MG4 Reduction Gearbox Oil Leak

WalkingBootWeather said:

There are likely over 100 demonstrators in circulation. If MG are serious about realising the scale of the problem they only have to get dealers to check these and report back.

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That might give a skewed result as it's unclear under what conditions the issue occurs. For example sustained motorway speeds may cause the issue but will rarely be achieved on the short test drives most MG4 demos are giving.

colsky said:

The poll on this forum has 29 with the oil leak, out of a total of 59 voters, so pretty much 50%. Were they suggesting that some of these 29 voters may not be valid I wonder. If this poll is accurate, and can be taken as a representative sample, then that suggests that, extrapolated out, 50% of MG4s have the oil leak issue. That's serious isn't it!

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I Agree if it is 50% of the cars sold, and we can’t be sure how many,it is a serious issue, all that as been reported here is almost about 50% of the 59 who have voted and that’s all we on this forum can look at.
In a few more weeks it could go either way as mileages increase or there or more cars coming on the road who knows.

The dealerships and I include Miles Roberts CG in that cannot tell us anymore be cause MG motors at Longbridge, and from what can be seen the parent company in China have not yet said what is going to be done to get away from this issue and if this poll continues to rise they will lose the confidence of the car buying public and lose sales as a result.

As for the currant owners and drivers including myself i say if you have a leak take it straight back to your dealer and report it. There isn’t much else you can do but the dealerships should know and have the correct channels to have the issue dealt with otherwise when sales fall away they to might go out of the business of selling MG cars.
Les

Ian Key said:

Agreed but the chances are owners will only join the forum to find out about the oil leak and then vote if the have the leak in the first place. If they don't they won't join so won't vote for no oil leak so skewing the results.
I'm not saying that the problem doesn't need sorting and quickly.

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And I'd guess many of that 1,000 are living their lives not knowing that that beacon on the hill, that shining light of freedom, that welcomer of the huddled masses, that is the MG EVs Community forum(s), exists at all.

How exactly did they confirm the users posting on social media do not have an MG4? Not everybody will have bought in their name, they could have a vehicle in company name or their partners name. Just own the issue already please!

BugEyed said:

That might give a skewed result as it's unclear under what conditions the issue occurs. For example sustained motorway speeds may cause the issue but will rarely be achieved on the short test drives most MG4 demos are giving.

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Indeed it might. But Miles inferred that only 30-40 of 1000 cars had the reported problem (3-4%). If MG assessed 100 demonstrators and found only 3 or 4 to exhibit the leak he would have supporting evidence. If there were a lot more, and I suspect there would be, MG would have a more reliable estimate as to the scale of the problem.

Identifying a single false report from someone who doesn't own a car, or dwelling on the fact that social media acts as an echo chamber are just diversionary tactics.

Evidence should be based on actual observations (cars with identified problem as a proportion of cars examined, not as a proportion of cars sold). Unless MG are a bit more proactive on this it might take a year before sold cars are examined as part of the annual service and we get a true picture.

Random "Oil Leak" datapoint, I've yet to see or drive my new MG4.

In early October, I reserved a specific Camden Gray Trophy MG4 from a specific dealer's Late October/Early November allocation. Just this last Thursday, I was given the Chassis Number and told my car would arrive at the dealer network on Friday. On Saturday, I received word from the dealer, that my car had been through the workshop and unforunately is showing signs of a leak.

The dealer offered the following without me asking: the dealer will wait until new breather pipe part arrives, expected 2nd week November. They will give my car priority. Once part is in, they will drain oil, fix new breather pipe, refill oil to the required level. While waiting, they've completed all software updates and the rest of the PDI.

Good empathetic rhetoric that at least I know the car has had the fix before I drive it away, and I will not get any further problems.

Noteworthy in that this was determined without me driving the car.

Kithmo said:

It looks like it probably needs a baffle plate under the breather as in that diagram the breather seems to be directly in line with the large reduction gear which is probably centrifugally flinging oil directly out of the breather.

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That's exactly what I thought when I saw the diagram. It's a design problem and the permanent fix would be as you say a baffle plate or move the breather to a position away from the main oil fling. A breather should never be in direct line with oil flow.

I don't have an MG4 and I haven't posted on the poll.
That of cours sin't becuse I don't own one, but

matinee113 said:

at least I know the car has had the fix before I drive it away, and I will not get any further problems.

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Hopefully.

matinee113 said:

Random "Oil Leak" datapoint, I've yet to see or drive my new MG4.

In early October, I reserved a specific Camden Gray Trophy MG4 from a specific dealer's Late October/Early November allocation. Just this last Thursday, I was given the Chassis Number and told my car would arrive at the dealer network on Friday. On Saturday, I received word from the dealer, that my car had been through the workshop and unforunately is showing signs of a leak.

The dealer offered the following without me asking: the dealer will wait until new breather pipe part arrives, expected 2nd week November. They will give my car priority. Once part is in, they will drain oil, fix new breather pipe, refill oil to the required level. While waiting, they've completed all software updates and the rest of the PDI.

Good empathetic rhetoric that at least I know the car has had the fix before I drive it away, and I will not get any further problems.

Noteworthy in that this was determined without me driving the car.

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Not good that they've found the leak but it's good to hear that they're very much on top of the matter and you're being looked after.

Now, if only all of the dealers could be like that...

matinee113 said:

Random "Oil Leak" datapoint, I've yet to see or drive my new MG4.

In early October, I reserved a specific Camden Gray Trophy MG4 from a specific dealer's Late October/Early November allocation. Just this last Thursday, I was given the Chassis Number and told my car would arrive at the dealer network on Friday. On Saturday, I received word from the dealer, that my car had been through the workshop and unforunately is showing signs of a leak.

The dealer offered the following without me asking: the dealer will wait until new breather pipe part arrives, expected 2nd week November. They will give my car priority. Once part is in, they will drain oil, fix new breather pipe, refill oil to the required level. While waiting, they've completed all software updates and the rest of the PDI.

Good empathetic rhetoric that at least I know the car has had the fix before I drive it away, and I will not get any further problems.

Noteworthy in that this was determined without me driving the car.

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If you don't mind, please could you share your dealer's name?

AndyL61 said:

That's exactly what I thought when I saw the diagram. It's a design problem and the permanent fix would be as you say a baffle plate or move the breather to a position away from the main oil fling. A breather should never be in direct line with oil flow.

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Talking about the modified breather .
I was tuned in to the post cast last night and about half way through, we received a trick or treat visit from our grand kids .
I picked it back up latter, but it was not live at this point of course.
Forgive me if I am wrong here, but I was listening to the Scottish couple, who where talking about their MG4 going back for the oil leak, after only having the car for just less than one week.
The car has been at their local dealer for nearly three weeks now, I thought the lady said.
She said the dealer had dropped the oil level first and carried out some test drives, but it was still leaking !.
If I then heard correctly, she then said they had fitted a different breather !.
This really picked my ears up alright, as I was not aware that any of the modified breathers where available in the UK yet ?.
A little latter in that conversation, the lady owner reviled that her dealer had carried out a temporary
modification on the original breather.
By somehow increasing the high / length of the original factory breather assembly.
They had carried out further road tests and the car now appeared to be oil leak free and fine !.
But they where NOT allowed to released the car back to the owner, because they wanted to install the official replacement breather first, when it arrived.
This is understandable, because the car was not approved to carry this mod as yet.
But, nice to hear that this dealer WAS trying to help with finding a solution to the problem.
This was the point in the pod cast, when our door bell rang and therefore missed any further live comments on this subject - never mind !.
IF the combination of lowering the oil level and extending the height of the breather tube does indeed provide the long term fix, then do we conclude from this, that heavy oil sling from the box is main cause of the problem here.
Caused by overfilling of the cases in production would explain why some cars leak and some cars don't maybe.
So, a belt and braces approach is implement because.

( A ) Less volume of oil to be thrown in a upwards direction, reaching the breather in a mist form.
( B ) Increasing the overhaul height of the breather tube, prevents the oil sling / mist reaching the extra height achieved by extending the tube I wonder ??.

Do I get the impression that every breather pipe will be automatically be replaced though - NO !.
Oil level checked and corrective action taken at the point of the PDI - YES !.
Cars that are reported to MG dealer for leaks AFTER having had the correct oil level corrected.
These are the cars that are likely to receive the modified breather assemblies in my mind.

"Answers on a post card to ............ ".

Every car should receive it, let's be honest every member in here who is waiting on a car will still be checking under their car regularly, whether it is this month, next month or next year.

Bluntly both of those "fixes" are bodges.

Dropping the oil level runs the risk of there being too little oil left. I don't believe the "overfilling" story nor the method of checking the oil in the gearbox of draining and refilling. Normal practice is to fit a level plug and fill to that. Draining oil via a drain plug never gets all of the oil out so refilling with a set amount risks overfilling.

Fitting a different "longer" breather may separate out the oil from the air, but a separate return path for the oil is required. Trying to do this via the existing hole size is unlikely to be successful.

Leni16 said:

Every car should receive it, let's be honest every member in here who is waiting on a car will still be checking under their car regularly, whether it is this month, next month or next year.

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I personally agree, but let's just see how it unfold's ?.
Maybe ALL cars will be retro refitted ?.
But MG tends to treat each and every car, purely on an individual one on one basis, not blanket wash the lot in mass.
Hey ........ What I think they SHOULD do and what they ACTUALLY do in practice, is two completely different things I have found.

BugEyed said:

Bluntly both of those "fixes" are bodges.

Dropping the oil level runs the risk of there being too little oil left. I don't believe the "overfilling" story nor the method of checking the oil in the gearbox of draining and refilling. Normal practice is to fit a level plug and fill to that. Draining oil via a drain plug never gets all of the oil out so refilling with a set amount risks overfilling.

Fitting a different "longer" breather may separate out the oil from the air, but a separate return path for the oil is required. Trying to do this via the existing hole size is unlikely to be successful.

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Time will only tell here @BugEyed .
They are going to start with what could be a more simple / cost effective fix first, that is for sure !.
A total re-design / relocation of a drain / fill level point is not likely to happen over night, regardless if it is the right fix or not.
I think they are hoping that any oil mist / sling will naturally find its way back down into the sump via gravity, when the car is stationary ?.

For information some reading material. I think this explains things fairly well and a nice video of a leaking breather.

BTW it was Brindley MG in Cannock that was so helpful in my case above.

Leni16 said:

Every car should receive it, let's be honest every member in here who is waiting on a car will still be checking under their car regularly, whether it is this month, next month or next year.

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Absolutely. Even if an owner mostly drives short distances around town there will be occasions when they might want to undertake a longer high speed journey which causes a leak.

What about subsequent owners who might have a very different use pattern? Will new breather be installed FoC several years down the line when the issue arises? If transmission fails with lack of oil being a contributory factor will it be replaced or will MG claim 'wear and tear'?

If any part is not fit for purpose during 'reasonable normal use' then it should be replaced. Period.

Lovemyev said:

A total re-design / relocation of a drain / fill level point is not likely to happen over night, regardless if it is the right fix or not.

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Agreed.

Lovemyev said:

I think they are hoping that any oil mist / sling will naturally find its way back down into the sump via gravity, when the car is stationary

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They'll be really lucky if that happens. Frankly a catch can might be a better solution.

This is ridiculous and I have seen comments elsewhere and Youtube videos regarding this.
I realize every new car has teething problems but being a new EV model MG should be all over this instead of virtually sitting back to see what happens.
The MG4 has been for sale longer and obviously in larger numbers in China so surely MG have had complaints about this oil leak issue there so some liason with the manufacturer is warranted you would think.
It seems to involve enough vehicles to warrant a recall before the rumour mill really gets going and puts people off purchasing any MG EV, not only the MG4.
Even some on this forum alone are now hesitant regarding purchase only due to this issue.