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MG MGF Technical - B&G electric boot release

Has anyone out there had any experience fitting the B&G electic boot release? I have started and so far just about every step has caused problems.

1) Drilling tempate for motor seems to be about 10-20mm out for where the motor should be.

2) An additional spring seems to be needed to allow the boot mechanism to shut properly when both lock and motor cables are fitted.

3) Fitting the cable to the handbrake switch is ****ing hard as the only way I could get to the cable is by removing the switch (not as easy as it sounds).

4)
Paul

Hi Paul, i fitted the electric boot release earlier this year, i have dug my previous comments from that time out of the archives for you, hope they are some use.......

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I fitted that Brown and Gammons electric boot release (manufactured by RDM) the other week and it went in reasonably ok...probably about 4 hours...still sounds a long time!

I thought that the whole kit was much better engineered and thought out than the equivalent kit from Moss and others. The instruction are easy to follow and much more comprehensive than the instructions with the Moss kit. However there are anomalies in the instructions and if you ever have a go at fitting one get in touch with me first. I have a few photos of the installation too.

The Moss kit uses a solenoid to pull the catch in the boot but the RDM kit uses a motor. I found this easy to fit (there is a drilling template in the instructions) and worked first time without further adjustment. The motor is very small and neat and doesn't foul luggage in the boot.

The electrical connections (to the handbrake, fuse board and hazard warning switch) are well described and relatively easy to make. The connection to the handbrake is fiddly but ok. To gain access to the hazard warning switch I suggest you carefully lever out the centre air vent using a screwdriver top and bottom, (thanks to Mike Satur for this tip). Take care with the orientation of the centre vent when refitting and it will push back in with no problem. The boot release switch only operates when the handbrake is on and the ignition switch is at position 2. (Not sure but i don't think the Moos kit includes a connection to the handbrake).

An attractive round alloy push switch is supplied with the kit to be mounted on the fascia, i guess it works fine. I decided to use a Rover fascia switch to activate the release which would fit in the spare switch blank I had. I used a MGF 'air recirculation' switch (looks like a circular arrow), one of the two you get with aircon fitted, cost approx £6 from my dealer. I had more trouble with this switch then any other part of the installation, it works fine as a switch but getting it to illuminate at night was another story. I had to alter the circuit board in the switch (carefully!) to make an independent circuit for the illumination, (as standard it shares an earth with the activation switch and as soon as you turned the lights on if the handbrake was on it would pop the boot). If you want advice on how to alter the switch then get in touch, but its time consuming….the switch supplied with the kit is a much easier alternative.

Routing the wire through the car is not difficult but again it can be time consuming. I routed mine up through the centre console (remove the ashtray and the centre armrest cassette holder to pull the wire through) and followed the existing wiring loom across the engine cover, though the rubber grommet, through the engine bay and up the boot hinge. Getting the wire around and through the cavity in the boot lid where the existing cable runs is easy if you use a piece of bent stiff wire (coat hanger) to progressively pull the wire around via the grommet holes in the boot lid. (Thanks to Rob bell for this tip).

Each to his/her own but I find the boot release really useful and use it several time a day. Sometimes its useful to not have to switch off the car to get in the boot, (I know I should have a spare key…*smile*.)

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In my first post under this thread I mentioned that there were a few anomalies in the instructions for the electric boot release kit and I thought I’d just post them up so that they remain in the archive when this thread disappears. Some comments may be a bit confusing but will make sense if you actually have the kit.

1. The drilling template for the motor fits over a indent in the metal next to the boot latch to position it properly. Do not push the template into the indent as this makes the holes when drilled too close together, just stick the template flat and flush over the indent.

2. The drill hole size specified in the instructions for the mounting holes for the motor is too big. Match the holes drilled with the size of the self tapping screws supplied to mount the motor.

3. The kit says the connection to the fuse board is made to the 'back' of the board. I originally took this to be the side of fuse board facing away from me and started to loosen the board to get access until I realised the connection was staring me in the face. I probably should know this but the 'back' of the board is of course the bit with the fuses on and is the bit facing you when you drop down the hatch under the steering wheel. The connection is made to one of the 3 male connectors which are in a horizontal line right in the middle of the fuse board.

4. The bolt supplied for mounting the relay will not fit into the relay connection/mounting block when the relay is also in place and is useless. I also could not find the 'spare mounting hole' referred to in the instructions to mount the relay with an alternative bolt so I just ended up taping it in place.

5. A fuse is supplied with the kit and this is not used at all.

Maybe this stuff will be of some help to someone in the future.


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The handbrake switch is on the earth side of the switching circuit of the relay Rob. The power for the switching circuit comes through the push on/off switch to the postive side of the relay from a connection into the hazard warning wiring which actually ends up being the feed to the instruments (only works at ignition position 2). Thus the switch only gets a closed circuit and activates the relay if the handbrake is on and the ignition is at position 2.
The kit supplies a loom to tap into in parallel with the existing handbrake switch and a loom to tap into the hazard warning wiring.

The switched side of the relay gets its power from the accessory connection on the fuse board and earths the other side of the motor through to the existing earthing strap in the boot latch area.

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Mike, get B&G to send you the spring, it is prestretched to just the right length therebye giving just the right tension, (its not the little cable). I spoke to RDM (the designer of the kit) about this spring and they told me it took them a while to get the spring so that it would work correctly.

The spring is the long silver spring-like thing right in the middle of the second photo down! the prestretched sections of the spring are clearly visible.

Hope this helps

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Mike i can answer most of the questions on your web site if you get stuck, probably best to e mail me though. The best advice i can give you is to see how you get on, many of the parts will only actually fit/stretch if you fit them one way, so you will resolve questions as you go on, (this is true of your question about which way up the motor is mounted fro example). I would recommend that once you have finished the connections in the boot and in the cockpit that you connect one to other using the loom on the outside of the car, i did this and got it to work before i threaded the lead throught the car, (which is a totally diferent kettle of fish...*grin*...see my comments about using Robs bent coat hanger to get the wire around/through the boot lid.)




Paul

Thanks Paul,

As always, wish I had checked the Archives first, easy to say after you have done the work.

I think I agree almost exactly with your comments at the time. With the exception of the "rear of the fusebox". I think this is the back side, and the fuse supplied is meant to go in one of the spare slots on the right (as there is a single pole connection at the right point on the back). But I couln't make it work either. So resorted to the front tab and an additional in-line fuse holder.

The springs I had to play with and ended up adding a second one to help push shut the original boot lock mechanism.

I have now fitted it all, and am happy with it, but think if these are easy instructions I would fear the Moss version :-)

One other thing, while working on the passenger carpets to route the cable. I found they were all nice and wet. So off to the archives to check and fix this..... Maybee I will get the car on the road again.

Thanks again for the help.

Paul
M2 PJW
Paul

Hi again Paul,

i also had the leak into the footwell

I took the carpets out and did the following

1, I think my actual leak was from the cover plate that goes over where the steering column goes through on the left hand drive cars. If you take this off you will see it has a foam seal but this has to seal over a lip in the metal at the bottom of the hole and i think this is where the break in the seal had formed. Water discharging from the heater box runs down the ouside of this plate. I sealed the foam seal with silicon.

2, I also did some work on the heater box just to be sure. The problem seem to be standing water which collects in the ident in the body work under the front bonnet to the right of the heater box when viewed from the front. This water then leaks though any breaks in the heater box seal and then comes either straight down into the car or goes down the curved air collector pipe into the heater box area and leaks out there, in both cases the water ends up in the passenger footwell. At first i thought this collected water had come through the bonnet seal or directly through the grille in trim section below the windscreen. However it appears this water actually comes from the two side drain holes in the heater box.

Most of the water that runs into the heater box off the windscreen discharges through the large hole in the bottom of the heater box, (and runs down past the blanking panel discribed above), or from the additional holes on the left-hand-side of the heater box (harmless, just runs away), however a percentage also runs out through the two side holes on the righthand side and collects on the bodywork ready to leak past any faulty seal into the car. I stopped up the two holes on this side of the heater box (difficult with gromets i had to use sticky pads and tape), this cut down the water collecting in this area to zero (with mod 3 as well below), even after the car had been washed. As belt and braces i also put silicon around that part of the heater box seal too.

3. I also noticed that there was a foam seal under the grille above the heater box. As water discharged though the grille into the heater box a percentage fell between the foam seal and the heater box lip (best understood by viewing...*smile*), this water then flowed sideways and discharged once again onto the body work under the bonet alongside the heater box (to leak though into the car). I built up silicon between the foam seal and the heater box lip so that any water now gets channeled in to the heater box where it now flows away harmlessly.

Anyway, the leak has not reoccurred, which is main thing...*grin*.
Paul

Thanks Again Paul,

When I get another weekend, I will take the front apart and give it a look. I have just taken the car for a run (to check out the K&N which I also just fitted). I came back with a very big grin, so it may be a hassle of a car, but worth it.

Cheers

Paul
Paul

This thread was discussed between 14/12/2000 and 17/12/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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