MG Enthusiast – July 2019

http://www.mgenthusiast.com MGE AUGUST 2019 83

▲ The interior trim door panel can be removed by unscrewing its retaining
screws at both ends, all of which are hidden from view when the door is shut.

▲ The retaining screws for the

locking mechanism are also hidden

when the door is shut. Here I am

putting the latch into closed mode.

key in the driver’s door and see if this
provides any more function. Clearly
this is following a path where it is likely
the door will remain permanently shut
soon, as the internal ‘Superlocking’
function (which is standard for the
late cars with the SCU) is engaged, but
then will not disengage because of a
mechanical problem within the lock/
latch or because the individual operating
solenoid has gone weak. Your problem
then will be that, with the door closed,
you cannot remove either the door card,
for access, or the lock mechanism itself
for replacement, because the retaining
screws are sandwiched between the
rear of the door and the B-post.”

Oh dear, it hadn’t even occurred to me

that, with the door shut permanently, I

would have to cut my way into it. Trying

to unlock the door using the key rather

than the fob made no difference but

fortunately, when I dug out the spare

fob and tried that, then the door opened

without a murmur. Having got it open,

I then had to be very careful not to slam

it shut without thinking. On Roger’s

advice I ran a screwdriver blade through

the latch to put it in the closed position

even though the door was open. That

meant I could safely check the operation

of the central locking using the fob

without having to close the door.

On the MGF and earlier TF, with the

Lucas alarm, there were two stages

to the locking: standard and

Superlocking, with standard locking

needing a single press of the lock

button on the fob and Superlocking a

second double press. In June 2003, to

gain Thatcham Cat 1 security

accreditation (as previously MGFs

were Cat 2) the new system

incorporated Superlocking as the

standard default with just a single

press of the button.

The normal operation of the earlier

system, even if you gave an

immediate rapid double press of the

lock button to go straight to

Superlocking, had a staged clunk for

first level locking, then a pause before

the second stage engaged with

another clunk. The same sequence

will be followed on later cars even

though it should automatically go

straight to Superlocking. A single

indicator flash was associated on the

earlier cars with the first stage of

locking, which should be the same on

Simon’s later TF when the key is used

in the driver’s door to lock the car,

because this doesn’t engage the

internal microwave sensing so you

can leave a dog in the car whilst

nipping into a shop. A double flash of

the indicators is confirmation that

Superlocking is engaged.

Time between the first and second

lock ‘clunk’ should be about a second

and, if one door lock is slower than

the other, it would be an indicator that

the slow lock is suffering from

internal drag. Before this develops

into a major fault that won’t allow you

to open the door, the mechanism

should be changed, or at least

lubricated, to see if it can be brought

back to normal enthusiasm. Ignore

these warning signs and you will

eventually reach the point where the

car Superlocks and the door can’t be

opened without damage being done!

With the SCU it should be possible,

via an MG Rover specialist using

dealer diagnostics, to disable the

automatic Superlocking function and

return to the earlier configuration of

driver-selectable Superlocking,

should you wish to do that.

ROGER PARKER EXPLAINS SUPERLOCKING