Motor Fault - consult handbook

[mykg]

I've just experienced a problem which has caused me to call MG assistance. A Motor Fault was displayed on the dashboard in red. It also says consult handbook. The handbook says switch OFF and contact an authorised MG repairer. As I mentioned I have contacted MG assistance and I am currently awaiting recovery. Anyone had any experience of this fault.

 

[Cocijo]

New one on me. Hope you get sorted. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Alb]

Is the odometer error part of the motor fault or was it already there?

 

[mykg]

That is a symptom of the fault. It was fine before.

 

[ARealHuman]

Did you get recovered and find out what the problem was?

 

[mj224]

Did that fault actually stop the car? Must admit I would have turned the car off, waited a few minutes and then try again. It's a computer on wheels, so a reset might do the trick...

 

[mykg]

After placing the MG assistance call at around 4:20PM the recovery guy showed up at about 9:20PM with the sun going down. We were given an ETA of 5:35PM initially, but this was very annoyingly pushed out each time I called back. We're actually on holiday in Dorset and stopped on a quiet country lane about a 1.5 miles from Cerne Abbas, so not exactly in a built up area.

The fault first happened and I pressed ok and several other failure/warning messages appeared one after another. The whole instrument panel was flashing various warning icons like a Christmas Tree. I eventually stopped after a few seconds and tried the reboot (off/on). The problem seemed to clear, but came back again after driving for a few seconds further. I stopped again further up the road in a convenient safe place off the road. Each time I switched the car on, the Motor Fault plus all the other array of failure/warning messages ocurred straight away. There was also an occasional strange clicking noise coming from the dashboard area (frequency of about 10 or 20 seconds - difficult to say).

At this point I called MG assistance as it looked like this was a permanent problem and too dangerous/risky to drive any further. I'm pretty sure the car would move but I didn't want to create more problems by driving it in this condition.

Whilst waiting for almost 5 hours I did switch the car on a couple of times, but the fault remained the same. I probably did not switch it on during the last 3 to 4 hours. However each time I opened a car door and the parking lights (LED on dashboard) illumnated I could hear the clicking noise again which gave me the impression that the problem was still occurring. The parking icon goes off after a short while and the parking LED on the parking brake switch goes off a short while after that. When both these red indicators goes off the clicking noise was never heard. Almost like opening the door causes an awakening of the electrical system and then it goes back to sleep. I really don't know but I had lot's of time to evaluate the situation.

So, at 9:20PM the recovery guy arrives and I explain the problem and showed him the pictures I had of the failure/warning conditions. I guess you all know what happens next?

I switch the car on and no failure/warning conditions. I drive several yards as a short test and no problem. As we are about 20 minutes from our holiday base he agrees to follow me back and if it fails again I will pull over. Anyway we thankfully made it back and I now need to find an authorised MG repairer in the Dorset/Somerset area to investigate and fix my issue. I'll make a few phone calls but as it's Bank Holiday Monday I don't hold out too much hope today.

The car is being charged up this morning but I haven't driven it further than a few yards to the charging position.

 

[Cocijo]

it’s always the way that these things cure themselves when you don’t want them to! Sounds like you had a frustrating time. The MG dealer will plug in their diagnostic equipmemt to look at fault codes. They will also probably disconnect and reconnect the 12v battery (this is something that you can do with a 10mm spanner if you feel so inclined). I hope that you get it sorted - good luck.

 

[mykg]

I've just this minute removed the charger as we are about to go out for a walk. Powered the car on and fault has occurred again. My only thought (as the car is pointed directly at the sun) is if this issue is temperature related (ie: when it heats up the problem occurs and when in a cooler climate it will work ok). I'm only guessing based on what I've experienced yesterday and this morning. It was a warm day yesterday with strong sunlight and the car eventually worked when the sun went down and the ambient temperature was quite cool.

I'm not able to contact an MG service department to book my car in, but hopefully I can arrange this tomorrow morning.

 

[Alb]

Frustrating experience.
If the fault had still been there last night what would your plan have been.
Recovery to home, destination or dealer?

 

[Lovemyev]

They will also probably disconnect and reconnect the 12v battery (this is something that you can do with a 10mm spanner if you feel so inclined). I hope that you get it sorted - good luck.

Have you tried like @Cocijo suggests and disconnected the 12 volt battery supply with a 10mm spanner at the negative terminal ?.
If you can find / borrow a suitable spanner .
Then disconnect the negative lead for about 30 mins and then reconnect and see if it clears the fault !.
You have nothing to loose by trying it ?.
My brother had a similar incident about 4 weeks ago and it cleared the fault.
The dash panel was like a Christmas tree he said !.
All has been okay ever since - good luck.

 

[mykg]

Frustrating experience.
If the fault had still been there last night what would your plan have been.
Recovery to home, destination or dealer?

Because of where I am, I would have had to taken the car to a dealer and used a courtesy vehicle until the car is fixed. However it didn't come to that. Not yet anyway.

 

[mykg]

Have you tried like @Cocijo suggests and disconnected the 12 volt battery supply with a 10mm spanner at the negative terminal ?.
If you can find / borrow a suitable spanner .
Then disconnect the negative lead for about 30 mins and then reconnect and see if it clears the fault !.
You have nothing to loose by trying it ?.
My brother had a similar incident about 4 weeks ago and it cleared the fault.
The dash panel was like a Christmas tree he said !.
All has been okay ever since - good luck.

I'm away on holiday and I don't have a tool kit with me to try that. However, I would be reluctant to try it as I would like MG to see the issue and diagnose the problem correctly and resolve it.

 

[mj224]

Good luck. I hope home is not too far from Dorset..:-(

 

[Lovemyev]

I'm away on holiday and I don't have a tool kit with me to try that. However, I would be reluctant to try it as I would like MG to see the issue and diagnose the problem correctly and resolve it.

Yeah - I do see your point.
But my guess is the dealer will do this first anyway.
Disconnect the 12 volt battery and reconnect after about 15 to 30 mins that is.
They will / should also check for any stored fault codes in cars memory anyway.
If the problem goes away after a master reboot by disconnecting the 12 volt supply and there is NO fault codes stored, they will be just handing you back the keys I think.
Not the first, or the last time we have seen a glitch in the system of an EV resolved by a simple master reboot achieved by disconnecting the 12 volt supply to the battery.
I think a lot of ZS EV owners ( including myself ) now carry a single 10mm spanner with them at all times.
It’s one of them, if you have it, you are very unlikely NOT to need it.
But on the other hand, beats waiting a long time for the recovery service for what could be a simple fix.
If you have tried the reboot method and it is unsuccessful, then the recovery people are likely to sent a flat bed straight out first time.

 

[Alb]

Doesn't disconnecting the 12V supply erase any fault codes?
That's certainly how it works in my current (petrol) car.

 

[Lovemyev]

Doesn't disconnecting the 12V supply erase any fault codes?
That's certainly how it works in my current (petrol) car.

Hi @Joe .
I am not 100% sure with regards to the ZS EV to be totally honest ??.
But I would have though that serious error codes would be saved to the cars modules.
Otherwise what’s the point ????.
A bit like the hard drive on a computer I guess ?.
You can disconnect the power for weeks on end, but issues / problem / bugs are in there until removed.
Rebooting the car from the inside sometimes does not work because the software is still confused by a simple error.
It maybe struggling to process a water fall of error messages being sent by different modules and therefore just throws out every error coded it can think of !.
That’s why the dash panel lights up like a Christmas tree.
Last week my daughters Fiat 500 Abarth, suddenly with out warning, decided it was not going to turn over out side of a busy super market.
She has owned the car from new and it has only covered 13,000 miles.
The car was displaying almost every warning light inside of the car.
Flashing and bonging like something processed!.
Ten minutes later, it decides to start up !.
After returning home and some quick checks with a volt meter etc, it turns out the 12 volt battery has suddenly failed with a collapsed cell.
New battery installed the following day and all is now okay.
Charging rate was fine at just over 14.5 volts, so no alternator / charging issues.
No vast array of warning lights showing on the dash either.
All false warnings triggered by the low state of charge in the 12 volt battery.
I have witnessed this myself on my previous car.
It seen a potential issue with the TPMS system and reported a multitude of false issues as a result, it brought the car to an almost full stop !.
One master reboot later and we are on our way to the dealership.
ECU required an update that had never been done and the whole system almost shut down the car.
We where running on 2 cylinders at one point !.
We are driving mobile computers now, not cars anymore !.
EV are totally reliant 100% performance of there software working correctly.

 

[Ciaran 01]

Hi @Joe .
I am not 100% sure with regards to the ZS EV to be totally honest ??.
But I would have though that serious error codes would be saved to the cars modules.
Otherwise what’s the point ????.
A bit like the hard drive on a computer I guess ?.
You can disconnect the power for weeks on end, but issues / problem / bugs are in there until removed.
Rebooting the car from the inside sometimes does not work because the software is still confused by a simple error.
It maybe struggling to process a water fall of error messages being sent by different modules and therefore just throws out every error coded it can think of !.
That’s why the dash panel lights up like a Christmas tree.
Last week my daughters Fiat 500 Abarth, suddenly with out warning, decided it was not going to turn over out side of a busy super market.
She has owned the car from new and it has only covered 13,000 miles.
The car was displaying almost every warning light inside of the car.
Flashing and bonging like something processed!.
Ten minutes later, it decides to start up !.
After returning home and some quick checks with a volt meter etc, it turns out the 12 volt battery has suddenly failed with a collapsed cell.
New battery installed the following day and all is now okay.
Charging rate was fine at just over 14.5 volts, so no alternator / charging issues.
No vast array of warning lights showing on the dash either.
All false warnings triggered by the low state of charge in the 12 volt battery.
I have witnessed this myself on my previous car.
It seen a potential issue with the TPMS system and reported a multitude of false issues as a result, it brought the car to an almost full stop !.
One master reboot later and we are on our way to the dealership.
ECU required an update that had never been done and the whole system almost shut down the car.
We where running on 2 cylinders at one point !.
We are driving mobile computers now, not cars anymore !.
EV are totally reliant 100% performance of there software working correctly.

You can reboot the zs from the cars own system just toggle through the menu and the master reboot message appears, is this not a better way to reboot rather than using a 10 mil spanner?

 

[Lovemyev]

You can reboot the zs from the cars own system just toggle through the menu and the master reboot message appears, is this not a better way to reboot rather than using a 10 mil spanner?

I think that only performs a master reboot for the infotainment unit and not the entire car.
Disconnecting the 12 volt at the battery directly, is the way the emergency services are trying as a fix on EV's I believe ?.

 

[mykg]

I was able to call a "local" MG dealership today but it was difficult to get the car in as an emergency case. The car worked ok this morning, but if my temperature related theory was relevant I thought the car would fail again later in the day during this hot weather. I was out for the day in a dfferent car and when I returned I switched the car on (4PM). The car failed again with the Motor Fault followed by all the other failures/warnings. I therefore called MG Assistance and this time they arrived within about half an hour. It was also a true AA yellow van this time around.

I showed the problem to the AA man and he informed me that it would have to be taken to an MG dealership as part of the recovery service. He called the local dealership but they said it would have to be tested via the diagnostic facilities and parts might take at least 2 days to arrive. As I am due to leave here on Saturday this left me in a poor situation, but the AA will give the option to take the car to my local (home) MG dealership and provide me with a rental car. So the car has gone to MG Chorley Group. I'm guessing it will get there on Wednesday 2nd June 2021.

I'll provide further updates as and when they happen.