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MG MGF Technical - newbie oil temperature question

hey guys

my girlfriend and i last week bought our first MGF! yay :) its a 1996 N reg, mpi and very nice too, 34000 miles :)

the car was delivered from a reputable (VW) dealer in nottingham in superb condition. MOT, serviced, full mgSH, bushes replaced, oil change, all the relevant fluid levels in the right place, new tires, pressures good etc. all round good nick

anyway ive noticed that the car has the oil temperture gauge on the centre cosole to the left of the clock. the other day i noticed the gauge acting a little shakily, oscillating perhaps 15 degrees on the scale. i DON'T know know whether its supposed to or not. todays it's been very weird

beraing in mind that the car is running sweetly, revs constant and coolant temp steady as a rock. when stationary with the clutch in and/or neutral (say at traffic lights) the oil temp needle goes very shakey, perhaps oscillating 60 degrees plus on the scale and then goes off the scale, sticking hard over. This happens almost as sson as the clutch is dropped. while this is happening the engine revs/tone etc do not change in the slightest. when revs are applied and clutch to biting point when pulling away, the needle immediately goes back to where it came from, around 60 degrees steady. when the clutch goes in for the next gear, it goes off the scale again, and promptly back again when the clutch is re-engaged. this happens up to third and sometimes to fourth. the car isn't being driven hard.

when i come to the car warm, say standing fifteen minutes, the needle goes straight over again when i turn the ignition on, but as soon as its fired up it goes straight back to circa 60 degrees again. very weird

basically i need some guidance. the car is fine otherwise which leads me to belive that its either supposed to do that, or its a dodgey gauge. although i freely admit to being very new (less than a week) to MG's and performance cars in general and knowing nothing! Any help would be greatly appreciated please.

thankyou
jon

ps sorry for the very long winded thread ;)
jonA

jon,
no, your oil temperature gauge should NOT perform like this. My gauge sits rock steady on or below 90 degrees. Some on this board have reported higher temps, but only after very hard driving. Your dealer should fix this for you, as I would consider it to be unservicable as it is.

(I tried twice to post this. Hope it gets there this time).

Cheers, Neil

PS. welcome to the MGF BBS! May you have a long relationship with your car and the great people who hang out here. NC.
Neil Courtney

Agree, very odd, I wonder if you have some weird grounding problem... does the car start with the cluch pressed?
Will Munns

Sounds like a simple connection problem.

First check the connections behind the oil temp gague... you can get to these most easily (imho) by removing the glovebox and looking up. Then, the connections on the oil temp sensor (anyone have location details to hand?).

It could even be a oil temp sensor problem... which isn't exactly a hard or expensive job to do yourself.

My money would be on a connector or wire problem behind the dash.

P.
Paul Nothard

..and when it is fixed, don't be surprised if your car appears to run at over 90 - many of them do. It's got more to do with the guage than the engine temperature!
David Bainbridge

> (anyone have location details to hand?).

Now who has ;)

Raise the car on drivers side rear and locate the oil filter.
http://www.lame-delegation.de/mgfcar.de/sensor/
(cut by picture boarder on the left there)

I think it is only one wire to the connector (second is earth through the body)

Undo the oil filter and catch the oil content of the filter before you remove this sensor.

HTH
Dieter
Dieter K.

Ooops, just seen,
If the VIN is below VIN 001017, then there should be a different sensor.
I've no idea why they changed.

Anyone ?

Dieter
Dieter K.

hey guys
thanx for the prompt reply.

i had a look at the gauge today. removed the glovebox as per Paul Nothard's advice and simply removed the large plug towards the bottom of the back of the gauge (the top connector seems to be for the backlight) and simply plugged it back in again. this has seemed to cure all the problems, including the shaking under normal running.

if the problem creeps back ill plan to sort the sensor, ive noted the URL posted above giving the instructions. Thank you all for the advice i was feeling a bit flummoxed but suspected a connection problem as everything else seemed fine. it just needed the connections to be sorted i think.

yeah the car's cool! it's been a boyhood dream of mine to own an MG and now we do and i'm only 21! im loathed to travel in anything else! rock on! <insert devil horns> :)

cheers guys, you lot rock!
jonA
jonA

You're Welcome !
:)
Dieter K.

For future reference, it is easier to get at both the Clock and Oil Guage by simply prising out the air vent directly above the centre console, just insert a flat bladed screw driver at the base of the vent and gently prise it out, you can then access the back of the guages to replace bulbs and check connections etc.
Chris

This thread was discussed between 31/03/2003 and 02/04/2003

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