MG4 Reduction Gearbox Oil Leak

[spence7788]

Apologies if I've missed something major but should be collecting my orange trophy any day now, I need the car for work and will be doing around 1300 miles a week so it needs to be as reliable as possible, as I understand MG are only fitting new breather kits to cars that present issues but during PDI can I request a drain & refill to the new level issued on their bulletin?

Are they only wanting to do this if an oil leak issue presents itself, just trying to minimise any possible chance of being without the car & find out the actual procedure MG are telling dealers before approaching mine about this. Thanks everyone.

Also if possible does anyone know as per the latest bulletins the original & new fill levels, I vaguely remember the original being 900ml but possibly overfilled and they were recommended 700ml now?

Cheers

 

[Les burrows]

I can not believe that this Thread has been running on this forum for a month tomorrow nor that this posting here will be numbered 1012 and yet still there is no guaranteed or permanent fix from MG motors to address the oil leak, plus it will be the dealers who will decide if your vehicle should need any further attention or not.

Below is part of what was posted by tsedge at #866 page 44 in this thread in a reply to him from MG motors.

( The kit will not be fitted to all MG4s, it will be shipped to the MG UK parts warehouse and then available for dealers to order for any customer car that shows signs of the oil leak. The specific part number is not available yet.)

I also can’t understand why the cars have to be driven for a few hundred miles before the leak begins to show up, if oil is being splash up through the breather then surely a very short drive would splash oil out of it not hundreds of miles and i agree with Bugeyed post above #1003

Bluntly both of those "fixes" are bodges.

( Dropping the oil level runs the risk of there being too little oil left. I don't believe the "overfilling" story nor the method of checking the oil in the gearbox of draining and refilling. Normal practice is to fit a level plug and fill to that. Draining oil via a drain plug never gets all of the oil out so refilling with a set amount risks overfilling.)

And then lovemyev wrote #1005
( They are going to start with what could be a more simple / cost effective fix first, that is for sure !.
A total re-design / relocation of a drain / fill level point is not likely to happen over night, regardless if it is the right fix or not.
I think they are hoping that any oil mist / sling will naturally find its way back down into the sump via gravity, when the car is stationary ?.)

When the car is stationary. The oil getting back to the sump via gravity is fine that’s what it is meant to do, but at the same time it is not meant for some of it to be on peoples driveways instead of the sump no not at all, and let’s forget about people’s driveways, how many of these cars leaking the oil might just be parked for many hours on the roadside leaking there oil onto the road surfaces, there then becomes the possibility that someone later and perhaps in the dark, might come to cross the road slip on the oil and subsequent get an injury as they fall. Perhaps even worse someone on a cycle or motorcycle, hits an oil patch which is what it might become if the car is parked in that same spot a few times maybe outside someone’s home overnight, the possibility’s are endless.

In my opinion MG are not taking this problem seriously enough and I can only imagine they are hoping it will go away in due course.
Well we will see.
Les

 

[Les burrows]

Apologies if I've missed something major but should be collecting my orange trophy any day now, I need the car for work and will be doing around 1300 miles a week so it needs to be as reliable as possible, as I understand MG are only fitting new breather kits to cars that present issues but during PDI can I request a drain & refill to the new level issued on their bulletin?

Are they only wanting to do this if an oil leak issue presents itself, just trying to minimise any possible chance of being without the car & find out the actual procedure MG are telling dealers before approaching mine about this. Thanks everyone.

Also if possible does anyone know as per the latest bulletins the original & new fill levels, I vaguely remember the original being 900ml but possibly overfilled and they were recommended 700ml now?

Cheers

I don’t think anyone can answer that question other than your dealer, as far as I know very few have been found to be leaking oil at PDI and it is been said it only appears after a few hundred miles in most cases, what are the chances your car will leak oil thats anyone’s guess sorry I can’t be more reassuring than that other than to say I don’t think anyone’s has completely broken down because of the leak as yet.
Les

 

[spence7788]

Thanks Les, yeah, I know the chances of spotting or anything leaking at PDI is just about nil, just trying to minimise any chances of anything happening before I take delivery.

ideally I'd want the new breather fitted before delivery but I understand that's just a "if it leaks" then we'll fit it type thing, just wondering if there still throwing them out to customers as per the factory fill and wait for customer to complain or if there being proactive and actually checking/refilling levels at PDI off their own back and been told by MG which I've got a feeling there not! We'll see!

Thanks again

 

[4ND]

This is ridiculous and I have seen comments elsewhere and Youtube videos regarding this.

Remember though, isn't social media apparently somewhat to blame

 

[4ND]

but during PDI can I request a drain & refill to the new level issued on their bulletin?

You can ask, and hopefully it won't be the case, but I woudn't say it's a 0% chance that you will be greeted with a reply something along the lines of they've never heard of it and don't believe what you read on the internet.

 

[colsky]

Apologies if I've missed something major but should be collecting my orange trophy any day now, I need the car for work and will be doing around 1300 miles a week so it needs to be as reliable as possible, as I understand MG are only fitting new breather kits to cars that present issues but during PDI can I request a drain & refill to the new level issued on their bulletin?

Are they only wanting to do this if an oil leak issue presents itself, just trying to minimise any possible chance of being without the car & find out the actual procedure MG are telling dealers before approaching mine about this. Thanks everyone.

Also if possible does anyone know as per the latest bulletins the original & new fill levels, I vaguely remember the original being 900ml but possibly overfilled and they were recommended 700ml now?

Cheers

During the recent podcast, Miles from the Chorley Group said that MG's fix to avoid any potential oil leak was to empty the oil and refill to a lower level. So presumably this procedure should now be part of the PDI. He then said that the new longer breather kit was just a "belt and braces" add on, and that sounds like, in most cases, it won't really be necessary.

There have been people on this forum where their car has had the oil refill and fill, but then their car has continued to leak. This is the potential worry and is hopefully very rare. MG must definitely be hoping that it will be a rare occurrence anyway!

 

[4ND]

It seems to involve enough vehicles to warrant a recall before the rumour mill really gets going and puts people off purchasing any MG EV, not only the MG4.
Even some on this forum alone are now hesitant regarding purchase only due to this issue.

Many manufacturers are hesitant to recall. Whether that's right or wrong is another story. It's expensive and not the best for brand image.
Regarding the rumour mill though, I wouldn't take much stock in that. Only a small percentage of people head to and read forums and dedicated f/b pages, so most will be blissfully unaware. I'd guess youtube comments may expose it a bit more, as folk often watch reviews on a car they're interested in (well, I'd imagine they do anyway). But again, the odd comment of a leak, buried amongst 300 other comments such as 'nice colour, bruv', 'looks wicked that, don't it?' 'corr, that reviewer is fit' etc etc might get lost.

 

[siteguru]

You can ask, and hopefully it won't be the case, but I woudn't say it's a 0% chance that you will be greeted with a reply something along the lines of they've never heard of it and don't believe what you read on the internet.

Well my dealer certainly can't say that, as they have been pointed to this forum, plus I've sent them a spreadsheet of the issues noted by forum members. If they do try that angle I'll just whip out the email I sent them a few weeks ago.

 

[Les burrows]

We will see is correct spence7788 you say you are picking up you car any day the so called new type of breathers is only coming in a couple weeks so it will not done on your car your dealer can take you forward on this they might say sorry but you can’t take the car until we get and can fit the new part there is a few on here that have had the oil changed and levels lowered and it still got a leak so that’s not 100% to stop, it not all cars as far as we know that have the problem ours doesn’t as yet or should I say I have not seen any on tha floor but I’m watching speak to your dealer and let the forum know how you get on
Les

 

[4ND]

Well my dealer certainly can't say that, as they have been pointed to this forum, plus I've sent them a spreadsheet of the issues noted by forum members. If they do try that angle I'll just whip out the email I sent them a few weeks ago.

Agreed. And of course I think they all had guidance of the issue from head office, too.
That's more weight than forums and spreadsheets of forum members. Of course it should be good evidence, but the 'oh, don't believe what you read on the internet' is an easy avenue. I've experienced it myself once. I now use it a lot when browsing cars and comment before hand of any issues I've read up on. I'm always greeted with that 'don't believe the internet' retort. To which I say that I do, as I wish I had done regarding a VW I once bought....as every issue documented 'on the internet' occurred.

 

[Lovemyev]

The feeling I had personally, from listening to the pod cast on Monday, was that MG was monitoring this condition, by listening to feedback directly from dealer network, who had looked at customers cars complaining of the oil leak, and then followed MG’s instructions on a course of action.
Some of the reported “chat” about this issue, is purely regarded as that, in this respect.
In other words, to me they are only treating visits to the dealer, to be the real measure / yard stick of the problem.
A “don’t believe what you read in the press / hype” situation.
I think I am right, that Miles did say that feedback had been sent back to China, and they where addressing what could have been identified as an oil overfill situation.
I have no grounds at all, to suggest that my theory on the attitude to the oil leak problem is correct here of course, but I am reflecting on a similar situation that has occurred on both of the ZS EV models.
Where some owners have reported lower steering column issues.
The problem has required the replacement of the complete UJ steering coupling to rectify the issue.
We have seen clear evidence that some UJ joints have completely failed !.
Has this triggered a recall by MG ?.
NO - They are treating each case on a one by one basis.
Need I say anymore ?.

 

[Gem10]

So presumably this procedure should now be part of the PDI.

I do not think that this is part of the PDI at present. Anyone having a different experience with their dealers?

 

[tsedge]

Nobody can say that MG’s modified breather is a “bodge” because we do not know the detailed design of the gearbox. I think it is premature to decide anything about a fix that hasn’t been delivered yet.

I also think people might consider calming down about the oil leak. I see no evidence that any vehicles have suffered any failures as a result.

 

[colsky]

I do not think that this is part of the PDI at present. Anyone having a different experience with their dealers?

I think Miles implied it would now be. I'm not sure if anyone has actually picked up their new MG4 in the last couple of weeks, since the dealers starting receiving their bulletins about this issue.

 

[Ian Key]

The oil leak poll is making interesting reading.
52% haven't seen an oil leak
8.5% have been overfilled
39% don't know the cause of the leak
0% more serious

I'm reading that just over half of the MG4 drivers on this forum haven't had an oil leak and the rest have had or are having the problem fixed as there are no owners that have had a serious problem with the oil leak.

 

[wiz043]

Remember though, isn't social media apparently somewhat to blame

Social media and the press make up a great deal of the 'rumour mill' rightly or wrongly along with the MG4 owners and prospective buyers and that is all the more reason MG should stop darting around the edges and do something positive about this issue.

 

[wiz043]

Many manufacturers are hesitant to recall. Whether that's right or wrong is another story. It's expensive and not the best for brand image.
Regarding the rumour mill though, I wouldn't take much stock in that. Only a small percentage of people head to and read forums and dedicated f/b pages, so most will be blissfully unaware. I'd guess youtube comments may expose it a bit more, as folk often watch reviews on a car they're interested in (well, I'd imagine they do anyway). But again, the odd comment of a leak, buried amongst 300 other comments such as 'nice colour, bruv', 'looks wicked that, don't it?' 'corr, that reviewer is fit' etc etc might get lost.

You may be right but cast your mind some time back to the way Companies ignored dual clutch issues with the Ford Focus and VW and counterparts and the VW emission scandal etc. and how it spread to the newspapers, TV news, Facebook, motoring magazines etc. and the negative impact it had on the sale of those car brands for some time.
Maybe a lot of it wasn't deserved and it may not be deserved in this case but MG should do something now whilst the issue is comparitively new because if they just sit on their hands and wait for faulty cars to come to them it will hurt the brand in the long run in my view.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

Nobody can say that MG’s modified breather is a “bodge” because we do not know the detailed design of the gearbox. I think it is premature to decide anything about a fix that hasn’t been delivered yet.

I also think people might consider calming down about the oil leak. I see no evidence that any vehicles have suffered any failures as a result.

To a point I agree, but I still think people have the right to be annoyed if the £30k car they have invested in is leaking oil, small problem or not the oil isn't meant to be coming out and the million dollar question is, at what point does it get where a car loses enough oil to cause damage to the gears
We may never get to that point, here's hoping, but as has been said there are probably more people blissfully unaware of the issue continuing to happily drive and enjoy their cars.
It is completely unknown at this point the long term implications.

 

[Fogey]

Just another couple of points:

Low oil level could cause sufficient wear that the transfer gears become noisy (and not sufficiently so to constitute a warranty claim), and very low level could cause seizure - both highly undesirable.

Is overfilling a cause of the sometimes disappointing efficiency figures experienced by some (and reported here) - and on the occasional video review? It appears that the motor and its related gears share the oil, so the motor's running to some degree "wet", and too much oil could result in excessive losses.