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MG MGF Technical - Oil Temperature guage

I Have a 97 MGF and after just getting my car back from the garage after having a new engine fitted and driving it back down south where I now live I noticed that the oil temp guage did not work, so I therefore took the centre section out, disconnected all the wires and put them back in, now the guage still does not work and now the light sensor on the dash for what I presume is oil overheating is lit up constantly from when i turn the ignition on, also my car stereo...accepts the cd but theres no display, and the light on the dash does not light up either...... can some one tell me what the hell I've done? Checked fuses, they seem ok?? anyone an expert in this area??
Andy

Andy,

Have you checked that there is oil in the engine?

I don't know about the connections behind the console but the two sensors for the oil are located on the oil filter housing ie near the oil filter. You can see them if you look under the car just in front of the rhs rear wheel. One of them is for oil pressure (for the lamp in the instrument panel) and the other for oil temp (for the gauge). Check the connections on the sensors as this would have been disconnected for the engine change. I am not sure if they are of the same type and they could be reversed but I would check that anyway.

Spyros
Spyros Papageorghiou

Cheers Spyros, and yes, luckily im not as stupid as I'm making out and there is oil in the engine....thanks for the info, will check the sensors.....Andy
Andy


Check the connector on the oil temperature sender, it's the one that points straight downwards from the oil filter mount (a brown connector with a single wire).

If it's not making a proper electrical connection there will be no earth for the gauge so you'll get no reading.

If there's a short to earth the voltage in the gauge->sensor wire drops and the LED warning light in the dash comes on. The gauge will also read a very high temp, or be off the scale.

I've had the oil over temp light on for about three years now! At first I thought it was the sensor playing up, but the light stays on even when the sensor is disconnected - so there's no earth path! The gauge however still reads perfectly OK. I reckon it's a wiring glitch because every once in a while the light goes out over bumps.

Alan
Alan Brooke

Does the light in your boot come on when you open the boot?
Steve Ratledge

Hi Check your fuses one of them has blown, they are situated under the steering wheel is fuse 17 you want which powers the radio and Oil temp gauge.
Best of luck Dave
Dave Devine

Cheers Dave your a star..... thats what the prob was.....thought I'd checked all the bloody fuses but obviously not.... even the RAC bloke did'nt have a clue.....

Also, does anyone know of the best way to tighten the alternator belt??? can it be done with out removing the wheel and by taken the engine inspection cover off and doing it that way???...Ive managed to get a socket on the bottom nut and loosened it but to tighten it the other end has a long thread and I can't get a spanner/socket or pliers on it......anyone any ideas???

Andy
Andy

Hi Andy,

Alternator belt adjustment is best approached from the wheelarch, then
it's only fiddly to tighten the adjuster.
Mike Hankin

This thread was discussed between 22/08/2005 and 23/08/2005

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