[Paul Babooshka]

Hi all, after reading a few threads I decided to ask again and I have to apologise in advance as I realise that this issue must be common to these cars and was discussed here many times.

A few notes: I live in Thailand so the temperatures here are extreme as compared to Europe and England. Worst case scenario is 25 celsius at 5 AM. The problem occurs only on really hot days, while on cool ones (about 30 and lower) it doesn't or is not as frequent.

The problem is: as soon as the engine gets hot it starts to stutter as if was an ignition misfire or a fuel supply problem. It happens only within 2000 - 3000 RPM range. If I push the engine above 3000 it works okay but that is not the range of RPM the car wants to work normally. It never stalls though, I can always get from A to B.

Once I saw the check engine yellow light blinking on my dash which went out quickly.

Engine starts normally.

Please direct me what issue should I address and what to tell my dealer to do (imagine the translation problems as I am not a native English speaker and most of the technicians here speak only basic English).

Thank you in advance and my apologies again for bothering the community with silly questions.

 

[garlum]

Hi. Is the ZS still under warranty? If so the service centre should be able to check the fault codes to see what is stored there.

Out of interest, which fuel do you use? I'm just wondering if the service centre doesn't find a fault and you're using E85, perhaps try Gasohol 95 for a bit to see if there's any difference.

We're in Bangkok and run our GS and ZS on Gasohol 95 and haven't had any issues like this.

Good luck finding the problem.

 

[Paul Babooshka]

Hi. Is the ZS still under warranty? If so the service centre should be able to check the fault codes to see what is stored there.

Out of interest, which fuel do you use? I'm just wondering if the service centre doesn't find a fault and you're using E85, perhaps try Gasohol 95 for a bit to see if there's any difference.

We're in Bangkok and run our GS and ZS on Gasohol 95 and haven't had any issues like this.

Good luck finding the problem.

Thank you for the comment, mate.
I still can't figure out how/when does this problem occur, however apparently it does not depend on fuel. This morning I drove from Ao Nang to Phuket (170 km) and it began after 70 - 80 km. I had 95 in my tank. Then when the fuel indicator light was already flashing I have refuelled with E-20, restarted the engine and the problem temporarily disappeared. I never noticed any relation here.

I remember the same problem occurred a couple of years ago, but at that time I had a Thai GF who was into cars and she drove my vehicle to the dealer for maintenance and the problem was solved... however neither her, nor the mechanic could not explain to me what they did and the invoice did not mention any spare parts, so it is safe to assume that they simply did some re-set to the ECU or other unit (are there any other computers?) or updated it.

Then I was absent during Covid and returned in 2021. The car was Ok until the moment the battery died. The car stayed without battery for a couple of days and the problem reoccured when I first started the engine with new battery.

 

[garlum]

It could be a bad sensor, but it needs some attention by someone with the right tools to diagnose the problem, otherwise it's a bit of a guessing game.

The service centre may have someone or know someone who can help with any language barrier. MG have English speakers on their helpline, though you may need to request via a callback.