MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGF Technical - Power Steering Light

Hi Guys

Total newbie here! I bought my MGF on Sunday having wanted one for years. Used to have a 1960's MGB GT but this is a totally different kettle of fish!!

My power steering is not working and the power steering light on the dash remains on constantly. For a couple of minutes the other day the light went out and the car became incredibly easy to drive :0) but now it's on again and I can't work out how to fix it.

I began by searching everywhere for Power Steering fluid but to no avail. I then resorted to searching the web and found out that the Power Steering is electric so wouldn't have fluid! I found a few instance online with people saying that the speedo had stopped working which will stop the pas from going - along with tutorials for how to replace these cables.

My speedo IS still working so i don't think this is the problem..

Can anyone offer me any advice please?

Thanks in advance

Daniel

http://www.broox.co.uk
D Brookes

There is a great big fusible link (70A) for EPAS under the bonnet, LHS (grubby contacts?); though it would much more likely be a signal (eg speedo feed) that would be intermittent.
It is normally a very reliable system considering it was the world's first in a production car.
Charless

What year is the car as the MY2000 changed from a Mechanical to Electronic Speedo ??
Geoff F.
Geoff Farthing

I've seen the EPAS system develop a glitch that was seemed to just need a re-boot of the ECU to clear it - try pulling the fuse Charles has identified out for a few minutes.

Welcome to the world of mid-engined power & handling ;o)
bandit

The ePAS has a self test mode, it may be that the self test is failing because the steering is reading false information from the torque sensor, or that you have a broken wire somewhere.

Sorry, just wrote a long answer - then went looking for my photos online to find this:

http://www.mgfcar.de/epas/index.htm

Dieters website is excellent
Will Munns

Wow! I can already tell this site is going to be invaluable to me as a n00b MGF owner!

Charles - I'm about to go and check for "grubby contacts" on the LHS under the bonnet if i can find the part that you are talking about. I'll get back to you and let you know how i get on

Geoff - It's a T reg 1999. I don't know whether this makes it mechanical or electrical. I can take some photos if this helps?

bandit - If i can find the correct fuse I will try this... I'll let you know how i get on

Will - Thanks for this link. Unfortunately a lot of this seems like it's written in a different language to me but the potential problems listed:
- Motor overheat - Would seem unlikely as i haven't turned from full lock to full lock and the temp guages don't seem to be showing any signs of overheating
- Engine racing - The rev counter seems to be acting normal and isn't showing any revs when the speedo is at 0.
- Low battery voltage - I've just fitted a new battery at the weekend so this shouldn't be the fault!
- Poor power supply - I don't really know how to check for this but if the battery is new it shouldn't be this one should it?

Anyways thanks all for your responses - I'll go and try playing with the fuse and let you know if i get anywhere

sugarflux

MGF VVC 1999 (T) Silver
http://www.broox.co.uk
D Brookes

It's quite possible - Dieter is German.

Motor overheat is talking about the electric motor for the steering - probably not the fault, but the sensor for this might be the fault

Low battery relates to the voltage coming from the alternator- if the battery was dead it might well be a fault in the alternator.

Try testing the voltage on the battery contacts - They should show about 12.5v with the engine off (after some time off)

With the engine on and the lights and the heater fan - test again, you should see around 14.5V

Will Munns

Hi Will et al

Hoozah!
I found the 70amp fuse and took it out, cleaned it and replaced it and the power steering is now working. I took her for a half hour drive and the Power Steering is still working and the light is off so it looks like this may have been the cause!

I tested the battery to be sure and the voltages above looked about right so hopefully no alternator issues.

I'll obviously keep an eye on her and get back here if the light comes back on!

Thankyou all so much for your help with this - I would have probably had to spend an absolute fortune at my garage if a). they knew what to do and b). you didn't know what to do!!

Thanks again all

sugarflux

MGF VVC 1999 (T) Silver
http://www.broox.co.uk
D Brookes

Blame me
;-)
http://www.mgfcar.de/epas/index.htm
The text is a 1:1 copy from the old official workshop manual? Just the pictures are made by the German :-/

... thought it's english ???
;-) ;-)

Cheers
:)
Dieter

:)

Manuals are not written in English - ask anyone who has read a haynes manual and then tied to follow the instructions!

Good to see some of the old crowd are hanging in here, i've largely moved on since I got the midget back on the road, but I still stick my head round the door occasionally.

IIRC my first post here was looking for the PAS fluid!
Will Munns

This thread was discussed between 06/02/2009 and 08/02/2009

MG MGF Technical index

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