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MG MGF Technical - maintenance help

After suffering the common VVC starting problems, I ve invested in a set of decent leads, suggestions on appropriate plugs would be appreciated as the archives have a mix of opions - thinking Champion EON1 may be a good bet.

Also I'am going to fit myself - anyone know of a good site link giving instuctions to getting access to the plugs, have seen one before but can't remember where?
Simon B

You can buy the most amazing HT tester from Lucas.
Cuts out all the crap and costs about £2.
All you do is plug it in between the coil and the HT leads and is lights up as the engine sparks..,
then plug it in between the leads and the sparks for the same test.

This gives you a nice breakdown between HT or COIL problems.

HT leads cost at least 50 notes and a coil will set you back 120.
Either way, do it yourself, its easy and cheap.


Neil H

Simon, it's no big deal to fit the cables and plugs yourself. To make sure you don't connect the wrong plug to the wrong distributor cap connector, change them one by one.

The plugs are located under a plastic cover, marked with the letters R O V E and R. It can be easily unscrewed.
Of course you need to have access to the engine bay (unclipping softtop, removing carpet and sound deadening material, unbolting 11 bolts of the inspection cover)

HTH,

Erik

..and if you're extra lazy like me, put the hood up, but unzip the middle window and fold back.., it saves all the unclipping.

You have a double coil on the VVC.. you'll just about be able to reach it from above to change (prepare yourself for arm scratches though), and you can also just about reach it from below.
There are two pull pins on the power leads to pull before trying to yank the power connectors off.
Neil H

No pictures but, take the carpeting out of the rear shelf (behind the seats!). This will reveal the metal clips holding the soft top in place. Undo these and the back of the soft top can be lifted up the reveal the engine cover. This is held in place with loads (technical term!) of little bolts around the edge. Indo these and remove the engine cover. You then have the whole engine before you.

There is a plastic cover running down the middle of the top of the engine (does that make sense?). From memory this is held on with two bolts. Undo these and take off the central cover. This exposes the leads to the plugs.

Take a lead off one plug - suggest starting with the near side plug (port side, left when facing forward). This will expose the spark plug. You will need a long thin spark plug spanner to remove the plug exposed. Insert new plug (having correctly gapped it first!). Then replace the lead. Repeat process for other three plugs.

Doing each plug and lead in term stops the chance of you connecting up the new leads in the wrong order.

Going very slowly and carefully, it is very difficult to see why this would lake more that 45 minutes to an hour.

Cheers

Patrick
Patrick Beet

>This is held in place with loads (technical term!) of little bolts

10 mm bolts (don't tighten them too much when refitting)

> From memory this is held on with two bolts
Two very large cross head screws

>You will need a long thin spark plug spanner
If you don't have one, I would suggest getting a spark plug socket for a normal wrench*, rather than a 'spanner' as I've seen a few broken spanners.

>Insert new plug (having correctly gapped it first!).
Because they come pre-gapped it is difficult to get gapping tools, the plugs come with instructions on how to do them up to the correct torque without any special tools.

* you may also need a longer extender bar than comes with the standard socket set (I could just reach using the 3" extender and the UJ)
Will Munns

Patrick have no not practically repeated Erik's instructions ?
...one word .....WHY ?
Max Headroom

Max,
ten words:
why not, given there is more info in Patrics post?
Will Munns

Thanks for all the info in particular Will & Patrick, I'll have a bash tonight - any suggestions on the best plugs!
Simon B

Max Headroom seems a snappy character - why not screw him in I am sure he would appreciate a few thousand volts across his gaps.

Seriously some people stick to the 'long life' variety whilst others are happy changing them every year (or more often) and I think there are some notes on this in the archives BUT I am sure Halfords or such will have charts showing the correct spec.

Ted
Ted Newman

Of course the 'log life' versions 'last' for 5 years, but they are 5 times more expensive.
Will Munns

Just an extra note, here.

When I replaced my HT leads I noticed that the insulation had been cut through by the end of the plastic cover (the bit with ROVER on (does the VVC engine have VVC instead of ROVER?)). There was a very sharp edge where the leads exit from under the cover. A couple of minutes with a file sorted the problem out.

Ralph
Ralph

Will

You know Halfords better than I do - does their set of fittment charts offer a part number for the "log life" plugs as I cannot trace them?
JohnP

Nope, the VVC cover still says ROVER. The long life plugs are PFR6N-11, I fitted a set last week which I bought from www.sparkplugs.co.uk for £28.32 all in. The plugs I took out were 6 year old originals which had done 47,000 miles - definitely smoother running now.

Tim.
Tim Jenner

Simon B,

>Also I'am going to fit myself - anyone know of a good site link giving instuctions to getting access to the plugs, have seen one before but can't remember where?

Try in the MGF/TF FAQ at....

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dotcomoff/

hope this helps. :)


Paul
OU02 XXF
Paul Lathwell

Paul's instructions are excellent! Take heed of the advice about not using a socket and extension bar if you want to make life easy. I like a challenge (and am cheap) and unsurprisingly ended up with the socket detached and firmly on the end of the plug. If this happens to you, I found that a blob of blu-tak on the end of the extension bar was just enough to retrieve the socket!

Tim.
Tim Jenner

PLease note not all the of the FAQ stuff was writen by me. Don't think I can take credit for the changing of the spark plugs article. :)
Paul Lathwell

> I found that a blob of blu-tak on the end of the
>extension bar was just enough to retrieve the socket!

I found that putting pressure on the shaft sideways gives enough 'stick' on the bar.

>There was a very sharp edge where the leads exit from
>under the cover. A couple of minutes with a file sorted
>the problem out.
IIRC there should be a plastic carrier which slots in at the end of the channel, the leads clip into this. If there isn't then the leads might come with a multi-wire clip (the magnacore ones did)
Will Munns

Simon - I hope that the spark plug replacement went well?

Loads of good advice here, but one thing I would stress and that is being careful when replacing the spark plugs.

Remember that the head is made of relatively soft aluminium, and so will NOT tolerate over-tightening of the spark plugs. This will weaken, and potentially strip the threads, and ultimately could lead to the spark plug being launched out of the lead in a manner akin to a Polaris missile at a moment when you least expect it... (look in the archives for Graeme Bishko's experiences).

How to remove the inspection cover: http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/engine_cover.htm

How to change the spark plugs: http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/replace_sparkplugs.htm

Good luck!
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 17/06/2003 and 18/06/2003

MG MGF Technical index

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