Ever regretted buying your ZS?

[Cruizer]

As much as I love my ZS to pieces, its probably the worst decision I've made in my life!

One thing after another goes wrong.


After having the problem with the big end bearings going on the forged lump, and not having enough to fix it, yet still needing a car, I opted for a standard lump.

Bolted everything in, charger back on, off it went. Ran perfectly.


Went to Ace Cafe yesterday, and on the way home it started misfiring. Then looking at the air/fuel ratio gauge, it kept running very rich.

Then I noticed the smoke from the exhaust. Lovely blue colour, and there's plenty of it!


I've literally ran out of effort now, so haven't looked what's up with it yet. I know there could be problems running a charger on a standard lump, but I thought it'd do more than 600 miles!

If its internal on the engine, then I've still got almost two weeks warranty left on the engine.

All suggestions welcome. Burn it being the top suggestion upto now haha!

Thanks
Nath

[Skillen]

Stick with it pal, I always admired the effort and the final product of the 200 when you had that and feel that the time and effort you've put in so far has been amazing, fully fixed and resprayed then a full engine swap.
I say let it sit, buy a £200 banger.
Fix the forged engine over a few months.
Do the research slowly in your own time to get it running spot on, properly mapped with proper timing and bigger injectors instead of a seventh.

It's a good car, just a lot of stuff hasn't gone its way lately.
Always sucks though.

[peterzs]

Agree with Skillen, car does look good.

Trouble is you dont know how much wear was on the std. engine, might have gone on for miles, but the shock of the supercharger might have upset it.

Would it be worth swapping the engine under warranty, but keeping it o/e. Then do the forged engine when you can??

[Dan1971]

In answer to your specific question - No.

However mine have all been standard and I've yet to be challenged with issues that you have - so I understand the sentiment.

Get a banger's a good call and put the zed on the back-burner for a while. Guy on .org's selling a monogram 120 for pennies and if you've got some more, another guy's got a very nice clio sport for £1500.

Saying that - got a good engine if you want one ..... ;)

[Smokey]

Never had any regrets. Yes they go wrong, sometimes at the worst possible moment in life, but cars do that...regardless of make!

[andys1981]

weve all had problems with our zeds mate,yours was pretty tuned,so its not worked out,maybe previous owner has knew something else,its a shame really mate,if i was you i buy dans engine and fit it,you will still have a great looking car,me personally wouldent sell it,its lovely,a know you will be gutted,but i would want to see it back on the road,but thats just me,sure dan would help,even if your struggling for pennies mate,hope you get it back on the road,this is my 4th mg,3 rd zs,1 zr,best of luck nathan

[Mark S]

properly mapped with proper timing and bigger injectors instead of a seventh.


Is it really on the (known to be trouble) 7th injector rather than aftermarket ecu?

[Skillen]

Is it really on the (known to be trouble) 7th injector rather than aftermarket ecu?

Dunno, lol, it's just what I've picked up from reading about the forums that the 7th is problematic, I im no expert at all ha.
Dunno if it's still piggybacked or a standalone ECU surely that could coause problems too?

[petet16]

I'm pretty sure the owner said it was using the 7th injector and ecu as supplied by Sprintex.

[ZRed]

My advice, fix it right first time mate. I appreciate this is a learning curve for you but learning curves are expensive and frustrating.

If you put it on the back burner for a while, buy something ****. If you buy something decent, you'll lose interest quickly. Been there :)

Best of luck.

[carmadbaker]

Yup severly regret starting my turbo zed, constant drain on money and time! I could of bought a decent Exige by now!!
however... i still bloody love the old girl! Take your time rebuilding the forged lump, get a megasquirt/omex/emerald/dta on there, some larger injectors and mapped properly... the difference in power and reliability will be well worth the money and time...... probably (i'll let you know ;) )

[Supercharged_Z]

take the oil filler cap of when its running, if its blowing then you probably done a piston. My failures were all day to day driving and not at silly high revs.

I would be surprised if the engine place would warrant a engine given you bolted a supercharger on it lol.

when you want to sell the car. my Money is here ;)

[p_b82]

I've never regretted buy the ZS - but I have on a number of occasions regretted some of the choices I have made with it over the years. (the worst being the hybrid turbo due to all the then follow-on problems)

I'd echo the advice from the people above.

I'd get a refund on the engine supplied if you can, or take the charger straight off and see if it runs any happier.

Build the engine you plan\want to that has been uprated while it is out and take your time over it rather than rush to get it done.

If your engine that was supplied is no good either find another one cheap, or get a banger with an MOT and run it for 6-12months while the ZS is sorted.

There is nothing like driving a PoS for a while to bring back the appreciation for a ZS!

[Cruizer]

I've done a compression test on my dinner break at work.

Compression test results (psi)

1 - 80
2 - 185
3 - 95
4 - 190
5 - 160
6 - 190

The place I bought the engine aren't aware of any supercharger. So hopefully I can get some form of refund.

It's been running brilliantly. Then on the way back from London, just went tits up.

[Supercharged_Z]

I would of put my pennys on it being 1 and 3 :) that's what always used to fail before she will be breathing. No doubt that's cracked ringlands. you may want to get your map checked out to make sure its all normal

[petet16]

All down on the front bank.

[Supercharged_Z]

All down on the front bank.

front left and middle. Every single failure has been on them two pistons. I believe its 7th injector related as the fuel cannot be evenly distributed as the injector fires before the charger then the fuel going through the charger and down the inlets.

[petet16]

I'd be looking at 6 uprated injectors and standalone management tbh, it may seem a big outlay of money but it's got to be cheaper than keeping on popping engines.

[Din]

Yes... After I found the amount of bloody rust on it... Hayho, I will have it fixed and get a couple of years out of it.

[Supercharged_Z]

I'd be looking at 6 uprated injectors and standalone management tbh, it may seem a big outlay of money but it's got to be cheaper than keeping on popping engines.

its the only way but its so costly

[petet16]

its the only way but its so costly

Yep, no doubt the reason Sprintex went with a 7th injector and controller, if you'd added the cost of standalone management and mapping to the original purchase cost they'd never have sold any of them

[Cruizer]

Was there someone on here that could get forged items?

Assuming the Omega pistons are re-usable, what else am I going to need for a proper rebuild?

£2500 gonna cover it?

[petet16]

Have a word with Drew, he will be able to give you some info about the best way to go.

[Dan1971]

....

£2500 gonna cover it?

:yikes:

[Cruizer]

Thats the 0% credit card limit haha

[ZRed]

For what that car was advertised at, i cant believe it wasnt standalone management.

I've the best kv6 builder around in my armoury. Builder of the well known Andrew Morrison KV6 ZR.

In all honesty, i dont know if £2500 would cover it and I'd be tempted to sack the supercharged KV6 and go down another route.

[Skillen]

For what that car was advertised at, i cant believe it wasnt standalone management.

I've the best kv6 builder around in my armoury. Builder of the well known Andrew Morrison KV6 ZR.

In all honesty, i dont know if £2500 would cover it and I'd be tempted to sack the supercharged KV6 and go down another route.

Turbo'd KV6
Supercharging is the easy way out.

[petet16]

Turbo'd KV6
Supercharging is the easy way out.

You'll be needing deep pockets

[Skillen]

You'll be needing deep pockets

And a bigger engine bay haha!
Mmmmm, twincharged kv6
If I came into a bit of money somehow I'd give it a blast.
Get some people in the know to do it though.
Hopefully help a little though haha!

I think you've got a good base, the internals are already started.

There's a guy selling an emerald for £600 I think on .org
Maybe that's a start there?

[Supercharged_Z]

you dont need anything other than forged pistons. Then go down the DTA S80 and bigger injectors. £2.5k would more than cover that.

the bottom end going was random, I wonder if when you had the front ender it did just touch and stop the cam pulley briefly ? I would imagine it must be something to do with the accident

The beauty with DTA at least is it has a great resale value, compared to any other custom KV6 bits

[ZS Phil]

In answer to your specific question - No.

However mine have all been standard and I've yet to be challenged with issues that you have - so I understand the sentiment.

Get a banger's a good call and put the zed on the back-burner for a while. Guy on .org's selling a monogram 120 for pennies and if you've got some more, another guy's got a very nice clio sport for £1500.

Saying that - got a good engine if you want one ..... ;)

Not this one by any chance is it Dan? :whistle: http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=546362

Hope you sort the ZS out. Buying that Clio is the best thing I ever did. I got it to use while my ZS was off the road having a full rebuild so I could take my time and do the ZS slowly and properly. I'm in relatively unknown territory with mine too as I'm running a VNT turbo on the L series in the search for a 50 mpg ZS 180 :P.

If it will help a fellow ZS nut out then I'd love to sell the Clio to someone who will use it for what I had it for. Be warned though, you might not want your 180 back, they are such fun little cars!

[big_wasa]

I regret buying my charger and not having the plumbs to at least have a go.

Doesn't matter what way you look at it, the kv6 is to fragile to tune.

[Dan1971]

Not this one by any chance is it Dan? :whistle: http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=546362

Hope you sort the ZS out. Buying that Clio is the best thing I ever did. I got it to use while my ZS was off the road having a full rebuild so I could take my time and do the ZS slowly and properly. I'm in relatively unknown territory with mine too as I'm running a VNT turbo on the L series in the search for a 50 mpg ZS 180 :P.

If it will help a fellow ZS nut out then I'd love to sell the Clio to someone who will use it for what I had it for. Be warned though, you might not want your 180 back, they are such fun little cars!


Yep - that's the one !

Your ZS in the photo of the Clio looks great though pal. As for the Clio - always fancied one and was a gnat's **** away from buying one once upon a time, but decided against it as the Mrs had a scenic and I didn't want to go double French.

[sneekyparrot]

you dont need anything other than forged pistons. Then go down the DTA S80 and bigger injectors. £2.5k would more than cover that.

the bottom end going was random, I wonder if when you had the front ender it did just touch and stop the cam pulley briefly ? I would imagine it must be something to do with the accident

The beauty with DTA at least is it has a great resale value, compared to any other custom KV6 bits

Ross has the right idea here.

You need to speak to drew. Has already done this and got it running and the cost would be well under 2.5k!
You don't need anymore forged bit in that bottom end, just a hone and new rings depending on the pistons being ok??

Never once regretted owning my charged Zs and I lost money on it , same as Ross who prob had more to do with them more than most!

I still watch and listen to mine screaming its way to redline :-)))

P.

[sneekyparrot]

I regret buying my charger and not having the plumbs to at least have a go.

Doesn't matter what way you look at it, the kv6 is to fragile to tune.

Slap those hands! :-))

I would buy one tomz at the right price cough!

Red mk2 charged not far from me but guy wants daft money for it.

P.

[ZRed]

£2.5k will struggle and I stand by that. What`s an s80 these days? £900 ish? A Loom for it £200? A days mapping a good £300 at least. Forged pistons, a set of 4 usually £600 ish depending on spec and availability, so 6 is gonna be a custom order I`d say lets say £800 for arguments sake. Injectors £200 - £300? Theres £2500 spent and you`ve a pile of parts sitting on the kitchen worktop.

[Supercharged_Z]

If his forged pistons are ok then all is good, bigger injectors are not hard Drew used very special ones ;) easily available for not a lot.

S80, loom and map. I am sure drew would pass a KV6 Map on, which means it needs tweekeng on rollers for the extra boost he runs. He can then also sell his piggy back ecu if its worth anything.

This car is not far from sorted (if pistons ok) just needs this, the only problem I see is you will lose a little drive ability imo.

Paul, is that red one the guy who wants 5k?

[foggy]

I have had my 180 for 7 years and touch wood its been the best car i have every had. To date i have only replaced the inlet manifold and thermostat and she has done 156000 miles. Other than wear a tear i love it :-)

[ZS Phil]

Yep - that's the one !

Your ZS in the photo of the Clio looks great though pal. As for the Clio - always fancied one and was a gnat's **** away from buying one once upon a time, but decided against it as the Mrs had a scenic and I didn't want to go double French.

Cheers mate, that ZS has been a labour of love over the last 6 months. Its finally 99.9% finished just hope it drives as well as it looks!
The Clio went this afternoon, had so many messages about it! If you've never owned one you have to do it at some point. They are so much fun! Ive driven MGs since I passed my test 8 years ago and it was a bit of an eye opener really.
Not enough of an eye opener for me to shift the ZS though.

I need to get to work on a project thread, taken loads of pictures along the way.

[sneekyparrot]

If his forged pistons are ok then all is good, bigger injectors are not hard Drew used very special ones ;) easily available for not a lot.

S80, loom and map. I am sure drew would pass a KV6 Map on, which means it needs tweekeng on rollers for the extra boost he runs. He can then also sell his piggy back ecu if its worth anything.

This car is not far from sorted (if pistons ok) just needs this, the only problem I see is you will lose a little drive ability imo.

Paul, is that red one the guy who wants 5k?

Yep!
Guys in toy town expecting that sort of £££.
Nice looking car but seriously over priced.

P.

[Supercharged_Z]

Yep!
Guys in toy town expecting that sort of £££.
Nice looking car but seriously over priced.

P.

yeah I remember texting him a year or so ago. I tried to tell him he's mad but he had none of it, I suppose he's not fussed about selling so its a sellers market

[BUCKYDEVIL]

yes