MG ZS Steering Fault - clicking when turning

[AK OK]

That's a significant failure shown in the picture. But that doesn't appear to be a recall yet.

View attachment 10184

What are you seeing exactly?

The arrow points to a "riveting point on the outside of the bearing housing"...

 

[Lovemyev]

This photo implies to me, that one of the UJ bearing cup carriers is complete missing from the UJ yoke !.
The cups are held in place by either a circlip or as in this case, they have used a machine to deform the metal of the yoke, to stop the cup from working lose.
It could be how the UJ was assembled, or that there is a material fault in the cup itself, but I doubt this to be honest.
A high force is required by a press, to make that retaining indentation in the UJ yoke that can be clearly seen in the photo.
The UJ cup could have cracked as the metal of the yoke was deformed to retain the cups.
It would require criping on all four cups.
Back in the day, I have replaced many of these UJ joints of all sizes, but never on a steering column.
I get the feeling it is an assembly problem myself.
My guess is that MG will / should be carrying out an investigation on these assemblies at a matter of some urgently, before there is a catastrophe failure .

 

[AK OK]

This this photo implies to me, that one of the UJ bearing cup carriers is complete missing from the UJ yoke !.
The cups are held in place by either a cur-clip or as in this case, they have used a machine to deform the metal of the yoke, to stop the cup from working lose.
It could be how the UJ was assembled, or that there is a material fault in the cup itself, but I doubt this to be honest.
A high force is required by a press, to make that retaining indentation in the UJ yoke that can be clearly seen in the photo.
The UJ cup could have cracked as the metal of the yoke was deformed to retain the cups.
It would require criping on all four cups.
Back in the day, I have replaced many of these UJ joints of all sizes, but never on a steering column.
I get the feeling it is an assembly problem myself.
My guess is that MG will / should be carrying out an investigation on these assemblies at a matter of some urgently, before there is a catastrophe failure .

Interesting

 

[Lovemyev]

I have included a generic photo of a steering column UJ coupling, taken from a Merc.
You can clearly see the four “Pinch Points” where the yoke of the UJ had been crimped to retain the bearing carriers.
Circlips are not used in these applications because of the small size of the joint and it is therefore regarded as a none repairable item.
Easier to just replace the whole bottom steering column coupling rather than machine out the old UJ.
The larger UJ’s as used on propshaft’s etc, tend to have circlips to retain the UJ cups.
I have included a small exploded picture of a components of general ( larger ) UJ joint.
You can see the needle roller bearings that are located inside of the retaining cups.
The small joints are pre packed with grease, the larger UJ’s have a grease point machined into the inner cross section.
There is a set process for removing and replacing UJ joints, you can not afford to loose ANY of those needle bearings in the assembly process !.
I don’t think many of the younger car tech’s will have every replaced a UJ joint these days.
Commercial HGV tech’s certainly !.

 

[Deleted member 8539]

Same here, steering column replacement required and on order for Long Range ZS EV 71. MG Hyde, Manchester

Had the lower steering column replaced but still making that annoying noise!

 

[Coulomb]

Had the lower steering column replaced but still making that annoying noise!

Oh no! That sounds like the same thing that happened to @Elec Car Aust where they waited weeks for the steering column from China when the problem was with the universal joint in the steering link, which was an overnight delivery from a nearby city.

They didn't want to listen to advice from someone who got their information from the internet. Usually that's reasonable advice, but in this case it would have saved a lot of customer time and MG expense.

 

[Lovemyev]

Oh no! That sounds like the same thing that happened to @Elec Car Aust where they waited weeks for the steering column from China when the problem was with the universal joint in the steering link, which was an overnight delivery from a nearby city.

They didn't want to listen to advice from someone who got their information from the internet. Usually that's reasonable advice, but in this case it would have saved a lot of customer time and MG expense.

I think with @Elec Car Aust the dealer incorrectly diagnosed it was the power steering motor, but when the went to install it, they discovered the real issue, which was the lower steering column UJ had failed.
It sounds like @gavin has had the lower column coupling replaced, but he still has a clicking noise when turning from lock to lock ?.
Maybe he can confirm ?.

 

[Deleted member 8539]

Please accept my apologies for not replying sooner. Yes, the clicking noise appears to coming from behind the steering wheel. Back to the dealership on 8th September, will keep you updated.

 

[Kithmo]

Tighten the tilt adjuster nut on the opposite end to the lever.

 

[britpac]

I have a mk2 zs ev and I have the clicking noise, had a mk1 before with the same issue, had the steering column replaced only to start clicking again after a few months. I've just contacted my dealer to hopefully get this solved.

 

[sgt4hed]

My MK2 has just started doing this, not all the time, and so far only when turning the wheel from left to right. Going to contact my dealership to get it booked in. Have also got a very annoying squeak coming from the seat too

 

[AK OK]

Have also got a very annoying squeak coming from the seat too

More talc ?

 

[Kithmo]

My MK2 has just started doing this, not all the time, and so far only when turning the wheel from left to right. Going to contact my dealership to get it booked in. Have also got a very annoying squeak coming from the seat too

I only get the annoying noise from the passenger seat.....................when the missus is sat in it.

 

[sgt4hed]

More talc ?

I don't get it...
It's a metallic sounding squeak, like metal rubbing metal... Has only developed in the last week.

 

[AK OK]

I don't get it...
It's a metallic sounding squeak, like metal rubbing metal... Has only developed in the last week.

Have you had a hip replacement?

 

[Lovemyev]

My MK2 has just started doing this, not all the time, and so far only when turning the wheel from left to right.

Our Gen 1 started it started the very same way.
When I back off our drive, I need to use full lock to avoid hitting a car that is always parked on the opposite side of the street .
Then the opposite full lock to clear the kerb.
The ticking / knocking noise could be clearly heard when carrying out this manoeuvre.
It was not very noticeable when the car was new, but after about 12 - 18 months it was very evident.
Also if you using a poorly finished rod surface or hit a deep rut in the road, the column could be heard to rattle.
You could feel it transmit up through the steering wheel.
I did a regular check on the UJ joint and it was okay, I have a feeling the noise was emanating from the manual upper clamping device at permits adjustment of the column by the driver.
The column was set to suit my driving position, by myself on collection day, then never moved after this.
Our new ZS EV ( Gen 2 ) appears to be fine at the moment but time will tell I guess.
It is almost six months old and covered 6,000 miles.
There is definitely a problem here somewhere, but nobody appears to trying to identify where the root cause lies.
Just randomly keep replacing lower steering joints is not really getting to the bottom of the problem really, unless they have been able to identify a supplier / batch of defect items.
I am not sure, but I would hazard a guess that it is a common item on both Gen 1 & Gen 2 models ?.
If so, this would explain why the problem has been transmitted over over both versions.
I am very surprised that MG ( who are paying out for the parts and the labour time ) are not asking this question .
“Why are we continuing to replace these same items on practically new cars, with the very same component ?”.
There has to be a underling reason WHY these items are failing prematurely.
It has to be a either poor quality materials or a fault in the manufacturing process of the said item.
Either that, or it’s an assembly issue at the factory ?.
It can’t be that hard to find the cause of problem surely.
If a few customers had reported this a problem then okay, but this is a regular issue across both versions of the ZS EV models.
Some UJ joints even failing in a catastrophic manner, this subject should be given a little more urgency.

 

[Deleted member 8539]

Had the lower steering column replaced but still making that annoying noise!

Apparently the UJ Joint at the bottom of the steering column was replaced last time and now the entire steering column now needs replacing. Parts ordered but will take a few weeks. Incredibly frustrating, the car is only 8 months old and has been in the repair centre 4 times now

 

[Coulomb]

There has to be a underling reason WHY these items are failing prematurely.

Yes, you would think that this would be a high priority thing to get fixed, so it doesn't cost SAIC even more money and loss of face, when they are desperately trying to build their brand as high reliability, good value. Value is quality divided by price; reducing the price on its own isn't good enough, you have to at least maintain the quality, better yet increase it over time. And generally they do seem to be doing that, but steering is one of the places that they seem to stumble. It's only a tiny fraction of cars involved, but because it's one of the top safety items (brakes, steering, drive train), someone needs to be on top of this.

 

[Seve]

[ Edit Coulomb: this and three other posts moved here. ]

Been experiencing slight knock on steering column, gradually getting more frequent. Booked in for check at local MG dealer, after test drive a new steering column has been ordered (back order)
Dealer has confirmed car safe to drive! anybody else experienced same problem?

 

[Matt M]

Lots on the forum about folks having the same issue. Including myself. Been waiting well over 5 weeks so far no parts arrived. Don’t hesitate to bring to MG