First major issue with MG5 - bricked after failed charge. Any tips going forward?

[medichi]

On our second MG5 having been very happy with the previous one. Had a nightmare yesterday when driving to a wedding 2 hours from home. Plugged into a Gridserve for a quick charge (was sitting at 50% so nowhere near empty) and the charger came up "out of order". Disconnected and tried to move to the next bay but car would not move - dashboard lit up, both indicators flicked up, but then all shut down again. Left it a while, no better and had to bail out and go to the wedding leaving partner with the car. RAC eventually turned up but only a recovery vehicle so not even an attempt at diagnostics.

Car is at an MG garage today, but they won't even start to look at it until tomorrow - I'm hoping/assuming this has been the "failed charge" issue I can see on a few other threads, and a quick reboot will sort it (? software update) but now new anxiety about fast charging in the future (planning a long trip in the Summer).

I've seen a few mentions of the 10mm spanner "trick" but are there any videos or step by step of it? I'm not the most technical.

Also some mentions of Carscanner, Wifi devices and other tech to scan and erase erroneous error codes - are these useful for the MG5?

When was the last major softeware update and how do you check the version you are/should be running?

Apologies if this is all elsewhere, searches bring up references to all the above but not a 100% answer!

 

[maskull]

Don't know about videos of the trick , but it's just pop the bonnet ,take off the negative lead on the battery and leave for 5 or 10 minutes and reconnect . You'll get all sorts of warning messages pop up up will the car is booting up ( hopefully) but just ignore them ,normal service will resume when you start driving . The battery is accessible by poppping the cover over it ( no tools required ) and the negative pole is nearest to the front of the car

 

[Amun]

Don't know about videos of the trick , but it's just pop the bonnet ,take off the negative lead on the battery and leave for 5 or 10 minutes and reconnect . You'll get all sorts of warning messages pop up up will the car is booting up ( hopefully) but just ignore them ,normal service will resume when you start driving . The battery is accessible by poppping the cover over it ( no tools required ) and the negative pole is nearest to the front of the car

Is this the 10mm spanner procedure?

 

[maskull]

Yes . It worked for me after a similar failed charge ...twice

 

[medichi]

Don't know about videos of the trick , but it's just pop the bonnet ,take off the negative lead on the battery and leave for 5 or 10 minutes and reconnect . You'll get all sorts of warning messages pop up up will the car is booting up ( hopefully) but just ignore them ,normal service will resume when you start driving . The battery is accessible by poppping the cover over it ( no tools required ) and the negative pole is nearest to the front of the car

Thank you - will see what the garage says tomorrow hopefully, and will take a look under the hood for this if needed in the future (along with the manual disconnect function I've learned about elsewhere on this site.

 

[Gomev]

Thank you - will see what the garage says tomorrow hopefully, and will take a look under the hood for this if needed in the future (along with the manual disconnect function I've learned about elsewhere on this site.

We refer to it as the bonnet in this country.

 

[Alb]

You could ship the car out to the United States and have them look under the hood then bring it back again?

 

[5teep]

On our second MG5 having been very happy with the previous one. Had a nightmare yesterday when driving to a wedding 2 hours from home. Plugged into a Gridserve for a quick charge (was sitting at 50% so nowhere near empty) and the charger came up "out of order". Disconnected and tried to move to the next bay but car would not move - dashboard lit up, both indicators flicked up, but then all shut down again. Left it a while, no better and had to bail out and go to the wedding leaving partner with the car. RAC eventually turned up but only a recovery vehicle so not even an attempt at diagnostics.

Car is at an MG garage today, but they won't even start to look at it until tomorrow - I'm hoping/assuming this has been the "failed charge" issue I can see on a few other threads, and a quick reboot will sort it (? software update) but now new anxiety about fast charging in the future (planning a long trip in the Summer).

I've seen a few mentions of the 10mm spanner "trick" but are there any videos or step by step of it? I'm not the most technical.

Also some mentions of Carscanner, Wifi devices and other tech to scan and erase erroneous error codes - are these useful for the MG5?

When was the last major softeware update and how do you check the version you are/should be running?

Apologies if this is all elsewhere, searches bring up references to all the above but not a 100% answer!

This happened to me last summer, the car died with HV battery disconnect after a failed charge on an older charger. The 10mm spanner trick did not work but the AA guy was able to sort it just by clearing all faults via his obd tablet. It showed no faults but he said he'd had luck doing that before and it worked ok for mine too.

 

[dragon2611]

Is this the 10mm spanner procedure?

Yes the spanner is to loosen the nut securing the negative lead to the battery.

I carry a vde spanner which is a bit overkill

I also have an obd2 dongle but I haven’t had the error recently so haven’t been able to see if it’s possible to clear it with something like carscanner

 

[Amun]

My 10mm spanner arrives tomorrow ;-)

 

[Lovemyev]

I have a 10mm spanner ? placed in a plastic bag, which is then taped to the side of the 12 volt battery.
No searching around for it in the boot or in the glove box etc.
It’s where you would expect it to be really !.
You could fit a quick disconnect switch like other members have done, then you don’t even need a spanner ? !.
Looks a bit like this :-

HO2NLE Car Battery Isolator Switch Car Battery Kill Switch Battery Master Disconnect Switch Battery Quick Disconnect Switch Car Battery Switches 12V, 24V for Marine Boat Camper Auto Truck Vehicle Amazon product ASIN B08N4D5S6R

 

[smokie]

That looks quite a good idea @Lovemyev, I'd seen them before but wondered why you might need one.

They are even cheaper on eBay.

I might splash out on one.

 

[Lovemyev]

That looks quite a good idea @Lovemyev, I'd seen them before but wondered why you might need one.

They are even cheaper on eBay.

I might splash out on one.

Should you find yourself needing to carry out a full reset by disconnecting the negative terminal of the 12 volt battery, then it can be done quickly without the need of a 10mm spanner ?.
These are a similar / basic idea to the main battery disconnect switch you see on rally cars and competition cars.
They offer a fast way to disconnect / reconnect facility.

 

[Amun]

You could fit a quick disconnect switch....

TFT... I probably would if it became an issue.

 

[Jto]

When you get the car back I would do a few charges to get your confidence back that the car works as it should.

 

[Devonman john]

Happened to me twice both times on genie chargers. First time neither waiting or disconnecting battery worked and AA called. He managed eventually to clear the fault but by using old software. So not wanting to get stuck out for hours again I did invest in two things. First is simple battery disconnect switch cost £4 and took 2 mins to put on, so working on the fact that most software driven problems on anything are solved by turning everything on and off it can now be done in seconds even in the dark or a downpour. The second was a obd connector. The one I went for was a nexus. It was about £20 or so from smazon but seemed to get very high ratings. You can just plug it in to the port which is just by the drivers foot rest. To save being a contortionist when anxious after a breakdown I also bought an obd extension cable with an on off switch. So that plugs into the obd port and the nexus plugs into that and lives in that storage area where the usb bits are. The nexus seems to talk to every app that I tried out. Car scanner is completely free so stuck with that. So second time the duff charging thing happened I flicked the switch and turned the nexus on, changed the Bluetooth connection and ran car scanner. It Came up with an HV systems fault. Pressed clear fault and hey presto when I turned the car back on that lovely word 'ready' came up. The whole thing took only a few mins. What a relief and worth every penny I spent. There are much cheaper options of obd out there but I have no idea whether they work or not. There are also obd connecters with a built in switch but as I am getting on a bit I don't want to have to go rummaging around. Hope that helps

 

[Gomev]

Happened to me twice both times on genie chargers. First time neither waiting or disconnecting battery worked and AA called. He managed eventually to clear the fault but by using old software. So not wanting to get stuck out for hours again I did invest in two things. First is simple battery disconnect switch cost £4 and took 2 mins to put on, so working on the fact that most software driven problems on anything are solved by turning everything on and off it can now be done in seconds even in the dark or a downpour. The second was a obd connector. The one I went for was a nexus. It was about £20 or so from smazon but seemed to get very high ratings. You can just plug it in to the port which is just by the drivers foot rest. To save being a contortionist when anxious after a breakdown I also bought an obd extension cable with an on off switch. So that plugs into the obd port and the nexus plugs into that and lives in that storage area where the usb bits are. The nexus seems to talk to every app that I tried out. Car scanner is completely free so stuck with that. So second time the duff charging thing happened I flicked the switch and turned the nexus on, changed the Bluetooth connection and ran car scanner. It Came up with an HV systems fault. Pressed clear fault and hey presto when I turned the car back on that lovely word 'ready' came up. The whole thing took only a few mins. What a relief and worth every penny I spent. There are much cheaper options of obd out there but I have no idea whether they work or not. There are also obd connecters with a built in switch but as I am getting on a bit I don't want to have to go rummaging around. Hope that helps

Hi, do you have a link to these connectors and extensions please.
I have an OBD connector that used to work fine on my ZS EV but doesn't seem to want to know my pre-facelift 5.

 

[Devonman john]

https://amzn.eu/d/870WgsQ

Amazon product ASIN B07WSMN322
Hi. Hope these links work . Top one is the NEXAS {spelt correctly now) My 5 is a face lift but imagine that it would work on a pre as well. For peace of mind I think it's worth the investment.

Woops that's come out a tad weird. There are two links there just the first one does not have a picture type link. Also found that when I just tested them that the obd extension is out of stock. There are loads of these for sale on ebay as well. You can also get them with a split lead so you can connect to an obd hud as well if anyone is into that

 

[Robf]

I have a 10mm spanner ? placed in a plastic bag, which is then taped to the side of the 12 volt battery.
No searching around for it in the boot or in the glove box etc.
It’s where you would expect it to be really !.
You could fit a quick disconnect switch like other members have done, then you don’t even need a spanner ? !.
Looks a bit like this :-

HO2NLE Car Battery Isolator Switch Car Battery Kill Switch Battery Master Disconnect Switch Battery Quick Disconnect Switch Car Battery Switches 12V, 24V for Marine Boat Camper Auto Truck Vehicle Amazon product ASIN B08N4D5S6R

Just fitted to my ZS