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MG MGF Technical - u won't believe it, another first for me!

New weirdo problem which only affects my F.
I GET NUTS!!! Dealer has never seen this phenomenon, quite comforting >:/

The EPAS went t*ts up, it still works, but it does exactly the opposite of what it should do. The slower you drive, the harder it gets to turn, the faster, the smoother it becomes, too smooth! Only at standstill it is as normal.

Now I assisted at all possible tests with the testbook, and the only weird thing is the test of the EPAS motor where the system crosschecks a value when turning steer in Amp (max 39.5 amp) together with a 'voltage at extremity" value (?). the latter value should always be between between 5.5V & 20V. Now if we turn the wheel to extreme right, it will indicate around 10.2V, if the wheel is not being turned (standstill at any angle) it is at 6.7V, but if we turned it to extreme left, it only showed 0.1V power! Turning steer feels same tho... Amp values were always correct an,d matched the 'wanted value'.
Revs are recorded correctly (velocity measuring impossible, battery of crappy testbook lasted only 1 minute (!!), you need all 4 wheels to turn before it returns value), torque on steering wheel read correctly (with this ongoing line graphic, fun to see all those Nm values), no EPAS errors recorded in MEMS. Phsyical inspection of steering system did not reveal anything special.

Has anyone ever heard of such a fault? The motor still works, coz cutting out engine when driving makes the steering wheel feel much heavier, even at slow speeds where it feels already too heavy.
Dirk

Dirk,
Sorry to hear of another problem.
I had a sort of similar problem with my EPAS earlier this year when the car kept turning left by itself, the test book showed no faults but I seem to remember a difference in the voltage readings between turning left and right.
After replacing the EPAS column and the EPAS ECU, with no effect, the problem was found to be loose pins in the multi block electrical connector into the ECU. This caused a different resistance path for the turning left circuit, and sometimes a complete short.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is, testbook did not find my fault - it took a good visual examination of all the connections - so try that before replacing parts.
ps I still have a spare EPAS ECU which may be of use to you (a new one is around 400 GBP and a column 800GBP!)
Jason
Jason Harris

Dirk,
I hope for the failure that Jason got.

http://members.tripod.de/MGF/epas/epas_ecu_2678.jpg
on
http://members.tripod.de/MGF/epas/index.htm
shows the connectors of the EPAS.

1200GBP complete for a new, ... Urggh, I sold mine to cheap ;-)

Regards
Dieter
Dieter Koennecke

Dieter,
Great pictures, but for Dirk's info the connector I had a fault with is not the one in your photo!
By the way how is your race boat friend getting on with the EPAS?
Jason
Jason Harris

>the connector I had a fault with is not the one in your photo!

OK, an indicator for Dirk in any way.
Dirk, just invert the information contend and check all not drawn connectors :)
Not sure, but isn't between the ECU-box and the column cables any long 'interconnection' cable ?

I've no more information from the recently sold EPAS. The buyer gave it to an electronic 'expert' ;-). This one appeared at our german BBS and asked also for more information on how it works. No more came from any chap. But Dirks description of the failure search routine indicates some terms that I'll foreward to the buyer.

So far
Dieter


Dieter Koennecke

This thread was discussed between 20/10/2000 and 21/10/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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