MG4 Reduction Gearbox Oil Leak

[Deleted member 10041]

I think that's a stretch, there's poor service then just telling lies.

 

[Cocijo]

Yes, good point.

 

[Davemac278]

Yes, I agree. I am due to collect the car next Saturday, but I am still undecided what to do. I would feel more comfortable/confident if the dealer was proactive rather than spouting BS!!

I picked up mine this week. Happy with car with all updates done. Just disappointed that dealer lied about my car being checked at PDI and told that car had the new factory fitted breather. I drove it home 40 miles at 60-70mph and found oil leak when I got home.

Phoned salesman who changed the story to say the technician had checked it at PDI and said it was bone dry so guaranteed my car would not leak.

I have formally emailed dealer to say that if new breather doesn't stop the leak that I would reject the car.

The dealer has confirmed in writing to me that MG have confirmed that I can continue to drive my car until it gets booked in to have the new breather fitted.

Happy to give deaker a chance to resolve. I got a good trade in on my mk1 ZS EV which is 4k more than Cazoo are offering as 2nd hand mg prices have dramatically reduced in last 4 weeks.

 

[Alb]

they were overfilled slightly from factory which caused the oil to come out of the excess drain.

Better to say nothing at all than spout such rubbish

 

[Ayoull]

I sent the spreadsheet of known issues to my dealer. He declared the only issues he is aware of are the oil leak and the locking issue. Below are his responses to each:

The oil leak I believe was on the first initial batch of MG4’s as they were overfilled slightly from factory which caused the oil to come out of the excess drain. This was rectified from the factory and should not be an issue anymore.

Regarding the car locking itself, it actually happened to myself but all it was, was the car hadn’t had it’s PDI. I haven’t heard of it happening to people after purchasing but as you have stated it seems like MG have released a software update so all should be taken care of.

I am due to speak to him again tomorrow…let’s see what happens.

I know this section relates to the oil leak issue, but I thought I should include the locking issue also.

Check for an undertray, and if there check for the bulge(s) ??

 

[Davemac278]

Yes, I agree. I am due to collect the car next Saturday, but I am still undecided what to do. I would feel more comfortable/confident if the dealer was proactive rather than spouting BS!!

I picked up mine this week. Manufacture date Sep22. Arrived in UK 17th Nov22.

Happy with car with all updates done. Just disappointed that dealer lied about my car being checked at PDI and told that car had the new factory fitted breather. I drove it home 40 miles at 60-70mph and found oil leak when I got home.

Phoned salesman who changed the story to say the technician had checked it at PDI and said it was bone dry so guaranteed my car would not leak.

I have formally emailed dealer to say that if new breather doesn't stop the leak that I would reject the car.

The dealer has confirmed in writing to me that MG have confirmed that I can continue to drive my car until it gets booked in to have the new breather fitted.

Happy to give deaker a chance to resolve. I got a good trade in on my mk1 ZS EVcar which is 4k more than Cazoo are offering as 2nd hand mg prices have dramatically reduced in last 4 weeks.

 

[Javi70]

In Spain we have the same oil loss problem, some say that it is because it has more oil than it should, others that it is a design defect, in short, that apparently there is already a part that solves it, what nobody knows is If while the part is being installed you can drive the car or not, because it could be damaged. In the United Kingdom, which MG UK has said, can you drive with oil leaking without a problem or can you not drive?

 

[Deleted member 10041]

These instances of dealers telling blatant lies are a disgrace.

Had a thought with regards the oil leak,

how fast/much do we think is leaking out?

It obviously manifests its self when driving then continues to drip from the tray when stationary on the drive.

I'm just curious because there is not a lot of oil in there to begin with (900mls)

Has anyone got to the stage where they had the leak and it stopped prior to taking it in to get the new breather fitted.?

Basically what I'm getting at is how much does it have to lose for it to stop/if it stops?

And how much of the 900mls (that the manual says should be in there) would it need to drop to before it could potentially be detrimental to the gear box?

In Spain we have the same oil loss problem, some say that it is because it has more oil than it should, others that it is a design defect, in short, that apparently there is already a part that solves it, what nobody knows is If while the part is being installed you can drive the car or not, because it could be damaged. In the United Kingdom, which MG UK has said, can you drive with oil leaking without a problem or can you not drive?

They say it's safe to drive but I've just asked a question in relation to that.
It's definitely a design defect!

 

[siteguru]

In Spain we have the same oil loss problem, some say that it is because it has more oil than it should, others that it is a design defect, in short, that apparently there is already a part that solves it, what nobody knows is If while the part is being installed you can drive the car or not, because it could be damaged. In the United Kingdom, which MG UK has said, can you drive with oil leaking without a problem or can you not drive?

Different stories have been said ... mine has the leak and I am continuing to use it. The dealer is fully-aware of this fact, and that any further issues due to this are covered by the warranty.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

Different stories have been said ... mine has the leak and I am continuing to use it. The dealer is fully-aware of this fact, and that any further issues due to this are covered by the warranty.

Guru how long has yours been leaking now, see my post above, and is it still leaking?

 

[Spaniard]

It is a crime to leak oil to the environment in an uncontrolled way.

If MG Dealers recomend to keep driving a green car in such contaminating conditions, the Environment Agency should be noticed. Manufacturers have a expanded responsability as they should not sell items prone to generate uncontrolled contamination.

I plan to have some fun in Twitter with this if the dealer had not fitted the breather by the time I collect the car.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

It is a crime to leak oil to the environment in an uncontrolled way.

If MG Dealers recomend to keep driving a green car in such contaminating conditions, the Environment Agency should be noticed. Manufacturers have a expanded responsability as they should not sell items prone to generate uncontrolled contamination.

I plan to have some fun in Twitter with this if the dealer had not fitted the breather by the time I collect the car.

MG wont care one bit

 

[siteguru]

Guru how long has yours been leaking now, see my post above, and is it still leaking?

I can't remember when I reported it ... probably about 4 weeks ago and the dealer has been waiting for the part to arrive from MG. (And then we've had the holidays ... I'll chase them again later this week).

I've not looked to see if it is still leaking ... when I looked a couple of weeks ago I could still see oil streaks on the undertray, but I've no idea if that was new oil or just the original wind blasted.

 

[WalkingBootWeather]

It is a crime to leak oil to the environment in an uncontrolled way.

Sadly I suspect it would be the driver that was adjudged to be committing the crime rather than the manufacturer for the flawed design.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

I can't remember when I reported it ... probably about 4 weeks ago and the dealer has been waiting for the part to arrive from MG. (And then we've had the holidays ... I'll chase them again later this week).

I've not looked to see if it is still leaking ... when I looked a couple of weeks ago I could still see oil streaks on the undertray, but I've no idea if that was new oil or just the original wind blasted.

I wonder how much of the 900mls has been lost

 

[siteguru]

I wonder how much of the 900mls has been lost

I'll try to remember to ask them to measure how much comes out when they drain and refill during fitting of the new breather.

(I think they'd done the drain and reduced fill on mine during PDI, so maybe there was only 750ml to begin with).

 

[Deleted member 10041]

Hopefully they do drain it and not just chuck extra in

 

[siteguru]

They'll have to else how will they know how much will be in?

 

[Deleted member 10041]

Now there's a question, you will be entirely relying on the honesty of a dealer service department

 

[AndyL61]

The leak is caused by the large crown gear throwing oil directly at the breather to such an extent that it leaks out of the breather. In theory reducing the amount of oil may reduce the amount that leaks out , but the reality is that if the crown gear is still sitting in oil then it will throw this oil into the breather because the breather is in direct line of the oil throw. So there would have to be very little oil left in for the leaking to stop completely. If the level got that low then the gears would not have enough lubrication as there would not be enough oil throw to lubricate everywhere. I wouldn't be happy to do lots of miles in this situation. Hopefully no one will suffer gearbox problems. ?