[Climber]

Reposted from www.mgcars.org.uk Posted 21 February 2002 at 11:28:36 UK time

I have been regulary checking the oil on my ZS180 now and after 5,000 miles it has used about 2 litres. This seems to be normal by all accounts. The only thing I have noticed is that when you pull out the air filter there is a thin smear of oil on the bottom 2 mm or so Any ideas?

 

[RichardPhillips]

This happens in my ZS180 as well. I have cleaned the air filter box and await to see if it returns. Quite a lot of oil sits in the folds of the rubber hose that connects to the top of the box. I haven't had to put much in the way of oil at all into the engine so far (4500 miles covered), but it puzzles me that oil comes out of the air intake.

 

[Climber]

One other thing is that the oil seems quite clean compared to the sump oil?

 

[Dr Dave]

Hi all,

2 litres of oil used in 5000 miles is perfectly OK. In fact, motor manufacturers state that 1000 miles to a litre of oil is acceptable....

Oil in the air filter area seems 'normal' on KV6 engines....it was there on mine at 1200 miles. It's not detrimental to the car at all.

It's not a sign of anything wrong, either. The oil comes across from the engine breather system....probably made worse by driving the car hard. This was a problem with Sierra Cosworths, too.

 

[Climber]

Thanks Dave,

Once again congratulations on a quick response. I'm still waiting for Priests to call me back ???

 

[Dr Dave]

James - you're very patient

You deserve a medal=P

 

[Climber]

I've given up >=( nobody called me back yesterday, I shouldn't have to call and leave a message more than once. this is not the first time I have had no response. The only reason I'm sticking with Priests now is because they gave me a voucher for my first service free, when I purchased the car, but judging by the service I have got so far this may be worth nothing anyway :~(

 

[Graham]

Hi James.
You really didn't expect a reply to a perfectly reasonable question did you? After all they are still smarting from having to put your panel fit right (persistance pays!).
Regarding the oil consumption, 2 litres is quite high for 2000mls, I have had several cars of similar or higher performance (modern multi valve heads etc.) and none used anything like that ammount (and yes they are driven quite hard), it might be normal for MG Rover but it sounds more like the wrong type of oil was used from new (i.e. very slippery synthetic stuff) and it simply won't run in therefore increasing crankcase pressure to the point where it comes out either the exhaust or breather.... I will never know what was wrong with the old idea of filling with a reasonable (i.e. SH grade) oil and just changing the stuff after 1500mls for something more exotic, at least it would have helped the running in process (which of course the garages say isn't necessary anymore, oh please ). Get the garage to put into writing that nothing is wrong so if it lets go you have them by the short and curlies as it is not uncommon for the V6 to do just that, on the straw poll I took at work yesterday (9 ZS owners, 3 new engines, very disturbing!).

 

[Dr Dave]

What, you've got NINE ZS owners at work?

Hows that for concentration of owners eh??=P

 

[Climber]

Well I phoned Priests again this morning and I've booked it in for Monday 4 March as not only does the oil problem concern me, but the accelerator is sticking once again, despite Trident haveing said that they had stripped and re-connected it. Once again I will have to pay £15 to cover insurance costs on the courtacy car >=( I will make a point of asking them in writing to confirm the state of the engine. Dave, what in the way of tests should they be doing in order to confirm the engine is OK?

 

[Dr Dave]

Hi James

Throttle sticking again?? Has the throttle been adjusted previously?
One of 'my' 180's had this problem and it just turned out to be an over-tight cable. Fixed in 3 mins

The 180 has a fairly complex throttle mechanism, any misadjustment will cause the throttle to stick - with possibly dangerous results...

I wouldn't worry unduly about the oil on the air filter [unless it is phsically saturated]

Could you send on a pic of the oil contamination on the filter?

 

[Climber]

Dave
You may remember I had the throttle problem before and was able to fix it with help from your pics, it did seem the cable was too tight. However, when the car went for its diagnotic check over at Trident I left this on the list of problems for them to test. They came back on the report sheet saying that they had re-connected the cable and indeed all seemed fine for a short while. However following a couple of motorway trips and some more fun driving round some country lanes near me the throttle now sticks again when releasing usually around 3 1/2 to 4,000 rpm. It is a particular problem when cruising at about 90mph and when I lift off to slow down its almost like the engine is telling me that the power can't come off that quick.

I'll see if I can borrow the office camer again at lunchtime to take a pic of the filter.

 

[Dr Dave]

James,
From what you say, that sounds like exactly the same problem we had, made especially worse with a hot engine>=( >=(

From the pic of your air filter, I wouldn't worry too much about it.....I have seen much, much worse:red:

 

[Graham]

Hi Dave.
9 owners in our place isn't as good as it sounds as there are 22000 of us......The point was however that 3 of the 9 engines have let go.....That is simply appauling..

Regarding James and the sticking throttle, it might be wise to point out that it is the actual pedal that stays down and as such must be a bit concerning for him:~( As for the statement that the cable is a complicated affair is very worrying for something so important, good design dictates that cables should be as smooth a route as possible and any faults like this in the field normally result in a recall (that is the decent thing to do), in fact one of the blown engines at our work was the result of a sticking throttle I have just learnt, the chap paniced and dipped the clutch with obvious results and then with the engine singing its head off (almost literally) reengaged the clutch and then jumped on the brake pedal, the result I believe was a jumped cam belt and the rest is very downhill after that........We suggested to James that maybe sound insulation was getting under the pedal and holding it down but I assume the garage would have spotted that?? If it really is cable related I suggest someone tells MGR before someone comes a cropper. All these silly faults are really spoiling what should be a good car after all these parts have been used in other models for some time so the bugs really ought to have been ironed out. I do feel for James over all this.....

 

[Dr Dave]

Graham, were they all KV6 engines that had the problems?

Now I can see why you have the concentration of owners, given the 22000 employees!

 

[RichardPhillips]

Just as an update, I took my air filter box OFF the car and cleaned it. I've done over a thousand miles since then and no real sign of the oil returning so I don't know if this lessens over time. A friend suggested that some engines vent the sump into the intake which can sometimes lead to this effect, I don't know if that is the case here.

 

[Dr Dave]

Yep, this is exactly the case on the KV6 engine 8)

 

[Graham]

Hi Dave.
Yep they were all KV6 equipped ZS180's, they bought them to try and keep up with my V8...
The chap who had the sticking throttle is having a real battle getting the garage to honour the warrenty, apparently they blame him for deliberatly over-revving the engine>=( . With the sticking throttle apparently quite common that is really taking the p#!s>=
(
I would name the garage but legal proceedings have begun so its best not to...(wasn't Priests, James )

 

[Dr Dave]

What a terrible situation ???

 

[RichardPhillips]

Doesn't the engine management have some kind of rev limiter? If that's the case you can't over rev it....?