MG4 Reduction Gearbox Oil Leak

[Deleted member 9692]

My Trophy went back to dealer yesterday for oil leak. They had been told to drain the oil and then refill with exactly 0.85 litres of oil but when they drained it they found that it had a fraction under 0.85 and is still leaking with that amount in it. They are waiting for some oil to be delivered tomorrow and apparently are putting some dye in it to help diagnose. Service manager speculated that the breather valve might be faulty but not sure. I’ll update as and when.

 

[shaunuk]

I think there is a component pressing down on the plastic making it bulge.
Dropping mine in tomorrow with the dealer for a quick checkup. Hope it’s nothing serious, was hoping to get on a euro trip this half term

 

[Alb]

My Trophy went back to dealer yesterday for oil leak. They had been told to drain the oil and then refill with exactly 0.85 litres of oil but when they drained it they found that it had a fraction under 0.85 and is still leaking with that amount in it. They are waiting for some oil to be delivered tomorrow and apparently are putting some dye in it to help diagnose. Service manager speculated that the breather valve might be faulty but not sure. I’ll update as and when.

Useful info

 

[Taq]

As stated in the other thread on this, both our Trophy and SE SR have this issue, the underside of the SE is covered in oil, the trophy isn’t as bad but has oils streaks running from the rear to the front.

 

[Bodgerx]

When the ZS EV first launched there were a number of little things which affected lots of vehicles and there were several visits to the dealer to resolve these things. I had an early ZS and suffered from issues with the Head-unit Infotainment system issues and had the head unit replaced twice. There were many software updates and tweaks to the operation of the charging system and BMS plus a recall to replace the driver's door wiring loom and the infamous BMS debacle but everything was sorted out by MG reasonably quickly.

Then there were the issues which affected quite a few cars but by no means all such as the clicking steering rack and the heater fan controller board failure which once identified as common faults was sorted out by dealers as and when they happened.

Stories on the forums tend to suggest in the early days that there were definitely two types of MG dealers though. Those who would go out of their way to be helpful and those who would go out of their way to shirk their responsibility once you drove off the forecourt because there was a low margin in the sale. Hopefully, this is changing as I seem to see few horror stories on the forum these days.

I think your description of the ZS issues are a bit on the charitable side.

There have been actual steering column failures on the ZS, some of which are STILL happening on the facelift models…

 

[Lespresso]

We have news… leak confirmed, awaiting more information.

 

[Hallix73]

We have news… leak confirmed, awaiting more information.

That looks like a component seal problem and a full strip down of motor to fix.
As a thought, I wonder if all the cars with leaks have consecutive build numbers on the motor? May be an assembly error by a certain shift worker incorrectly aligning flanges and nipping seal.

 

[the briggie]

Or not torqued correctly? Awaiting outcome with interest?

Alan

 

[Alb]

The breather theory sounds the most credible so far.

 

[Taq]

Called MG Burnley this morning and ended up calling MG Assist to come look at both cars, AA turned up but would only look at one of them (as could only deal with one car per call) so he looked at the SE. Was told the gearbox seems to be leaking but would only recommend driving to the nearest dealer Cars2 Barnsley and said he’d follow me there and could arrange a courtesy car that I’d have to collect from Enterprise but I’d have to make my own way there as he couldn’t take me (not allowed with MG assist apparently but could have if it had been VW). So off I go walking to enterprise only to find no cars available for 3 days (i was there that long they found me one for tomorrow afternoon eventually).

But even so this resulted in me been stuck / no money / no wallet / and no help from MG car2 or MG assist on this at all ! Not a happy Bunny about this the car has only done 194 miles. And spent 2hrs trying to get home.

Now got to drive the other over to Leeds I’m hoping they fair a better. I’m assured it’s a 1.5hr fix and should be ok driven there.

 

[Les burrows]

Called MG Burnley this morning and ended up calling MG Assist to come look at both cars, AA turned up but would only look at one of them (as could only deal with one car per call) so he looked at the SE. Was told the gearbox seems to be leaking but would only recommend driving to the nearest dealer Cars2 Barnsley and said he’d follow me there and could arrange a courtesy car that I’d have to collect from Enterprise but I’d have to make my own way there as he couldn’t take me (not allowed with MG assist apparently but could have if it had been VW). So off I go walking to enterprise only to find no cars available for 3 days (i was there that long they found me one for tomorrow afternoon eventually).

But even so this resulted in me been stuck / no money / no wallet / and no help from MG car2 or MG assist on this at all ! Not a happy Bunny about this the car has only done 194 miles. And spent 2hrs trying to get home.

Now got to drive the other over to Leeds I’m hoping they fair a better. I’m assured it’s a 1.5hr fix and should be ok driven there.

This is terrible, disappointing, outrageous, and very disheartening in my opinion, this is not the service we should be getting from MG or the AA.i feel for you Tag.
Les

 

[Taq]

A few images of what your looking for MG Leeds said they have had a circular about this from MG and their may be a recall.

 

[Les burrows]

A few images of what your looking for MG Leeds said they have had a circular about this from MG and their may be a recall.

They have got to do something that’s for sure before one breaks down altogether when someone’s gearbox goes bang hopefully not at speed
Les.

 

[Jester27]

Have just called my supplying dealer (Charles Warner) to mention the leak.
I did mention it to them when I picked up the car but they hadn't had anyone complain at that point have only sold a few cars.
He is passing info on to his service manager and he will let me know what the plan is going forward.
He is also going to check their demonstrator cars for any sign of leaking underneath or on the trays etc.
Will post back once he gets back to me.
I did stress to him that I will still be using the car as I need it for work, as I'm a night shift worker, thankfully only 15 miles away.
He said that was ok and understandable, as other owners will be using theirs and totally unaware of any leaks etc.
I would urge all owners to check daily for the leak.
I have less than 300 miles on mine and due to knowing about the potential leak, I haven't yet driven the car in anger so have taken it very steady until I knew for definite if it was or wasn't affected.
I thought maybe pushing the motors etc may increase the likelihood of a leak due to oil pressure etc
It hasn't made any difference.
So please do your checks and vote accordingly.
If you vote no leak, continue to check, don't assume as I did that I didn't have a leak
You can then change your vote if need be

 

[Harry 17]

Have just called my supplying dealer (Charles Warner) to mention the leak.
I did mention it to them when I picked up the car but they hadn't had anyone complain at that point have only sold a few cars.
He is passing info on to his service manager and he will let me know what the plan is going forward.
He is also going to check their demonstrator cars for any sign of leaking underneath or on the trays etc.
Will post back once he gets back to me.
I did stress to him that I will still be using the car as I need it for work, as I'm a night shift worker, thankfully only 15 miles away.
He said that was ok and understandable, as other owners will be using theirs and totally unaware of any leaks etc.
I would urge all owners to check daily for the leak.
I have less than 300 miles on mine and due to knowing about the potential leak, I haven't yet driven the car in anger so have taken it very steady until I knew for definite if it was or wasn't affected.
I thought maybe pushing the motors etc may increase the likelihood of a leak due to oil pressure etc
It hasn't made any difference.
So please do your checks and vote accordingly.
If you vote no leak, continue to check, don't assume as I did that I didn't have a leak
You can then change your vote if need be

I called them this morning, was going to put the SE Demo up on the ramp and get back to me this pm.

 

[Jester27]

I have car back apparently it was gearbox overfill at factory on another note I had a zs ev tropthy for the day couldn’t wait to get my .4 back imo it’s so much better

Now it's been a few days do you have any update on your leak ?
Did what they did resolve the issue ?

 

[Jester27]

I called them this morning, was going to put the SE Demo up on the ramp and get back to me this pm.

Ahhh so they do potentially know about it then, that's a little disappointing as I've only just got off the phone with them
And he said they'd had no reports

 

[Harry 17]

Ahhh so they do potentially know about it then, that's a little disappointing as I've only just got off the phone with them
And he said they'd had no reports

I think it depends who you speak to. Matt did tell me they also had a report fRom a lad from Wakefield (you I guess ), but I think he got told by another sales person.

I do not think there is anything underhand involved. Been very happy with the service to date.

 

[Taq]

A few images of what your looking for MG Leeds said they have had a circular about this from MG and their may be a recall.

 

[Jester27]

I think it depends who you speak to. Matt did tell me they also had a report fRom a lad from Wakefield (you I guess ), but I think he got told by another sales person.

I do not think there is anything underhand involved. Been very happy with the service to date.

Yeah that will have been me then when I mentioned it on Saturday when I picked mine up.

Fair play, I've been dealing with Nigel.

@Taq

Hopefully we get quick notice for any recalls.

I may also use Leeds for mine as I'm Wakefield based and bought mine from MG Lincoln as they had one in stock.
If that's allowed
Can't see why not it'll be mg paying the bill not the dealer