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MG MGF Technical - Hmmm - Dodgy petrol?

All this stuff about iffy petrol from Tescos etc - guess who's TF is idling like a pig at the moment? It is 3.5 years old and my first thought was to put some new plugs in it as they are the originals still. Am I right in thinking that 135s dont have a dizzy any more as well? No engine check lights on but it is really lumpy on idle and doesn't feel particulary strong either...:(
Tony

Hey tony,

A friend's Corsa has just conked out needing a new lambda sensor... and of course we have a nice tesco's in Ely where you buy petrol... just finding out if they did :-)

Chris.
Chris Tromans

Hiya, I think SWBMO filled up on sat at St Neots Tesco, did 300 miles over the weekend and refilled on Tuesday with Shell. It is very lumpy on idle and does cut out occasionally when you come to a halt...
Tony

hi tony,
just been hit with a bill for £212.49 for new oxygen
sensor , I too filled up with petrol from tessco st neots there is a tessco phoneline you can ring 0800 505555 Iv'e been on to them this morning gave them hell ,now got to wait and see what happens
allan

They did buy their petrol from Tescos.... and, like Allan, they have the same £200 odd bill for a new sensor...
Chris Tromans

Filled up on Sunday, at Shell, and I'mm a long way from St Neots - phew! I reckon anyone suspecting a problem needs to have a sample of the fuel from their tank, preferably independently witnessed, along with the receipt. Sounds as if Tesco are trying to wriggle!
M Cunningham 1

Filled up my mk1 MPi with £45 worth of Tesco petrol last thursday. now my car is dead on my driveway. It lost power over the distance of a mile and then died completely and wouldn't restart. I thought it was the coil now I'm not so sure...


HELP!

Does this problem affect 1996 cars?
Jon

Allan - OMG! Thanks for that. It seems she actually filled up on Thursday morning(still has the receipt). When did you fill up and who did your sensor?
Tony

Don't follow this ?

Luckily I'm ok, and I use Tesco petrol but looks confined to South East.

But if you fill with petrol, drive off and then have problems cut out etc. then have sensor fixed, presumably the petrol is still in your tank so how come on replaced sensor its now all ok.

You would expect it to still have problems, unless of course as a precaution the petrol is drained and replaced.

Sorry to hear of the problems, and it seems to be not limited to one manufacturer and now a shortage of sensors.

Where's the MGF sensor located ?

Brian
Brian

How long does it take for the problem to develop? mine drove for 80 miles before dying...
Jon

I suppose it depends on how mixed the petrol was in your tank with some "good" stuff. £45 must be almost a tank full? Don't actually know how much to fill an F as I always pass out filling the Saab with 70 odd litres :)
Tony

Sorry Brian, 1 sensor on earlier ones(pre 2001?)mounted on the exhaust downpipes and a second on later cars mounted post-cat I think.
Tony

Well the tank was so empty i was debating whether there would be enough to get to the petrol station! There is pure Tesco in my tank!!

It was a 55 litre fill, i presume 50 litres of tank and 5 litres of filler pipe
jon

hi tony.
marshall of cambridge did the work, they seem to be the only ones who can do a diagnostic engine test around here .
and yes brian the tank was drained hope that not to difficult for you to follow
allan

From what I'm reading on BBC... a lot of garages are realising the problem is the fuel and draining the tank while they're doing the repairs... so that answers the question as to why it then doesn't happen again...

For my friends it is very interesting:

1.Buy petrol at Tesco
2.Engine management light on very soon after
3.Take to garage
4.Garage say lambda sensor needs replacing but struggling to get the part
5.They say the car is ok to drive
6.They take the car to Kent and break down on the M25
7.Their breakdown policy only covers taking to the nearest garage in 20 mile radius (where they won't be able to fix cos of the part shortage!)
8.They elect to be towed home instead at a cost of £200
9.Still got the sensor to replace at a further cost of £200!
10.Garage now say they should have said "don't drive long distances"
11.Watch this space.... hope they can get ALL their money back

Nice story...

Chris
Chris Tromans

Strangely enough, we have not had a single F/TF into our garage with this problem - plenty of ZRs and ZSs. We've got 20 sensors on order, which will arrive in the next couple of days. Eleven of these have already been allocated.

Ralph
Executive Motoring Service Ltd
www.mgr-service.com
Ralph Gadsby

Thanks for all your replies, interesting point from Ralph - maybe they just do less miles so not filled so often :)
Tony

The radio states the duff petrol appears to contain silcone. I bet those suffering failure must now be feeling a bit of a big tit filling up with it......
Patrick Beet

Ok, my 52 plate TF 160 is dead.
Tesco petrol bought over the wekeend.
Its idling like a pig, got zero power and can barely pull away.

I need to fix this at the weekend.

I plan on pumping the petrol out of the tank then changing the lambda snesors and fuel filter. I'm not 100% certain though where i find the sensors or how i recognise them, or even how difficult they are to change.

Can someone give me some advice in this area?

Thanks

Garry
GArry

They have said this morning it is Silicon. Keep your receipts for the petrol and repairs. It looks like there will be some procedure set up to claim as it's gonna cost em millions.
Ddraig

It was a poisoned lambda sensor, had it put on T4 at B+G this afternoon which confirmed it. Bills being prepared to give to Tesco....
Tony

Tesco's have come up trumps. Received on Tuesday a cheque covering my tank of dodgy petrol and the B&G bill for replacement of the lamba sensor.
Carole

Tescos seem to be good about this - cheque for £221 in the post to cover all the work and the dodgy petrol :-)
Tony

This thread was discussed between 01/03/2007 and 21/03/2007

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