never missed a beat, fantastic. Just swapped it for a new TF135. The F is sitting on Marshall of St Neots forecourt if you are looking for a good one
Tony Hall

Chester to Rotherham (mike satur) = 80 miles, not exactly local, but a lot of the guys here would sell their grannies to be that close ;-)
Will Munns

Careful SF or I might just nip over to Stansted and pinch your biege stripe or even the the Turbo Bentley!

Ted Newman

Does anyone know of any good and near garages to Warrington, or even Manchester, where they will be able to fit the wiper mechanism if i buy one from Mike Satur???

Thanks for all your help guys!

andrea
A Hall

LOL @ Ted :-)

I seem to recall there was an MGF spares place open in Cheshire recently (or am i going mad?)

Also, the MGF Centre is in Wolverhampton, this is (according to AutoRoute) 60.7 miles from Chester (via Whitchurch).

Highly recommended.

SF
Scarlet Fever

Andrea,

using this website asa measure of vehicle reliability will skew your opinions unrealistically. When you consider that many of the contributors are "Tinkerers" some of whom make small problems into big ones through lack of knowledge, experience or skills, or enthusiasts who love pulling their cars apart. My 1997 MGF is super reliable, 1 HGF and no other problems before or since. I drive it every day as a commuter as well as club competitions with only routine servicing.
Phil Stafford

I consider myself fortunate to live just 14 miles from Brown & Gammon and also have an enthusiastic repair shop across the road from the office but ... I would consider Wolverhampton as "local" if I were you and phone Victoria asap.

http://www.mgfcentre.co.uk

Keep the car - change the BF!
John Ponting

This thread was discussed between 24/09/2003 and 25/09/2003

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