Checking whether the PD052 update has been installed.

[Jockster]

Did a 70 mile each way journey over the weekend. Could rarely get over 60 up slight hills before power dropped off and car revved up to 5000. Took my car into the dealer today. They test drove it and found the same issues so agreed with my comments. They spoke to MG who said there is no new update for my car but will look for some sort of solution to try??? The dealer has had to keep the car so i'm now driving a 10 year old Dacia Sandero which is not good. Such a shame as it was much better before the update. Almost seems like my car already had the PD052 update and then its been cancelled when they installed it again?? How can this be so different for all of us?

When was the car released as in is it the new ZS+ what month registered. Also how come you got an update when it is not knowingly in the UK yet. My car improved after 2,000 mls ( now on 2,300 ). It needs a run in period apparently and it's a new curve driving a Hybrid too. I'm getting used to mine each day. Sadly I think that I now know more about its parallel drive train than they do.

 

[Robert1957]

When was the car released as in is it the new ZS+ what month registered. Also how come you got an update when it is not knowingly in the UK yet. My car improved after 2,000 mls ( now on 2,300 ). It needs a run in period apparently and it's a new curve driving a Hybrid too. I'm getting used to mine each day. Sadly I think that I now know more about it's parallel drive train than they do.

Registered December 2024 and yes ZS+. Dealer didn't know about the update when I took it in a few weeks ago but the update was on the system and so it was installed along with some others. It's only since the update that the performance and over revving has got worse

 

[Jockster]

OK we need to chat. Your foties show decent mpg if not great mpg.
I am aware of over revving sound but I think I know why.

 

[Robert1957]

Dealer rang back today to say that MG technical are now aware of the overrevving problem after the PD052 update but they do not have a solution yet but are working on it,. How long that will take is not known so I will get my car back tomorrow and have to wait until I hear from them,. There must be numerous people reporting this for them to say they are aware but if anyone with a genuine concern can report it to their dealer it may help to get a solution ASAP.

 

[KAG]

Dealer rang back today to say that MG technical are now aware of the overrevving problem after the PD052 update but they do not have a solution yet but are working on it,. How long that will take is not known so I will get my car back tomorrow and have to wait until I hear from them,. There must be numerous people reporting this for them to say they are aware but if anyone with a genuine concern can report it to their dealer it may help to get a solution ASAP.

I reported to my dealer and escalated it to MG customer service too - they made me wait 3 weeks to look at the car to tell me there was a software update, so they were going to do that, then told me the technician drove the car and that basically it was all in my head! If its not helped then I will be straight back on to them!

The company I work with has a partnership with MG (a fairly big one) so I will be raising it there too... Its such a shame, its a lovely car and when its 'behaving' its a great drive, but when it starts to act up, it has to be the worst drive I've ever experienced and I regret buying it.

 

[Jockster]

I concur. The more people that report it the sooner they will take notice. They escaped some expenses perhaps to sell this car at a great price or made some mistakes.

 

[mickel]

Dealer rang back today to say that MG technical are now aware of the overrevving problem after the PD052 update but they do not have a solution yet but are working on it,. How long that will take is not known so I will get my car back tomorrow and have to wait until I hear from them,. There must be numerous people reporting this for them to say they are aware but if anyone with a genuine concern can report it to their dealer it may help to get a solution ASAP.

Dealer actually said they were aware of high revs after the PD052 update? Hmm, since some people have had update and it’s solved issue, suggests something else must be going on.
Either their updates aren’t working for everyone (update failed) or some cars have another as yet undiagnosed fault?
I wondered if a batch came of the production line with a fault… but then you’d think all cars with the fault would end up in one particular country? People are reporting high revs in lots of countries. Not sure how production runs and exports operate. I wonder if the dealer who rang you would be prepared to email you the same information so that you have a written record that MG technicians are aware the fault still exists after the update. I suspect they possibly will be more hesitant to do that. I’d ask. If they make excuses, then you know they are getting instruction from head office to say nothing. A phone conversation is one thing. Documented acknowledgment is another.

 

[Jockster]

Dealer actually said they were aware of high revs after the PD052 update? Hmm, since some people have had update and it’s solved issue, suggests something else must be going on.
Either their updates aren’t working for everyone (update failed) or some cars have another as yet undiagnosed fault?
I wondered if a batch came of the production line with a fault… but then you’d think all cars with the fault would end up in one particular country? People are reporting high revs in lots of countries. Not sure how production runs and exports operate. I wonder if the dealer who rang you would be prepared to email you the same information so that you have a written record that MG technicians are aware the fault still exists after the update. I suspect they possibly will be more hesitant to do that. I’d ask. If they make excuses, then you know they are getting instruction from head office to say nothing. A phone conversation is one thing. Documented acknowledgment is another.

I'd love an email documenting that.

The PD update could be overwriting existing PD already installed and hence fekking it up?

 

[mickel]

The PD update could be overwriting existing PD already installed and hence fekking it up?

It could simply be that some dealers know how to install updates correctly and others don’t. But Robert1957 post seems to suggest something else may be going on. At least for a number of owners. Hope it’s gets solved, because driving a car that revs erratically is somewhat unnerving.
From my experience working in tech… issues that can be resolved by software updates tend to be acknowledged in writing and fixed. If the fault isn’t acknowledged in writing…. It may mean it’s a hardware fault. Which they desperately try and cover up until the decision is made if a recall is required. Will be interesting to see how they respond.

 

[Jockster]

Happy with a recall but that will cost.

 

[tractor boy]

Hi , just joined forum to relate my experience so far.
I have the same issues as most, loss of power on inclines , massive over reviving exceeding the manufactures own run in limits of 3000 rpm (5300rpm on a regular basis)
Took the car to dealer and showed him what happened on an incline, cruising at 70 mph , engine revs high, and then it’s like you’ve hit the brakes, left alone speed dropped to 45 mph, engine screeming, and no acceleration available with foot floored.
He did the same test on his demo , it was worse !!
So , I had told them it’s being returned as it’s in 30 days ( incidentally of which 18 days have been trying to investigate this issue)
They connected thier demo car up to the computer and did the same runs, and then sent the data to MG UK, fun old thing, they had a fix for them in 15 minutes !! , as to if it’s PD052, they could not, or would not confirm if it’s was this update.
Anyway, they did the update to their demo, and supposedly it’s fixed, I am going in today to get the same “update” and I will report back as to if this is fixing the issues, I am not confident, but will give it a try.
Dealer is fully aware the car is getting returned if no progress and is happy with that.
The dealer is an independent , family run buisness, and they have been very pro active in investigating this issue, and even they were shocked when MG produced “the fix” so quickly.
It’s disgraceful that this car was released into the UK market knowing it’s got a serious flaw, we had it happen whilst overtaking a lorry, and halfway past, the power disappeared, it was very dangerous. If you are considering one of these cars, be very thorough in your research, some seem fine, but plenty are dangerous in thier current state.

 

[Robert1957]

Hi , just joined forum to relate my experience so far.
I have the same issues as most, loss of power on inclines , massive over reviving exceeding the manufactures own run in limits of 3000 rpm (5300rpm on a regular basis)
Took the car to dealer and showed him what happened on an incline, cruising at 70 mph , engine revs high, and then it’s like you’ve hit the brakes, left alone speed dropped to 45 mph, engine screeming, and no acceleration available with foot floored.
He did the same test on his demo , it was worse !!
So , I had told them it’s being returned as it’s in 30 days ( incidentally of which 18 days have been trying to investigate this issue)
They connected thier demo car up to the computer and did the same runs, and then sent the data to MG UK, fun old thing, they had a fix for them in 15 minutes !! , as to if it’s PD052, they could not, or would not confirm if it’s was this update.
Anyway, they did the update to their demo, and supposedly it’s fixed, I am going in today to get the same “update” and I will report back as to if this is fixing the issues, I am not confident, but will give it a try.
Dealer is fully aware the car is getting returned if no progress and is happy with that.
The dealer is an independent , family run buisness, and they have been very pro active in investigating this issue, and even they were shocked when MG produced “the fix” so quickly.
It’s disgraceful that this car was released into the UK market knowing it’s got a serious flaw, we had it happen whilst overtaking a lorry, and halfway past, the power disappeared, it was very dangerous. If you are considering one of these cars, be very thorough in your research, some seem fine, but plenty are dangerous in thier current state.

Will be good to hear how this goes over the next few days and if it works it needs sharing on this forum as MG are unlikely to announce it and I don't think they know who needs it. I believe, as do some others, that we may have had a corrupted update and I've told the dealer that. They say they plug my car in and the system says the PD052 is done and no further updates needed so they have to wait for the system to say something different. I was hoping they could delete the update and reinstall but no one knows if that will work either. Can you try and find out what todays update is called once its done as I will then request it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jockster]

Hi , just joined forum to relate my experience so far.
I have the same issues as most, loss of power on inclines , massive over reviving exceeding the manufactures own run in limits of 3000 rpm (5300rpm on a regular basis)
Took the car to dealer and showed him what happened on an incline, cruising at 70 mph , engine revs high, and then it’s like you’ve hit the brakes, left alone speed dropped to 45 mph, engine screeming, and no acceleration available with foot floored.
He did the same test on his demo , it was worse !!
So , I had told them it’s being returned as it’s in 30 days ( incidentally of which 18 days have been trying to investigate this issue)
They connected thier demo car up to the computer and did the same runs, and then sent the data to MG UK, fun old thing, they had a fix for them in 15 minutes !! , as to if it’s PD052, they could not, or would not confirm if it’s was this update.
Anyway, they did the update to their demo, and supposedly it’s fixed, I am going in today to get the same “update” and I will report back as to if this is fixing the issues, I am not confident, but will give it a try.
Dealer is fully aware the car is getting returned if no progress and is happy with that.
The dealer is an independent , family run buisness, and they have been very pro active in investigating this issue, and even they were shocked when MG produced “the fix” so quickly.
It’s disgraceful that this car was released into the UK market knowing it’s got a serious flaw, we had it happen whilst overtaking a lorry, and halfway past, the power disappeared, it was very dangerous. If you are considering one of these cars, be very thorough in your research, some seem fine, but plenty are dangerous in thier current state.

Any lights come on? Orange ones did on mine. Battery was low and car couldn't get any drive just revs. ZAA man noted an EML light too.

 

[tractor boy]

Ok , update , keeping this short , technicians said the update they had been given ,( no number provided , didn’t know) that fixed their demo car , was already on mine and they were then referring to MG (again) to see if they can find another magic fix . Long story short, we have rejected the car , and the dealer agrees . Within our 30 days . Judging by many responses with regards this subject , and the fact the dealer had not had any others returned to them with the power loss issue , suggests it’s very random if you get one !!! Enough was enough . Sorry I couldn’t bring better news , but if your thinking of getting one of these , think twice !!!

 

[Jockster]

I am sorry to hear that. There seems to be no other car for the money that provides what this one does. I posted a link from Australia that highlights the same issues and a fix is coming. Would love to know what you are going for. Bizarrely I had a great run on mine today but it was warmer it still growls when battery low but recharging it much faster now that I have run it in past 2 ,100 mls.
Good luck.

 

[Jockster]

Ok , update , keeping this short , technicians said the update they had been given ,( no number provided , didn’t know) that fixed their demo car , was already on mine and they were then referring to MG (again) to see if they can find another magic fix . Long story short, we have rejected the car , and the dealer agrees . Within our 30 days . Judging by many responses with regards this subject , and the fact the dealer had not had any others returned to them with the power loss issue , suggests it’s very random if you get one !!! Enough was enough . Sorry I couldn’t bring better news , but if your thinking of getting one of these , think twice !!!

Who is the dealer may I ask mine are just saying its a characteristic of the car.

 

[Robert1957]

Ok , update , keeping this short , technicians said the update they had been given ,( no number provided , didn’t know) that fixed their demo car , was already on mine and they were then referring to MG (again) to see if they can find another magic fix . Long story short, we have rejected the car , and the dealer agrees . Within our 30 days . Judging by many responses with regards this subject , and the fact the dealer had not had any others returned to them with the power loss issue , suggests it’s very random if you get one !!! Enough was enough . Sorry I couldn’t bring better news , but if your thinking of getting one of these , think twice !!!

Shame and not good news. I got my car back today with no known fix yet. I've asked for an email to confirm what is happening, what was installed and copies of the software update sheet which they have said they will do. Still seems like a faulty software install to me but who knows??

 

[mickel]

Who is the dealer may I ask mine are just saying its a characteristic of the car.

Characteristic of the car or characteristic of hybrid cars in general? Because I test drove Toyota Yaris Cross and Hyundai Kona Hybrids and didn’t experience high revs like I did in the MG. The Kona was smoother than the Yaris Cross. In Eco mode the Kona would rev to about 2.5 and then change gear. If I floored the pedal it might rev to 3 or 3.5 but it would instantly drop back to 2. Even going up hill it wouldn’t rev past 2.5. If I put in sport mode, the revs would immediately increase and it would hold higher revs for longer before dropping back down to around 2.
It’s normal for a car to rev to 3.5 even 4 when accelerating but it should drop back down very quickly. Even in sport mode doing 80mph it was sitting at 2.5. It’s just being immensely dishonest if your dealer is saying high revs (as in holding on to high revs) is characteristic of the car as if it’s normal. Watch some POV hybrid cars videos on YouTube because you can see what the revs are doing and how often the cars drop into electric mode. SDA Dan cars does videos of Kona and MG and other hybrids.
Like I’ve said…it’s normal for automatic hybrid systems to sometimes hit high revs …,even 5000rpm. They can get confused even with sophisticated systems. But it should be short lived and drop back down very quickly. (A couple of seconds) If it’s holding on to higher revs….. something is very wrong.
If you watch SDA Dans “New Hyundai Kona Hybrid 2024 Fuel Consumption Test” video…. You get to see how the hybrid engine should work. Never really revs past 2 / 2.5. Drops into electric mode often and can be seen even dropping into electric mode above 100kph. Even at high speeds a good hybrid should be able to drop into electric mode if you have a light foot. I believe the MG when working correctly can do all this…. If yours isn’t …. take it back!!!
Oh and just want to add… if you watch SDA Dans consumption test of MG ZS hybrid…. do notice it’s very heavy traffic and very cold on that day. So a bit harsh for the MG. Getting that consumption under those conditions isn’t to bad. Very cold day.

Update … So I watched some SDA Dan pov videos of both MG Hybrid and Kona. I would say the MG has a slightly higher rev characteristic in eco mode but only slightly. It seems like the MG might hold on to revs longer when you’ve accelerated but nothing horrendous. The MG happily goes up hills without high revs. There are a few pov videos he does for both cars. The MG doesn’t do anything in this videos that seems out the ordinary. Maybe one point where he’s accelerating hard and it revs to 4 or 5 but think it drops back fairly quick.
I’d watch these videos… because it will give you a good indication of how the car should rev and how often it should drop into electric mode. If your car is behaving radically different (like some people seem to be experiencing)… then there’s definitely an issue. Software or hardware…. I have no idea. But you can definitely see that the MG is capable of driving without high revs. So it seems the fault is only on some cars. Just hope it’s a software issue that can be easily resolved.

 

[Robert1957]

Characteristic of the car or characteristic of hybrid cars in general? Because I test drove Toyota Yaris Cross and Hyundai Kona Hybrids and didn’t experience high revs like I did in the MG. The Kona was smoother than the Yaris Cross. In Eco mode the Kona would rev to about 2.5 and then change gear. If I floored the pedal it might rev to 3 or 3.5 but it would instantly drop back to 2. Even going up hill it wouldn’t rev past 2.5. If I put in sport mode, the revs would immediately increase and it would hold higher revs for longer before dropping back down to around 2.
It’s normal for a car to rev to 3.5 even 4 when accelerating but it should drop back down very quickly. Even in sport mode doing 80mph it was sitting at 2.5. It’s just being immensely dishonest if your dealer is saying high revs (as in holding on to high revs) is characteristic of the car as if it’s normal. Watch some POV hybrid cars videos on YouTube because you can see what the revs are doing and how often the cars drop into electric mode. SDA Dan cars does videos of Kona and MG and other hybrids.
Like I’ve said…it’s normal for automatic hybrid systems to sometimes hit high revs …,even 5000rpm. They can get confused even with sophisticated systems. But it should be short lived and drop back down very quickly. (A couple of seconds) If it’s holding on to higher revs….. something is very wrong.
If you watch SDA Dans “New Hyundai Kona Hybrid 2024 Fuel Consumption Test” video…. You get to see how the hybrid engine should work. Never really revs past 2 / 2.5. Drops into electric mode often and can be seen even dropping into electric mode above 100kph. Even at high speeds a good hybrid should be able to drop into electric mode if you have a light foot. I believe the MG when working correctly can do all this…. If yours isn’t …. take it back!!!
Oh and just want to add… if you watch SDA Dans consumption test of MG ZS hybrid…. do notice it’s very heavy traffic and very cold on that day. So a bit harsh for the MG. Getting that consumption under those conditions isn’t to bad. Very cold day.

Update … So I watched some SDA Dan pov videos of both MG Hybrid and Kona. I would say the MG has a slightly higher rev characteristic in eco mode but only slightly. It seems like the MG might hold on to revs longer when you’ve accelerated but nothing horrendous. The MG happily goes up hills without high revs. There are a few pov videos he does for both cars. The MG doesn’t do anything in this videos that seems out the ordinary. Maybe one point where he’s accelerating hard and it revs to 4 or 5 but think it drops back fairly quick.
I’d watch these videos… because it will give you a good indication of how the car should rev and how often it should drop into electric mode. If your car is behaving radically different (like some people seem to be experiencing)… then there’s definitely an issue. Software or hardware…. I have no idea. But you can definitely see that the MG is capable of driving without high revs. So it seems the fault is only on some cars. Just hope it’s a software issue that can be easily resolved.

Interesting MG video. My car revs much higher and is much louder than the car in the video. I will try and focus on the battery level more, but mine rarely gets above 60%. I just sat in the car with the engine running for 10 minutes but with 2 bars remaining to fill it goes into EV mode so i'll have to see if it gets higher on a run with level 3 regen. If the battery is not charging and holding charge that could explain alot??

 

[Jockster]

It's different in that other Hybrids don't allow the battery to get that low.