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MG MGF Technical - Heater control and spit

Couple of small problems looking for ideas:

- Heater control suddenly unable to go to either extreme (so I get heat on a hot day, but not enough heat for comfortable roof down at midnight). Is this anything I can easily fix or is it a trip to the dealer (MOT due soon anyway)?

- Spit, courtesy of a couple of yobbish types while driving through Birmingham. Being a sensitive soul (?) I did find that a wee bit upsetting. Even more upsetting it seems that even after washing there is a permanent mark. Will this fade in time or does it need t-cutting?

Another interesting problem that I will be getting looked at in the near future is bubbling under the surface (rust?) starting to appear at the bottom of the windscreen A-pillars.

Chris
P715 XTN (65k miles and getting faster!)
Chris Reeves

Morning Chris

The heater control could be two things:-

1/ Cable snagged

2/ Valve jammed

Fairly easy to check but it does require taking the footwell centre consol cheeks off so that you can get behind the control unit its pretty well visual and common sense then.

Your second point SPIT? no cooment.

Third point get the 'bubbles' checked asap - the sooner they are treated the better.

Ted
Ted Newman

Greetings Ted

Many thanks for the comments.

Messing about with the centre console looks like a job for Saturday then.

Keep on trying to tell myself that spit is better than somebody jealously taking a knife to the paintwork.

Getting the bubbles checked. Have a bad feeling that I will be fruitlessly checking the small print of the corrosion warrenty.

Chris
P715 XTN
Chris Reeves

I had exactly the same problem with the heater control. The cable had apparently become disconnected.
Fixed by the dealer £55 (1 hours work).
Dave Driver

RE: Heater Control.

I have had similar problems on my '64 midget - The outer casing of the heater control cable is clamped
to the heater tube casing using a small nut/bolt and plate; the inner wire connects to the valve control itself, and held in place by a trunnion/screw arrangement connected to a U shaped projection from the heater tube that connects directly to the heater case. The location of both these changed at little over the years as the Sprite/Midget evolved - it is pretty easy to trace the path of the heater control cable, especially if you get someone to repeatedly move the heater control in/out, whilst you look under the bonnet for movement of the aforementioned cable. It is possible that one or both of the fixings have worked loose - they could have worked so loose that they have dropped off completely, and you will need to buy replacement clamps/screws, etc.
Depending on the location of the clamps for the heater control cable, it can get very fiddly to get the cable clamped correctly/tightly, especially the outer cable clamp - this probavbly explains why you were charged £55 for what appears to be a simple/straight forward job.
If you haven't already done so, get the appropriate Parts Manual for you Midget/Sprite from MOSS - they're free, and the diagrams are very useful for showing you how all the bits that make up your Midget/Sprite fit together.
Adrian J.

Of course, for those eagle-eyed amongsy you, you are probably wondering why I refer to a Midget when
this is an MGF question - probably because I thought I was looking at the Midget Technical BB.
Please ignore the above, unless, of course, you do have a Midget.
Adrian J.

Hi, if its of any interest I have had problems with the heater control since new

Control has been changed once culminating in the heater being on continuously. This after a water leak following spending £500+ on a 60,000 miles service and subsequent fix to the water leak

When I checked with the main dealer how much to correct, I was quoted £140

I decided to check it out for myself and found the biggest abortion in Christendom.

From the ROTARY control on the dash, a cable is connected to a piece of plastic which 'attempts' to change an 'in out' movement to a further ROTARY movement within the heater mechanism

Its this piece of plastic that appears to be the problem as there is a slot which connects to the rotary heater control. Problem is the slot is shaped like a 'dogs leg' so any smooth movement fails when it gets to the 2 'kinks' in the dogs leg!!

Problem with mine was that the mechanic had obviously moved the dash control too violently and the plastic bit and the rotary heater control had parted company, again there being no method of actually preventing this from happening. One wonders about the 'design' capabilities of Rover engineers

Mike
Mike Wall

This thread was discussed between 18/07/2000 and 20/07/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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