MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGF Technical - Instrument-board cracked

hello,


I have got a lot of troubles with my MGF.
But a have one very special: my Instrument-board gets a part cracked.
My MG dealer decided, with the MG-Rover France agreement, to fix it with a new instrument-board.
I thought that was not a real solution because my F got a lot vibrations.
But a french MG Rover expert said " it is absolutly
impossible to have this kind a trouble with vibration or a less of rigidity of your car".

But 8.000km later, the new I-B was cracked too.

I need information about this subject.
Has this kind of trouble knew in UK ?
If yes, what is the solution ?

Thanks for your future help.


Norbert

(Sorry for my poor english).
VITIERE Norbert

Norbert,
I am confused. Which panel do you mean, the one behind the steering wheel or the one in the middle of the car with the radio?
I have not heard of either of these cracking.
Bruce
Bruce Caldwell

I think Norbert might be referring to the cross member behind the dash board.

There was a whole batch/period where the cross bracing member had problems with welding and this caused rather loud and somewhat unsettling cracking noises - the cure is to remove the whole of the dash and drill and reweld this cross brace AND if it is not done properly it can happen again SO it is essential that you find a repair person who knows what he is doing - which by the sounds of things Norbert HAS NOT got.

Ted
Ted Newman

Sorry Ted but according to what I read on "Le Forum des Francophones", Norbert means the part of the dashboard behind the steering wheel (or more precisely the upper part of the instruments panel which is like a cap I think). This part regulary breaks and it's supsected that it comes from a problem of frame rigidity (which can be linked to the cross member by the way, can't it?)

Norbert, correct me if I'm wrong!

Jerome
Jérôme

Jérome


>Norbert means the part of the dashboard behind the steering wheel (or more precisely the upper part of the instruments panel which is like a cap I think). This part regulary breaks and it's supsected that it comes from a problem of frame rigidity (which can be linked to the cross member by the way, can't it?)

You are right.



I know this trouble is strange, very strange.

Thanks for your future help.

Norbert
VITIERE Norbert

Jerome

Many thanks for your help and Norbert for confirming!

This is a problem that I have never heard of before! I would therefore suspect something more serious is causing it - possibly the cross brace - but of course it could be something else.

Just as a matter of interest:-

How old is the car?
Have you had the car from new?
If you bought the car second hand do you know its full history?
Has it been involved in a road accident?

Ted
Ted Newman

Ted

My car was 14 months old, when i had this touble the first time.
MG-Rover France and My dealer fixed it 3 months later (a lot of time was lost because, MG France was not able to find a Instrument bord with the same color of mine).
And the second time was 3 months later.

the worst is than my F was a new

I hope somebody heard something about it.
I need this help because MG Rover France doesnot seem to give a hand for a real solution.

Norbert
VITIERE Norbert

Norbert

It is all very strange! But another thing I do not understand is >(a lot of time was lost because, MG France was not able to find a Instrument bord with the same color of mine).< I thought they were all the same colour!

However to me it sounds as though this is something that MG Rover should get involved with as to my mind there is (as your garage says) loss of rigidty which could possibly cause a more sreious problem.

Ted
Ted Newman

Ted,
No they are not :
check this picture :

http://mgcontact.free.fr/autoperso/arnaud/doniinside.jpg

Norbert, are you sure the upper part of the instrument panel and the rest of the dashboard is made of one piece ?

Arnaud
Arnaud

Aenaud, Norbert

I think I am going to 'pass' as the language problems means we are talking about different things!

Instrument panels are all the same colour on MGFs from 1995 until 2000 then the new models came out AND here I do not know what colour they are! But on my early *F* they are cream and I thought that on the later ones they were silver!

However reading more carefully I think perhaps you are referring to the Instrument Binnacle (or Cowl) as I understand that from 2000 onwards these do come in a limited number of different colours - early ones were black only.

If this is what is cracking I have to say I have never heard of this before and again my advice is to go direct to MG Rover as this could be something serious and next time the who knows what may happen!

Ted
Ted Newman

Ted
We are talking about the same thing.
>>Instrument panels are all the same colour on MGFs from 1995 until 2000
I know that but when my dealer received the board, it was not with the same black color than mine.
He thought immediately that MGF gets two kinds of the color black (my MGF was the first one new for him).
2 weeks later, he told me i have no solution for you, because we are not able to find the good color.
Immediately, i wrote a letter to Mrs Jackson, the Boss of MG-Rover France.And 2 days later, my dealer learnt that black was the only one color for MGF and the difference of tint was link with the primary color bath
in the MG's Factory.
For that my 75th LE got a new inside. My dealer had to change all plastic in my MGF.

TED, i hope you have understood all the story without trouble.

Arnaud,

i know, the instrument-board looks to have 2 parts, but
after confirmation by the expert of MG-Rover France, i meet. If you want the upper part, you have to order all
the I-B.


Norbert
VITIERE Norbert

Ted,

Apologize in advance, I didn't read all, but I assume the cover over the instruments is meaned. Cowl, I aould means, as Ted suggests.
This problem happened to Paul Lathwell some month ago.
*you where on holidays ... again* :)
I know this also from a German chap, but in that case any thieves broke into the car and damaged it.

>Norbert, are you sure the upper part of the instrument panel and the rest of the dashboard is made of one piece

http://www.lame-delegation.de/mgf-net.de/instruments/view_cp_2680.jpg
The panel and the cowl are srewed together at two or three very thin plastic brackets of the cowl, but after that they adhered the fresh air/heater air channels with strong adhesive under the panel.

This channels block the way to the two or three important screw heads and if you wanna get there you need to drill 'pilot holes' into the air flow channels.
For my knowledge the cowl isn't availiable as spare part.

Paul got it together with silicone the other month. You may see the archives, but I slightly recall that Paul broke the part at any works at the car.

Now how can it break ?
I only can guess on a wrong assembled dash board. Bended in any way. Has nothing to do with the cross member bar.

I'm soory but no better idea.

Dieter
Dieter Koennecke

Thank's for your help.

i am going to write a new letter to MG-rover France.

Norbert
VITIERE Norbert

This thread was discussed between 28/08/2001 and 31/08/2001

MG MGF Technical index

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