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MG MGF Technical - ecu fault

i have had a problem with my mgf n reg for a long time
when the car is driving at normal temp it starts to lose power when you try to pull away
i was told that this was the tps so i bought one and was going to change it myself but was told it has to be set up on the test book by rover (i dont know if this is true)
so i let then fit the part
after driving out the dealer the car started doing the opposite and now the revs go up after you take your foot of the pedal
i called the dealer up and they said it will be the ecu unit hat is faulty could this be so
and why was this not picked up on the diagnostic check
and can this part be repaired and by who
does anybody know

thanks for your time and help
kevin
kevin

Kevin...I have a reg 44,000mls this has had to be towed to the dealer on 3 occasions over the past 8 weeks. the car cut out twice on the motorway at around 70mph outside lane (pretty hairy stuff) the garage put the car onto the test book and it showed no fault in the sensors ( I think that this means that as far as the 'advanced computer diagnostics system are concerned 'I immagined the breakdowns. Two hours after the car the car beakdown the car would start and drive normaly. On the third occasion the garage fitted an ecu from another f to try out. the car ran well for a couple of days ( the car no longer pinked, it had done so for about 24000 miles, the garage could find no reason for it pinking.) I decided to try the car under a fast hard run... car broke down on sunday pm 4 miles from the f dealer. had to get my my away from sunbathing to tow me back to the garage. next morning i was told the coil had failed. good news the ecu must be ok then. NO... the ecu and the coil sir are faulty £650.00 approx for repair ...good will geasture from rover ...get stuffed sir.so to recap 1. diagnostic system...rubbish. picks up a low percentage of faults....garg checks fuel pump by taking of pipe and sees how far fuel flys out into engine bay...2.you cant fit ecu ...£100.00 surcharge so you cant get it checked or done cheaper. this was a car designed for afoardable and fun motoring. wrong fun yes..yes..yes..but a bottomless money pit which has not saved rover. have any others had ecu ripoffs...
gerry

A company called ATP Electronic Developments from Cannock, Staffs, a subsidiary company of AGS, a nationally recognised expert in dealing with auto gearboxes, have a national network of agents with modem connection to the main base for ECU diagnostics. They also have the capability to repair ECU's and other electronic componants. Sorry it's a Yellow Pages job to find their number other than the code for the area is 01543. Costs are in the real world!!

(The electronics arm was developed to service/modify auto gearbox ecu's and an offshoot is the ability to deal effectively with engine ecu's.)

Rog
Roger Parker

if it's a VVC, I still got a spare ECU (latest revision) for sale, dunno what's the value of it...
Dirk Vael

This isn't confined to Rovers - I had a similar problem on my Vauxhall, that turned out to be the coil (after a number of other 'failures'). I expect a garage charging 50 ukp/hour to do more than just plug in a diagnostic computer.
But then again I always was naive...

Of more interest (perhaps) was that the Vauxhall had an AA warranty, and they refused to pay the bill for a new ECU, sending a refurbished unit, for half the price, to the garage by courier.

I know there are some different ECUs for the Rover K series engine, but I don't know any suitable for the MGF VVC, preferably with a Windows/Linux interface.

Steve
Steve

Further to Rog's message:

http://www.atpelectronics.demon.co.uk/

Also check out:

http://www.tuneparts.co.uk/

Mike
Mike Bees

With reference to the contact details for ATP Electronic Developemnts Ltd -

Tel. No. 01543 467466
Fax. No. 01543 467426
Web Site http://www.atpelectronics.co.uk

Richard Keys

thank you all for your help
kevin

Kevin,
My 97 VVC suffered from similar problems - cutting out at speed and refusing to restart for some time. The Rover dealers originally diagnosed faulty sesnsors but after spending lots of money having these replaced the problem persisted and they then diagnosed a faulty ECU.
I have now managed to solve the problem without replacing the ECU - it was the CD bootchanger cable interfering with the ECU. I have rerouted the cable to the other side of the engine bay and tried to shield it. Tha car has not misbehaved now for almost a month - a personal record!
Jason Harris

This thread was discussed between 21/05/2000 and 02/06/2000

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.