MG4 Air Conditioning (potential) problem?

[DannySB1]

Hello all,

After scouring the forum and the web to try and see if anyone had encountered a similar issue to me I couldn't find anything, so decided to sign up and post on here.

I have a 23 plate MG4 Trophy, I've had it about 2 months now and absolutely love the car. However I've encountered a rather strange issue with the air conditioning/centre vents on the vehicle.

When I picked up the car, I noticed that not much cooling air was coming from the centre vents regardless of setting, and because I was new to the car I (perhaps stupidly) just thought that was normal. However around 3 weeks ago one warm day I popped the air con on and was suddenly met with a lovely flow of cool air from the centre vents. I hadn't realised that this was an issue before, but was glad that they were now working.

Fast forward to this week and when I've needed them most, it seems the centre vents have reverted back to being troublesome. No matter which air conditioning setting I switch to, Eco or not, different temperatures and fan speeds, the centre vents refuse to blow any air. In fact - I've noticed that the "face" setting, actually demists the windscreen and side windows. The feet/leg setting seems to work just fine. But the face setting which utilises the cars centre vents does not.

I've tried all sorts of things to get them going again, even double checking that the vents are indeed open (I hadn't even realised you could slide them shut) but to no avail. So I thought I'd ask for any potential advice or ideas on here before going to MG.

Has anyone else encountered this problem before on the MG4?

 

[Robf]

Do check you have not closed them by pushing the adjustment lever too far to one side?

Do check you have not closed them by pushing the adjustment lever too far to one side?

Oops sorry, I see you are aware of that

 

[DannySB1]

Do check you have not closed them by pushing the adjustment lever too far to one side?

Definitely not closed, like I mentioned I hadn't even realised you could slide them shut until I checked it earlier today. But both centre vents are open.

Oops sorry, I see you are aware of that

No worries I saw another thread online where this caught someone out so definitely checked.

 

[Martinonline]

Have you set the centre vents to on in the AC page? Have you tried switching off the other 2 locations (screen & feet) with the centre vents on to see if you get anything? Have you tried AC from the app, that puts the system into auto which can change the location settings?

 

[CharlieT]

I just got into my car (it’s 28 degrees outside) and although all the fans are blowing, the system’s in ‘Auto’ and the A/C is on, it’s just warm (presumably outside) air coming in. I tried turning the A/C off and on again, and selected the temperature as ‘Lo’, but to no avail. I had to drive with the windows all fully open to avoid drowning in my own sweat! My wife has said a couple of times in the past that the A/C didn’t seem to be working, but I’ve never noticed any issues before. The car’s only a year old so surely it shouldn’t need re-gassing?

Any similar experiences from anyone?

Update:
I just got back in the car one hour later, and the A/C was suddenly working perfectly! It’s utterly bizarre. The only difference I can think of is that the first time I had remotely turned the HVAC on before getting in the car. The second time I hadn’t. I don’t see how this would make a difference, but who knows? Either way, something isn’t right…

 

[andyvee]

What happens if you just use the system as designed, as a climate control system that you just leave set to Auto for everything and only adjust the temperature?

 

[DrPlokta]

I just got into my car (it’s 28 degrees outside) and although all the fans are blowing, the system’s in ‘Auto’ and the A/C is on, it’s just warm (presumably outside) air coming in. I tried turning the A/C off and on again, and selected the temperature as ‘Lo’, but to no avail. I had to drive with the windows all fully open to avoid drowning in my own sweat! My wife has said a couple of times in the past that the A/C didn’t seem to be working, but I’ve never noticed any issues before. The car’s only a year old so surely it shouldn’t need re-gassing?

Any similar experiences from anyone?

If you have energy-saving mode enabled, or if you’re in Eco mode, the A/C will be less effective in order to save power.

 

[Burgo]

Over here, we've got the heat pump version for a/c and that does take a minute or two to start blowing cold air. "Auto" setting and cooling does seem to favour the center vents when cooling the interior, rather than the windscreen outlets (which our Toyota favoured on the principle that cold air sinks).

I'd rather have it blown up high to sink down rather than in my face as it bugs my contact lenses. The Memsahib, though, would rather have it blown on her feet.
You just can't win!

 

[CharlieT]

If you have energy-saving mode enabled, or if you’re in Eco mode, the A/C will be less effective in order to save power.

Neither energy saving nor eco mode were on. The air didn't get cool the whole (15 minute) journey.

 

[nanomad]

I just got into my car (it’s 28 degrees outside) and although all the fans are blowing, the system’s in ‘Auto’ and the A/C is on, it’s just warm (presumably outside) air coming in. I tried turning the A/C off and on again, and selected the temperature as ‘Lo’, but to no avail. I had to drive with the windows all fully open to avoid drowning in my own sweat! My wife has said a couple of times in the past that the A/C didn’t seem to be working, but I’ve never noticed any issues before. The car’s only a year old so surely it shouldn’t need re-gassing?

Any similar experiences from anyone?

Update:
I just got back in the car one hour later, and the A/C was suddenly working perfectly! It’s utterly bizarre. The only difference I can think of is that the first time I had remotely turned the HVAC on before getting in the car. The second time I hadn’t. I don’t see how this would make a difference, but who knows? Either way, something isn’t right…

The same issue has been subject of a mandatory service action in Italy, you should probably bring it to the service center and let them check it out. Most of the cars are now behaving normally after the update although some are still experiencing the same issue (maybe one of the temp probes has gone bad for them)

 

[CharlieT]

The same issue has been subject of a mandatory service action in Italy, you should probably bring it to the service center and let them check it out. Most of the cars are now behaving normally after the update although some are still experiencing the same issue (maybe one of the temp probes has gone bad for them)

That’s very helpful, thanks nanomad. I’ll send an email to MG UK to see what they say. ??

 

[DannySB1]

Hi everyone,

Update on this to for any who care - the same day I started this thread, in the afternoon I tried again with the A/C settings, I pressed the screen on the central vents (which I had tried before to no avail) however this time there was quite an audible "bang" from the dashboard and the central vents kicked in again and are now working fine.

So positive is all seems well with the vents and air con again for now, the concerning part was this "bang". Something I'll keep an eye on..

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

 

[LenUlv]

I just got into my car (it’s 28 degrees outside) and although all the fans are blowing, the system’s in ‘Auto’ and the A/C is on, it’s just warm (presumably outside) air coming in. I tried turning the A/C off and on again, and selected the temperature as ‘Lo’, but to no avail. I had to drive with the windows all fully open to avoid drowning in my own sweat! My wife has said a couple of times in the past that the A/C didn’t seem to be working, but I’ve never noticed any issues before. The car’s only a year old so surely it shouldn’t need re-gassing?

Any similar experiences from anyone?

Update:
I just got back in the car one hour later, and the A/C was suddenly working perfectly! It’s utterly bizarre. The only difference I can think of is that the first time I had remotely turned the HVAC on before getting in the car. The second time I hadn’t. I don’t see how this would make a difference, but who knows? Either way, something isn’t right…

Hi,
I have had the same problems with my trophy. 4 times during the year we have had it, the A/C stopped working. Three out of four was directly following fast charging. The A/C really did not work since you could not hear the squeaking noise. Locking the car, starting the A/C from the app, changing the temp and leaving it on for the 10 minutes have restored it for me.

 

[Kithmo]

ISTR reading somewhere that the models with a heat pump require AC to be on to work.
It was said that a heat pump is basically AC working in reverse.

 

[ChrisDCB]

Me too. Here in Portugal we need a/c. I have had the MG4 about three weeks and on a couple of occasions the a/c has decided to not work. Cure seems to be turn it off, walk away, and then try again.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

As noted on other threads, the battery cooling system shares the A/C pump with the cars interior. When both are required at the same time the automatic battery system will take precedence over the interior and shut it down or reduce its effect until the battery has reached a lower temperature.

 

[Rolfe]

Ah. That will be why I've never run into this issue. Not hot enough.

 

[CharlieT]

As noted on other threads, the battery cooling system shares the A/C pump with the cars interior. When both are required at the same time the automatic battery system will take precedence over the interior and shut it down or reduce its effect until the battery has reached a lower temperature.

Interesting. Thanks for that info. Seems like a pretty ludicrous design. I had to drive over an hour to work a few weeks ago with no A/C and it was nearly 30 degrees outside (I’m in the south east of England). It’s yet another thing that MG needs to sort asap, but they won’t. They’ll probably just bury their heads in the sand and pretend it’s not happening!

 

[YaR]

You could get the AC gas levels checked? At my service they regassed it was they reckoned it was low when done at the factory. I'd complained it seemed excessively noisy, it still worked though.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Interesting. Thanks for that info. Seems like a pretty ludicrous design. I had to drive over an hour to work a few weeks ago with no A/C and it was nearly 30 degrees outside (I’m in the south east of England). It’s yet another thing that MG needs to sort asap, but they won’t. They’ll probably just bury their heads in the sand and pretend it’s not happening!

I've just re-read my reply, I should have course started it, Its one of a multitude of reasons why the A/C has shut down.........