Power steering play!

[T Bryan]

(3 years old) We noticed that the steering had about 2-3 inches of play on it. At the same time a clunking noise started coming from the front off side. Booked in dealership as under warranty took over a month to get it in. Stopped using car as didn’t feel safe. Anyone had a similar problem? Car in on Thursday 1 February. I will let you know the outcome

 

[Alb]

Did you check the steering column?

 

[T Bryan]

Did you check the steering column?

Not sure how to be honest

 

[Tim Green]

Very wise not to use the car until its sorted.
There is quite a history of steering column problems with many being replaced.
Issue seems to be the universal joints which can show excessive wear, and even disintegrate on some occasions.

 

[profdraper]

Sure, that's a well publicised known problem & was especially apparent in the gen 1 ZS EV (which I owned for a bit, then traded up to a gen 2 where the problem never appeared). A problem with the Bosch steering column, but when I took my gen 1 to the service centre, rather than replacing the whole thing, they simply opened it up and adjusted. Was 100% fine & the problem never returned.

 

[Tim Green]

Well T Bryan seems to, especially have a gen1 and the problem can be serious and should not be minimized. We have all seen pictures of totally destroyed universal joints.

 

[T Bryan]

Thank you all for your insight into this issue. I will let you know how the it’s resolved

Hi All, the car just failed it first MOT l. It is now with MG Tunbridge Wells to fix. I will of course let you know the outcome

 

[Lovemyev]

I am opting for lower steering column universal joint failure myself.
Please keep us informed ?.

 

[Tim Green]

This should be a wake-up call to MG and any owner with the same issue. Any failure of a first MOT is bad news, first I have heard of for a long time.

 

[T Bryan]

Universal Joint lower. Well done lovemyev ? no parts in stock so should be done by Wednesday! 3 of the tail lights to be replaced due to water ingress. I did not expect this from a 3 year old car ?

 

[craig1512]

Glad I found this thread. I’m having the same issue with my ZS EV (December 22 build) I noticed the occasional “knock” in the steering column and found the steering column had about 5mm to 10mm play up and down. the steering column height lever is secure but the “knocking” is still occurring and more often. Appears something has come loose in the steering system, which is a major safety concern. I’m located in Australia and would be keen to hear from other Australian owners on here as I think this should trigger a safety recall from the ACCC. I will book my MG in at a service center and get this looked into and hopefully fixed. But again I am concerned for other MG owners here in Australia that maybe experiencing this issue and not reporting it or getting it fixed and the issue leading to a major steering failure causing an accident with serious injury or death. Shocking that MG just turn a blind eye to this issue and do nothing to alert owners and arrange a free repair.

 

[T Bryan]

I looked and asked about a recall at the dealer and they said there was no recall and did not comment when I said it seems a common fault. I also check our UK Government web site and there are no outstanding recalls for my car.

 

[Tim Green]

It seems there are many cars that are 100% ok, but nonetheless a steady stream of faulty ones. Maybe there are not enough of the latter to trigger a recall? However it must be a significant safety risk so is there a moderator on the forum who could raise it with MG?

 

[Coulomb]

is there a moderator on the forum who could raise it with MG?

That's beyond our pay grade. Besides, we have no particular pull with MG.

 

[Tim Green]

Ok, I will talk to Waylands, our local agent and see whether that gets anywhere.

 

[Lovemyev]

I’m located in Australia and would be keen to hear from other Australian owners on here as I think this should trigger a safety recall from the ACCC.

Have you seen this video from a fellow Australian ??.
He is driving a Gen1 but the Bosch steering system is the same on the Gen2 facelift model I believe.
This is likely why the problem has migrated across to the facelift version ?.
The facelift is more our less the same car in many respects.
I have heard that reports that some ICE versions have the same issue.
If so, the problem is a long established one.
The first deliveries of ZS EV’s to customers started in late 2019 in the U.K. and some customers were starting to notice an issue sometime in 2020.
So, I guess by now dealers are, or should be pretty conversant with the problem and also how to fix it by now.
Historically the problem usually presents itself in two ways usually, according to reports from other owners on the forum.
Either the more serious problem of the complete premature failure of the lower steering column UJ joint failure ( like shown in the video below ) or secondly, the less serious issue of the clicking / knocking noise being heard in the upper section of the steering column.
The in case of the UJ joint, customers appear to first complain of a feeling of vagueness at the steering wheel while trying to travel in a straight line along the road.
Also having to make more regular corrections of the steering wheel, in order to keep the car in the right position in their own lane.
If any play is found to evident in UJ then of course it will be is straight replacement of the whole assembly.
In the second case, customers complain of a clicking / ticking noise from the upper head section of the steering column.
This has been rectified on some cars by simply check tightening all of the steering column fastener bolts and together with the pinch bolt on the manual steering wheel adjustment clamp.
Some owners have even carried out this process themselves.
If this does not resolve the problem, or it problem returns, then the final course of action is to replace the whole steering column assembly.
Of course, it is extremely important to have the car checked to determine which ( if any) of the faults you think you may have.
Why these items are prematurely failing is a question that has been asked on numerous occasions and nobody appears unable or unwilling, or unable to provide a suitable answer unfortunately.

 

[Lovemyev]

Universal Joint lower. Well done lovemyev ? no parts in stock so should be done by Wednesday! 3 of the tail lights to be replaced due to water ingress. I did not expect this from a 3 year old car ?

You are very welcome ?.
An all too common event on some customers cars unfortunately.
This is the more serious failure points, when the UJ fails.
Glad you were able to pick up the issue early.
Premature failure of these components is not the norm and just replacing them is not getting to the bottom of the real problem really.
MG know they have an issue, given the number of warranty claims they are processing, but just carry on regardless !.

 

[craig1512]

Thank you @Lovemyev, that video was very interesting and informative. I have my MG ZS EV booked in on Thursday 8 February at Penrith MG to have the issue fixed. I will provide service with a link to this forum and the video. Will be interesting to see if they take this into consideration when looking into the issue. Surely given this UV appears to be a known problem they will have parts in stock and know how to fix it. Will report back here after Thursday. I am now certain this issue should be subject to a recall here in Australia and will look into how to trigger a recall with our regulators.

 

[T Bryan]

All done a back home:-

 

[Tim Green]

An interesting if somewhat lengthy video! Going back months, or even years, there was some interesting discussion about what has caused the u/j failures. As there is no real load on them, there must be something causing premature failure and ideally MG should be upfront about it. The mode of operation of the u/j's looks ok, although it is possible that when being installed there could be stress up and down the shaft caused by maladjustment of the various location points of the steering wheel location and/or the power steering module. This needs investigating as it is such a serious problem.