Red Light on particulate filter

[Leet1970]

Hi all, suddenly out of nowhere we are getting a red light warning which indicates a particulate filter fault. Our car is an MG zs in petrol 2019. We're a little confused as this problem usually occurs if you do lots of small short journeys which we don't really. Can someone tell me if this is something I can fix myself?

 

[busa]

There are some additives that you can put in the fuel tank, also there are sprays that you can spray in the air inlet with the air filter removed.
what is needed is heat and time, a long drive at motorway speeds will help, You are trying to get the particulate filter hot to burn off the "soot"
This is the main reason I got rid of my i40 diesel, as I was only doing short little runs and the DPF and EGR were getting "blocked".
Has the vehicle gone into limp mode? if so the fault may need to be reset once the filter is cleared.
Hope this helps.

 

[Leet1970]

There are some additives that you can put in the fuel tank, also there are sprays that you can spray in the air inlet with the air filter removed.
what is needed is heat and time, a long drive at motorway speeds will help, You are trying to get the particulate filter hot to burn off the "soot"
This is the main reason I got rid of my i40 diesel, as I was only doing short little runs and the DPF and EGR were getting "blocked".
Has the vehicle gone into limp mode? if so the fault may need to be reset once the filter is cleared.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply, I will google which additive to put in. Luckily not in limpmode which is good. Ours is petrol not diesel don't know if this makes a difference.

 

[busa]

With the extra restriction being imposed on emissions, petrol cars are having to have similar particulate filters fitted, so as long as the additives and sprays are for petrol that should be ok, but try a long run at motorway speeds first.

 

[pager]

Hi, the same has happened to my car, it’s a 2019 petrol MG ZS. Please can you let me know if you managed to fix this? What did you buy?

 

[MGSteve]

Hi, the same has happened to my car, it’s a 2019 petrol MG ZS. Please can you let me know if you managed to fix this? What did you buy?

Hi, exactly the same with mine a 2020 1.0 ZS petrol. booked into MG for October. A 6 week wait to get it looked at and they will probably tell me its not covered under the 7 year warranty. Tried adding a additive and driving at 70mph for 30mins on a motorway and makes no difference. Amber management light but red warning for the PPF. Just hoping the fault is cleared and needs resetting.

 

[Swhww]

Hi, exactly the same with mine a 2020 1.0 ZS petrol. booked into MG for October. A 6 week wait to get it looked at and they will probably tell me its not covered under the 7 year warranty. Tried adding a additive and driving at 70mph for 30mins on a motorway and makes no difference. Amber management light but red warning for the PPF. Just hoping the fault is cleared and needs resetting.

I am in the exact same situation. 2019 MG ZS particulate light went red and engine management light came on at same time. Tried driving it at 70mph for a long drive, had a carbon clean too and lights still not going. Sounds like a common fault. Does anyone have an update?

 

[pager]

Hi, exactly the same with mine a 2020 1.0 ZS petrol. booked into MG for October. A 6 week wait to get it looked at and they will probably tell me its not covered under the 7 year warranty. Tried adding a additive and driving at 70mph for 30mins on a motorway and makes no difference. Amber management light but red warning for the PPF. Just hoping the fault is cleared and needs resetting.

Mine is the same, mine is booked in to be looked at in October too. MG motor UK have advised if no amber PPF light lit before it went red and the diagnostics report shows that the amber PPF light didn’t come on to advise the fault saying the can couldn’t regenerate, then it would be covered under warranty. I’m just waiting for the diagnostics to see if it’s recorded on there to prove I had no knowledge that the filter was filling as the car wasn’t regenerating.
Thought this information may help you too

I am in the exact same situation. 2019 MG ZS particulate light went red and engine management light came on at same time. Tried driving it at 70mph for a long drive, had a carbon clean too and lights still not going. Sounds like a common fault. Does anyone have an update?

Mine is the same, mine is booked in to be looked at in October too. MG motor UK have advised if no amber PPF light lit before it went red and the diagnostics report shows that the amber PPF light didn’t come on to advise the fault saying the can couldn’t regenerate, then it would be covered under warranty. I’m just waiting for the diagnostics to see if it’s recorded on there to prove I had no knowledge that the filter was filling as the car wasn’t regenerating.
Thought this information may help you too

 

[Swhww]

Mine is the same, mine is booked in to be looked at in October too. MG motor UK have advised if no amber PPF light lit before it went red and the diagnostics report shows that the amber PPF light didn’t come on to advise the fault saying the can couldn’t regenerate, then it would be covered under warranty. I’m just waiting for the diagnostics to see if it’s recorded on there to prove I had no knowledge that the filter was filling as the car wasn’t regenerating.
Thought this information may help you too

Thank you for this. Can I ask what contact details you used for MG?
I've been calling the mg dealership servicing since last week and I'm being ignored. I'm due to drive to Southampton from Glasgow and back in four weeks. And clearly need a working car. My light went straight red. No warning if yellow at all. It came in then the diagnostic light came on just after it. I feel at a complete loss. Thanks for the help

 

[pager]

So I contacted originally MG (FG Barnes Maidstone) who quoted me around £1300 to fix it (which I can’t afford and I advised should be covered under warranty). I then contacted MG motor group customer services to complain and try to understand why I should be paying for something when it seems a common fault with MG ZS’, after a very long back and forth of them blaming my driving for the fault when I explained I drive on an A road and motor way at speed everyday. My final reply was…
Thank you for your further correspondence unfortunately, I am only able to refer you to my previous response.
The technical readout from your car prior to the failure will fully show the sequence of events.
If there was a faulty sensor present meaning that the warning lights did not illuminate, then the dealer will easily be able to identify this. Should the dealer confirm that the GPF has failed consequentially as the result of a faulty component elsewhere in the car, then they can present a case to warranty.
Unfortunately, if there is no audit trail showing this, then unfortunately you will be responsible for the costs involved.

Due to this I have now gone back to the dealer to get booked in, to try to prove on the report that I didn’t get the amber light.
Please make a complaint as the more they know there is an issue, the more they may help us. Keep trying to get through to your local MG garage, try pressing other options to get through to someone else and explain the servicing team aren’t answering.
I hope you get through and let me know what you get advised

 

[m4rmite]

Most cars have apps that, via an obd2 dongle, they can have particulate filter regen forced.
Carly app did for bmw but i don't hold my breathe for an MG version.

 

[simonj]

Last night we too have exactly the same problem. Has anyone managed to resolve the issue? Our car is currently being recovered by the AA as we’ve been advised not to drive it but the garage has a full waiting list of repairs until end November

 

[Sylv]

So I contacted originally MG (FG Barnes Maidstone) who quoted me around £1300 to fix it (which I can’t afford and I advised should be covered under warranty). I then contacted MG motor group customer services to complain and try to understand why I should be paying for something when it seems a common fault with MG ZS’, after a very long back and forth of them blaming my driving for the fault when I explained I drive on an A road and motor way at speed everyday. My final reply was…
Thank you for your further correspondence unfortunately, I am only able to refer you to my previous response.
The technical readout from your car prior to the failure will fully show the sequence of events.
If there was a faulty sensor present meaning that the warning lights did not illuminate, then the dealer will easily be able to identify this. Should the dealer confirm that the GPF has failed consequentially as the result of a faulty component elsewhere in the car, then they can present a case to warranty.
Unfortunately, if there is no audit trail showing this, then unfortunately you will be responsible for the costs involved.

Due to this I have now gone back to the dealer to get booked in, to try to prove on the report that I didn’t get the amber light.
Please make a complaint as the more they know there is an issue, the more they may help us. Keep trying to get through to your local MG garage, try pressing other options to get through to someone else and explain the servicing team aren’t answering.
I hope you get through and let me know what you get advised

I am in exactly same situation, light came on today and went to Garage in Maidstone. I have been told 1300-1500 and no replacement car until mid December. Have you been driving your car since the light came on or is that not safe?

There are some additives that you can put in the fuel tank, also there are sprays that you can spray in the air inlet with the air filter removed.
what is needed is heat and time, a long drive at motorway speeds will help, You are trying to get the particulate filter hot to burn off the "soot"
This is the main reason I got rid of my i40 diesel, as I was only doing short little runs and the DPF and EGR were getting "blocked".
Has the vehicle gone into limp mode? if so the fault may need to be reset once the filter is cleared.
Hope this helps.

My light came on today but no spaces in garage until Monday. Is it safe for me to drive for couple of days until then ? Or should I not risk it?

Last night we too have exactly the same problem. Has anyone managed to resolve the issue? Our car is currently being recovered by the AA as we’ve been advised not to drive it but the garage has a full waiting list of repairs until end November

Do you have to pay or was it covered by warranty?

 

[TSNB]

Thank you for this. Can I ask what contact details you used for MG?
I've been calling the mg dealership servicing since last week and I'm being ignored. I'm due to drive to Southampton from Glasgow and back in four weeks. And clearly need a working car. My light went straight red. No warning if yellow at all. It came in then the diagnostic light came on just after it. I feel at a complete loss. Thanks for the help

Hi All,



My wife bought an MG Z S and she has had the same problem that you are all reporting here. She drives along the motorway to work each day. She drove from her office to my office one afternoon (Again a motorway trip) and the red light came straight on.

Luckily the MG reseller and garage that she bought from is on the same street as my office. We took the vehicle straight in. After all the testing they confirm that they can see a light came on at the time reported but not tell if it was amber or red but was red now.

The light went straight to red, the amber light never occurred. This seems to be a common problem amongst these vehicles. We are getting the same (what looks like copy and paste message) from MG that everyone is experiencing here. We are looking to take this legal and wondering if anyone would be interested in joining to potentially start a class action. If so please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

 

[smokie]

I've no idea how prevalent the problem is but there are 7 distinct instances here. I get that not all owners are on this forum but that doesn't seem a lot, and to me it seems a bit OTT to be thinking about going at this stage, though maybe it would give MG a boot up the nether regions.

 

[TSNB]

Hi Smokie,

I think the issue is that these larger corporations think they can just copy and paste messages to people and most people will not pursue further. I just returned from the authorised repairer today and said he has had 3 more brought in today, all the same thing, all straight to red light and all MG deny under not being under warranty.

He agreed that this is an issue, and he as a repairer believes it should be covered because the system is designed to alert people prior by turning on amber light - that the driver needs to either get the motor moving or get in for service. On every occasion he has had at the garage all have been reported as red light.

From his point of view he cannot repair for free because he will not be paid by MG, which I totally understand. He needs to make a living.

The problem is he says a lot of people just pay because they need their car and very few people actually bother to take it further.

There are a lot of other forums across the internet I have subsequently found where people are reporting the same issue. Several people already expressing an interest.

I know the driving patterns of this car. 2 trips each day - one to her office the other home. Both trips are long motorway trips.

From my point I can afford the repair, its not a cash issue. But I can imagine with this type of vehicle, its appealing cost, the idea of a 7 year warranty that the target market is people with limited means. This car is not targeted at people who can afford a more expensive car, so in most cases this sort of issue causes them huge problems - not able to get to work, take care of children, elderly loved ones not able to make trips etc

In this economical environment someone has to stand up for those who may not have the means to do so. I would happily pay for our own problem to be resolved if MG agreed to change their policy on this for every other vehicle they sold.

Additionally the idea of a particulate filter on a petrol car is silly. Not only does it reduce the performance of the car increasing consumption throughout a calendar year, it ends up causing problems like this on more occasions than not. The second hand car market is rife and a lot of these will end up in that international market with those filters just plain and simple ripped out and jailbroken so the light does not come on.

 

[smokie]

Fair enough , thanks for a good response

 

[TSNB]

Fair enough , thanks for a good response

No problem at all. Think its only fair to be rationale when discussing things like this. So many occasions people lead with emotions felt during the exact time of hardship (see a lot of negative reviews online that are obviously typed in the heat of the moment)

But if you propose a call to action like this, then you need to be able to justify the reasons you think why it would be a good idea, not just ask people to rally behind you because you are mad.

Have a great rest of the weekend where ever you are.

 

[phillip]

I have just had a clients car com into me with the same problem 19 plate zs red particular filter light straight on with eng management light on no warning amber first has anyone tied mg down to admit there is a fault

 

[TSNB]

I have just had a clients car com into me with the same problem 19 plate zs red particular filter light straight on with eng management light on no warning amber first has anyone tied mg down to admit there is a fault

MG wont admit to fault so far on our case. The repair centre verbally have told us is a common fault but refuse to put on official paper work to MG as their diagnostics test does not allow them to see if light went to amber or red - it just states it went on. This seems a way for them to avoid liability. Please feel free to pass my email to your clients ([email protected]) as we are launching a legal action against MG, the more cases we have the better.