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MG MGF Technical - Only in Portugal?!

Last week i got my lowering knuckles from Mike Satur :o)
Today i took the afternoon to fit them. I went to A.M. ALMEIDA - ROVER dealer in Lisbon to fit them. I couldnīt believe the expression on their faces....it seemed they were looking to a Dinossaur!!! Nobody knew what that was!!! After i have explained them what were those parts they told me to ask in the reception if it could be fitted. Honestly i must say that i got a little bit suspicious about leaving my car there due to their lack of knowledje...and i got even more suspicious when they insisted that the only way to low the car was dropping pressure in the hydragas system....!Finally one old fat guy from the reception told me that those parts were the "Rótulas" (the meaning word is "small disk of bone that exists in our knees") of the suspension. As i only know them as knuckle joints i agreed. After that he told me that he had to ask permission to the manager. He went away 5-10 minutes and than he came and told me:
"This is not a Rover Part... This is a modified part...we only fit genuine ROVER parts! Good Bye!"
Is this a current procedure from all Rover dealers?
I told him in front of every costumers that A.M.ALMEIDA - ROVER dealer was cheating the costumers when lowering their cars by dropping the fluid...leading to a future hydragas failure and that he was forcing me the same fate by refusing themselves to fit my lowering knuckles! The manīs face became red by shame and didnīt said a word....the costumers that were waiting for their cars smiled to me as a signal of comprehension. I turned away and went out as fast as i could.
Later in the afternoon i went to a simple neighborwood garage that used to have a hydragas pump. I made the same trick..opened the box and asked the old man if he knew what those parts were. He just told me that those parts were from hydragas units. I just smiled...Then i asked him if he could fit them for me. he replyed that he would if he had a pump...according to him the pump was 20 years old and it had broken some time ago. He told me that the pump was always broking up...and it wasnīt reliable to fix it because it only pumped 2 suspensions and had broke again..."itīs 20 years old you see" said the man. He told me to go to another garage and it was the same ...this other guy told that he have had one once...
I went home...i picked up the "Yellow Pages" and phone to a aleatory garage of my area. I asked them and they told me: Nobody has those pumps this days. Those pumps cost around 2700Ģ and isnīt reliable to have one to pump a suspension or two... Only Rover has those pumps!
Back to the start point...! What can i do?????
Bruno Valadas

Get together with fellow MGF owners in your region and buy a pump from the UK which start from around 200ukp. Also buy a couple of 5 litre containers of fluid at about 10ukp per 5 litre container.

Now revisit your garages who at least knew what the parts were and ask how much they would have charged for fitting if they had a pump. Then produce the pump and suggest they should do the job for at least 25% less!!

In reality the fitting is only part of the job. The alteration of the suspension also affects the geaometry and this needs to be at least checked and usually reset.

You can always rub more salt into the local Rover dealer and ask how they would fit the Rover Motorsport supplied knuckles that are to all intents the same parts that come in a plastic bag with a Rover label and part number!

Have you thought of planning a ferry trip to the UK?

Rog
Roger Parker

Interesting point. I always wondered if there was an "official" Rover lowering kit. When I took my car in for my 6mos checkup, I inquired about lowering kits as they had jacked up my F to a silly ride height. I unfortunately got the blank "what is that?" response (and this is from a Scot/ Brit mechanic working at the Tokyo Rover Service Center). On mentioning the availability of these lowering knuckles in the market, his only comment was that it would likely void any warranty claim on suspension/ tires...

Bruno - sorry to hear the lack of garages with hydro-gas pump. Fortunately there is a couple of mg specialist garage here in Tokyo that have experience with F suspension (they also race F's locally).

Out of curiousity, what other cars use Hydro-gas suspension? Is it unique only to Rover Metro's and F's? Any other European models? Curious if other dealers/ garages would have hydro-gas pumps?
Mike

Hello Brunno

when you go back to your garage, tell them they shut take a look in the list of Roverparts. At the no. Z300020RDX they will find the same thing you have bought. And this is a official part sell by Rover.

The pump - perhaps in Lisboa you have a independent
MINI grarage. It's seems that the MINI neets the same pump as the MGF.


Um abraįo

Torsten

Torsten Ohms

Only Rovers use Hydragas pumps, which is why in the UK most independent garages have functioning pumps!

Good suggestion to quote the Rover part number. The more enterprising of you could even replicate a Rover parts label... but I didn't say that... ;o)

Good luck Bruno

Rob
Rob Bell

Hi,
sorry for breaing in so late.
It sounds to get nearly the same discussion as in last year... *g*. that ended with Robs suggestion to make the 'German Trip' to Jansen in Monchengladbach.

Anyway. Bruno, the Partnumber Z300020RDX that Torsten wrote is an official Rover Partnumber. Torsten was IMO the first one (internet known one) who got them fitted here :)). The set was 'developed' (or better said copied ??? *g*) by Rover-Jansen and introduced then here in Germany. VErifications with a UK-made set of John Thomas indicated the same dimensions *g*

All papers carry the MG-Logo :) That set was approved and released by he RW-TUEV institute in Cologne.

If you like to get it purchased in Portugal... hmm ... and corectly installed ... hmm.
The only way is to find someone who likes to understand how it should work and how the car should be aligned after the lowering. Surely not your local Rover dealer.
Purchase could IMO be done in the UK from Satur or B&G or what.
The pump... indeed not so easy to make or understand, but why dont you try it at that old guy with the broken pump.
That one should still own the 'original' connector.
So:
Print out Carls, Tonys and my teamwork and show it to him. May be he can understand the principals. If yes it should be easy for him to suc out the fluid and refill it with the right pressure.
On the other hand you really should think about that what Rog suggested.

HTH
Dieter
The HG Links:
http://mgf.tech.here.de
http://mg-f.purespace.de/pump
http://mg-f.purespace.de/lowering/index.html
http://mg-f.purespace.de/pump/scuction.jpg
etc.etc.etc.etc :)
Dieter

Ok...thanks everybody for the given help! I went to another dealer and in this one they told me that could fit them for me next 14th june but they said that i had to sign a letter of agreement/responsability for any damage or malfuction that might overcome. They have never fitted lowering knuckles before but they said it would be simple... i got a little suspicious about any damage that might overcome as result of incorrectly fitted knuckles.... Do i sign it ?
Bruno Valadas

Bruno,
go for it.
Possible failures can IMO only occur in
- incorrect deflat / inflate of the hydraīgas system... but that is a standard job for the workshop and its written to the workshopmanual.
- incorrect assembly of the knuckles ... no problem IMO, cause this is also written to the manual. The other ones are only a bit (6..7mm) shorter at the bolts end.
- incorrect hight setup ... *g* you can measure it yourself after the works.
- incorrect toe setup ... Ahmm, this is a try and error game in any way. With new old with old knuckles.

HTH
Dieter
PS. thanks to Torsten for the eMail hint on an obove broken link.. Torsten, its fixed now :)
Dieter

So as far as i could understood thereīs no need to be suspicious! :o)
Thank you once again !
Bruno Valadas

*g*
>thereīs no need to be suspicious!

Bruno, I mean 'beeing sensible' is the right sense at each and every time you meet any workshop guy ...

Tony said once:
Between MGF and Owner and Workshop should be a relationship like 'between doctor and patient'
(or sounding like that)

Cheers
Dieter
Dieter

This thread was discussed between 18/05/2000 and 20/05/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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