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MG MGF Technical - scared of my car

why am i scared of my car, all i hear about these cars is negative press, its never let me down and i drive it sensibly it has eaten a few tyres other than that its been ok.why do i still think the engines gonna blow......is it gonna blow...can people people who abuse there cars stop writting that these cars are cack cause mine is excellent......has anyone else had a reliable one or was mine the only one made on a monday.
jim

There are a few MGFs going around with near to or over 100k without HGF ( I think Andy Philips, Scarlet Fever was around 100K before his went)

How many miles have you done?

If looked after properly then it should not go. This includes replacing water pumps, coolant pipes, hoses, clips radiators etc even before they are due to be replced as it is rarely the HG itself that goes, it is usually a result of something else.

A close eye on all these things may help prevent it in years to come.
I Brown

Looking after the car had nothing to do with the cause of most of the HDF's. Mine is a '97, the HG went within the warranty period, there was nothing else wrong with the car other than the design of the air flow system and the gasket itself. Didnt Satur supply a gasket that was able to stand up and didnt have any reported HDF's ??
What other 'news'cars have HDF's within thew first and second year. I also have a '99 Elise - same engine, different design and guess what, I havent had a HGF.
Linda

I sold my MGF last year it was 10 years old and was regularly serviced by the Dealer.

I followed all the tricks of not pushing it until oil was warm, and lettng it cool down.

It was a fantastic car and the only trouble I had was one of the pipes burst, and AA had to tow me home and at home no one would come out too look at it and dealer was too far awar so I fixed it myself from advice on this board.

I now have a TF and keeping fingers crossed, but have AA warranty just in case.

I didn't know there was a roof cleaner and so never treated the roof in the whole 10 years, it was only when I read this board I thought of other things.

So enjoy, you will see loads of MG's wizzing around and only the problamatic ones are on here. I see lots every day here in NI but only know of one other NI guy on this site.

So don't worry, just enjoy.

Brian
PS you will alo see that there are lots and lots of non MG owners who come to this site each day, to put in their bad comments. I find that amazing that others who don't even have an MG find they must come to the MG site as its the best
Brian

Jim

I too have been paranoid about my MGF giving up the ghost after all the things that I have read.

Hhaving said that I have had mine for 2 years, having had it passed to me by my father who has had it since new, so in all it is 10 years old.

It has been well looked after and maintained.

New cam belt fitted and replacement water pump at the same time. New HT leads fitted recently, but apart from that nothing else has been spent on the car.

I keep it under 3000 rpm until the oil temperature is registering, takes about 20 minutes to reach this, and even then do not really thrash it.

Ok there will be those out there that say it was built to be thrashed and red lined, but it seems that thos are the cars that appear to be having the bulk of the problems.

So fingers crossed, regular servicing and TLC should give a few more years of trouble free motoring.

PS is there anybody in the Dunfermline area who would be willing to give a complete novice instructions on how to fit an air induction kit. I have looked at the site instructions, but it still looks like a minefield to me.
C Tanton

Linda writes "What other 'news'cars have HDF's within thew first and second year. I also have a '99 Elise - same engine, different design and guess what, I havent had a HGF."

The Elise certainly has the same problem and there are lots of mods to thermostats available to try and prevent HGF on K engined Lotus. Small Fiats suffer with HGF quite frequently - my wife's Punto blew it at 35,000 miles, and the garage guy said he'd done loads. I've heard of it on some BMW models too...

Having said that it seems strange that MGR persisted with the stat on the inlet side of the head, when all logic says it would be so much better on the outlet side.

Mike
Mike Howlett

I have my F for 7 yrs now. No problems to report now. It is more reliable than many cars i have owned including hondas,volvos and vws.
Yigit

I have owned 6 MGF/TF and while not without their niggles at times, I would still say they are the most reliable cars I have owned. There is certainly nothing else I'd rather be driving, so enjoy it and dont worry about it. If it is going to happen there is precious little you can do about it (unless you are prepared to be an amateur mechanic!) up until last week I'd never so much as checked the oil or water levels (thats what services are for) If you want more peace of mind take out a warranty.

Alan

1972 MGB
1972 MGB GT
2004 mgtf160
2005 MGZT120
a g dunlop

I used to be scared of my mgf, it was a surprise gift from my boyfriend and so I only looked at the press on it after I owned one! I was getting so stressed at one point that I wanted to sell it!
A few months on and I am really happy with it.
My attitude is that all cars have a certain weakness that a mechanic may point to, if I get HGF I will just deal with it. It is admittedly quite an expensive problem to fix due to access probably but so be it! Another car's "weak point" may be cheaper to fix but then it wouldn't be a MGF and would be boring to drive!
Until then I will drive it and enjoy driving it. I have a few mods to the cooling system I would like to do but haven't yet.
Its a lovely car especially with the hood down in this weather.
Just follow advice re:warm up etc and look at coolant level when you have the boot open. Then just enjoy driving the car!
KS Gould

This thread was discussed between 08/05/2006 and 10/05/2006

MG MGF Technical index

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