Heating not working

[haico]

I just checked all the fuses in the front box but with no success (would have been to easy anyway). So I now ordered an OBD dongle to check if there are any error codes (should arrive tomorrow). My service appointment is on the 18th of December.

Out of sarcasm I renamed my car from microwave to refrigerator.

I checked the fuses too, to obvious. No name for my car, but its very COOL

 

[jamakr4]

Just checked my error log via OBD and I actually had some errors. So I cleared them, let the car sit for a couple hours and took it for a drive and also messed with some settings in the AC menu but nothing showed up. I really believe it’s an issue with the software - therefore the hardware works fine the software just isn’t activating the heater. The MG infotainment software really only is an android phone running an app launcher and every feature is its own app. The factory reset just resets the app launcher but not the apps then selves. I think a complete redeployment of the software should fix it.

 

[jamakr4]

The heating of the MG4 from 2023 is not working, cooling with airco works good. Went to the dealer, they gave me a car for 1 or 2 days to fix it, but after 10 (TEN!) months they gave up, they tried everything but could not fix it. Bought the car 9 months old, it was imported, but guarantee from MG for 7 years was no issue. They say the car was imported from outside the EU and therefore no guarantee. What to do now??

Maybe this is helpful for your case (to understand what MG is actually doing in their service centers and what they do if they encounter certain errors/behavior : http://www.siteguru.co.uk/MG4/Manuals/

(Seems to be mostly official stuff from SAIC/MG regarding repair and other stuff for service technicians).


Guided Fault FindingSymptom Based Diagnosis: http://www.siteguru.co.uk/MG4/Manuals/MG4 EV UK Guided Fault Finding Phenomena Based Diagnosis v1.02.pdf

Guided Fault Finding – DTC: http://www.siteguru.co.uk/MG4/Manuals/MG4 EV UK Guided Fault Finding DTC Support v1.02.pdf

 

[haico]

Maybe this is helpful for your case (to understand what MG is actually doing in their service centers and what they do if they encounter certain errors/behavior : http://www.siteguru.co.uk/MG4/Manuals/

(Seems to be mostly official stuff from SAIC/MG regarding repair and other stuff for service technicians).


Guided Fault FindingSymptom Based Diagnosis: http://www.siteguru.co.uk/MG4/Manuals/MG4 EV UK Guided Fault Finding Phenomena Based Diagnosis v1.02.pdf

Guided Fault Finding – DTC: http://www.siteguru.co.uk/MG4/Manuals/MG4 EV UK Guided Fault Finding DTC Support v1.02.pdf

Ik vrees dat ik hier niet veel van snap, maar ik snap wel dat dit de weg is die de monteurs van MG moeten lopen om tot een oplossing te komen. Neem aan dat ze dit hebben gedaan en na 10 maanden hebben opgegeven. Deze kwestie is inmiddels geëscaleerd tot een rechtszaak, helaas, want dat kost hoop geld en tijd.

 

[siteguru]

Please post in English - it is a forum requirement.

Google says:

I'm afraid I don't understand much of this, but I do understand that this is the route MG's mechanics have to take to find a solution. I assume they did this and gave up after 10 months. This matter has now escalated to a lawsuit, unfortunately, because that costs a lot of time and money.

 

[haico]

I'm afraid I don't understand much of this, but I do understand that this is the route MG's mechanics have to take to find a solution. I assume they did this and gave up after 10 months. This matter has now escalated to a lawsuit, unfortunately, because that costs a lot of time and money.

 

[jamakr4]

Quick Update: Had my service today and they weren't able to figure it out, so they opened a ticket with MG. I assume they just followed the normal procedure: 1. Disconnect 12V Battery, 2. Flash software, 3. Check harness and connections, and 4. If nothing does the trick, call MG. They told me they will call me back.

When I asked for a loaner, they denied it, claiming MG isn't paying for that. However, I think the car is undrivable and unsafe because the windows fog up so easily. I will give MG Germany a call tomorrow and get their opinion on this shitshow.

I still believe it's a software-related issue, so tomorrow I’m going to try to get the logs from Engineering Mode via ADB (I already have experience with that). That would also explain why this issue isn't showing as a DTC code; it happens within the Android infotainment system, which doesn't put them in the DTC logs. It seems like the technicians are not able to do basic software troubleshooting and can only read errors from the DTC cache.

I really don't get why they even sell these cars when they have no clue how to fix them.

Actually the MG is displaying something within the DTC in Engineering Mode - But these are not normal DTC errors as they are hexa decimal - anyone has an idea what these are? Maybe they are related to the Android system?

 

[haico]

Quick Update: Had my service today and they weren't able to figure it out, so they opened a ticket with MG. I assume they just followed the normal procedure: 1. Disconnect 12V Battery, 2. Flash software, 3. Check harness and connections, and 4. If nothing does the trick, call MG. They told me they will call me back.

When I asked for a loaner, they denied it, claiming MG isn't paying for that. However, I think the car is undrivable and unsafe because the windows fog up so easily. I will give MG Germany a call tomorrow and get their opinion on this shitshow.

I still believe it's a software-related issue, so tomorrow I’m going to try to get the logs from Engineering Mode via ADB (I already have experience with that). That would also explain why this issue isn't showing as a DTC code; it happens within the Android infotainment system, which doesn't put them in the DTC logs. It seems like the technicians are not able to do basic software troubleshooting and can only read errors from the DTC cache.

I really don't get why they even sell these cars when they have no clue how to fix them.

Actually the MG is displaying something within the DTC in Engineering Mode - But these are not normal DTC errors as they are hexa decimal - anyone has an idea what these are? Maybe they are related to the Android system?

Curious if you find a solution yourself. I agree that the technicians have difficulties to solve software issues. This heating could also be a software problem.

My lawyer is negotiating with MG Europe to come to a deal for my problem. Probably next week it will be clear what they choose to do. It looks like simply repairing the heating is not an option anymore.

Keep you posted!

 

[jamakr4]

Curious if you find a solution yourself. I agree that the technicians have difficulties to solve software issues. This heating could also be a software problem.

My lawyer is negotiating with MG Europe to come to a deal for my problem. Probably next week it will be clear what they choose to do. It looks like simply repairing the heating is not an option anymore.

Keep you posted!

The thing is most technicians are coming from gas cars where everything is more analog so you can see very clearly where most issues are coming from which doesn't apply to software. I am pretty sure that in case of a hardware error we would see something like a DTC indicating that (like drop in voltage etc.. which the vehicle is capable of measuring).

I actually told them to upgrade the software or do a full redeployment but they decided to try their manual first (maybe they don't know how to do it?).

 

[ReintjeWA]

I really don't get why they even sell these cars when they have no clue how to fix them.

I sometimes wonder if this is caused by MG/SAIC being so in control of seemingly anything the dealership wants to do. It could be a clash of (corporate) cultures. Considering Chinese manufacturers used to steal designs all the time perhaps they are worried that others may steal their software in return.

From my perspective I would think that’s a bit silly because if some manufacturer really wanted this software I’m sure they could just rip it from a secondhand car or something, but then again I’m looking at it from the perspective of my own (Western European) culture….

 

[jamakr4]

I sometimes wonder if this is caused by MG/SAIC being so in control of seemingly anything the dealership wants to do. It could be a clash of (corporate) cultures. Considering Chinese manufacturers used to steal designs all the time perhaps they are worried that others may steal their software in return.

From my perspective I would think that’s a bit silly because if some manufacturer really wanted this software I’m sure they could just rip it from a secondhand car or something, but then again I’m looking at it from the perspective of my own (Western European) culture….

Ripping the software is so easy (as it’s really just an Android phone) - I even know a case were someone was able to extract parts of the software. If a normal user can do it, other companies can do it too. But nobody would want this software anyway.. I just think MG isn’t very picky with their service partners because they have to grow to be competitive- so they essentially take everyone resulting oftentimes in bad service experience.

Now pulled the logs, there are a lot of errors in them here are the most interessting ones regrading this specific problem:

12-18 18:24:42.619  2654  2771 W ActivityManager: Unable to start service Intent { cmp=com.saicmotor.hmi.hvac/.HvacStartupServices } U=0: not found

12-18 18:24:44.289  2654  2905 I ActivityManager: Force stopping com.saicmotor.hmi.hvac appid=10017 user=0: from pid 2781

12-18 18:24:44.291  2654  2654 I notification_cancel_all: [1000,2654,com.saicmotor.hmi.hvac,0,0,0,5,NULL]

Seems to me l like it has some communication error (the one where its says Force stopping was when I killed the app my self within the Android Software


The Car also seems to be Stuck in some kind of loop

12-18 18:35:04.043  2781  3041 D HvacView: mCarConditionCallback=VehicleConditionBean{mMarkedSignalId='5112', mCarSpeed=0.0, mVehicleIgnition=0, mEngineState=0, mCarGear = 1, mCarType = 68, mEcallState = 0, mCrashSignal = 0, mConfig360 = 0, mAmplifierType = 0, mEp21ConfigCode = 0, mAirFollowVehicleEconConfigCode = -1, mRearWindowAutoConfigCode = -1, mTailgateControlConfigCode = -1, mEleBackMirrorConfigCode = 4, mSeatHeatingConfigCode = 4, mPedestrianWarningConfigCode = 0, mDriverSeatConfigCode = 2, mLightingSettings = 0, mSpeedAssistConfig = 0, mBlindSpotDetection = 6, mTrafficJamAssistance = 0, mForwardCollisionAssistance = 0, mWindowControl = -1, mSteepDescentControl = 2, mFrontRadarControl = 2, mAutomaticCall = -1, mAqsConfigCode = -1, mLdwsConfigCode = 4, mDmsConfigCode = 1, mAirbagConfigCode = -1, mPmDetectionConfigCode = -1, mAirFilterConfigCode = -1, mAnionPurifyConfigCode = -1, mFrontSeatConfigCode = -1, mSunRoofControlConfigCode = 2, mDoorAutoLockConfigCode = -1, mAirConditionConfigCode = 2, mOnePedalConfigCode = 0, mTransferCaseConfigCode = 4, mEnergyPredictionConfigCode = 0, mTailerElecticConfigCode = 1, mAcAvlbly = 1, mBcmAvlbly = 1, mScsAvlbly = 1, mApaAvlbly = 1, mPepsAvlbly = 1, mFvcmAvlbly = 1, mPlcmAvlbly = 1, mBmsAvlbly = 1, mHcuAvlbly = 1, mRadarAvlbly = 0, mMsmAvlbly = 1, mVcuAvlbly = 0, mCarGearV = 0, mVehicleNameInfo = 0, mVinNumber = LSJXXXXXXXX1082, mVehicleExteriorColor = -1, mMileageUnit = 0, mNextResetMileage = 10000, mNextResetDay = -1, mMaintenanceStatus = 2, mResetCarMileageInfoStatus = false, mPeripheralKeyModule = 0, mSwcFunctionChangeSwa = 0}

12-18 18:35:04.044  2781  2781 D HvacView: msg==102

12-18 18:35:04.044  2781  2781 D HvacView: updateCarState acAvlbly == 1,vehicleIgnition == 0

12-18 18:35:04.051  2781  2781 D HvacView: setDefaultRes

12-18 18:35:04.052  2781  2781 D HvacView: updateLoopState loopState == 0

12-18 18:35:04.052  2781  2781 D HvacView: getLoopStateLevel level == 2

This just repeats but maybe this is just about the view and not really the communication

mVcuAvlbly = 0 - Vehicle Control Unit; maybe this indicates a loss of connection?

14,4285,821858553,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 7102 in 0ms

14,4306,826853774,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 7115 in 0ms

14,3521,627781103,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 6286 in 0ms

14,3529,632780497,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 6297 in 0ms

14,3535,637783958,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 6309 in 0ms

14,3541,642788224,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 6319 in 0ms

14,3551,647790801,-;libprocessgroup: Successfully killed process cgroup uid 0 pid 6329 in 0ms

The car is also constantly killing processes which doesn't look very good to either.


The kernel logs are also full of documented killings of processes and failures.


I don't know if this kind of behavior is normal (as I never worked with Android device that deeply) - but this very clearly looks like a software issue to me where the car is just in panic mode and kills processes.

EDIT:

14,3468,602776568,-;init: Service 'yfve_diag' (pid XXXX) exited with status 1

This is almost 130 times in the logs: yfve_diag seems to stand for Yanfeng Visteon Electronics wich seems to be the hardware supplier for the infotainment. Status 1 means its a crash - so there is for sure something wrong.

 

[jamakr4]

I have somewhat of a theory on what could possibly be the issue:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Symptom (What You Experience)
│ → Heating system not working
│ → No OBD error codes
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
│ Effect (System Level)
│ → "Software Lock" of heat pump
│ → Commands cannot reach hardware
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
│ Mechanism (Service Level)
│ → HVAC service fails to start
│ → VCU communication breaks down
│ → mVcuAvlbly = 0 (VCU unavailable)
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
│ Root Cause (Code Level)
│ → SELinux blocks GPIO access
│ → yfve_diag driver crashes continuously
│ → Permission error in R46 software
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

This seems to be an issue with SELinux policy and would also explain another issue that I have (navigation isn't working because its demanding some permission). I tried to reset it and everything but nothing did work. I also have accepted the privacy notice (which usually is the issue for this error). The Android logs also show that the GPS is working and that the navigation is activated.

My car is running R46 and I have heard that R67 should bring changes to the AC both cosmetical as well in terms of the invisible software part that is controlling the heating system. Can anyone verify that? So I now asked my dealer to to update the software - but I think over Christmas nothing is going to happen.

I have no idea how the car ended up in this situation but I really hope its going to get fixed soon. MG Germany also responded claiming they are looking into my case and the RoadSide Assistance told me that if the situation with the fogged/frozen windows is to bad they will call the tow truck and give me a loaner for 7 days. So moral of the story: If your dealer tells you they don't know who to call at MG and that everybody is in China - Thats cap; Just give them a call yourself.