Advice on buying a MG ZS

[B10BRW]

I am looking to buy a MG ZS 120 as a daily driver.
What do I need to look out for.
Don't want to spend more than £800, or will that only buy a shed load of trouble.
I am aware of head gaskets, and timing belts.
Are there any other nasties that I need to look at.

[MG CHRIS]

The only other problems are leaking inlet manafold gasket and oil leaking from the cam carrier gasket. My father has run one for 7 years now and apart from the HG which was replaced 6 years ago it's been fine no major problems. At that price if anything does go wrong big time then you haven't lost a lot of money.

My fathers one has done everything that we wanted from it. But get one which has had the HG replaced and make sure there is recipt for the work it should have had a timing belt change at the same time.

One check is to rev it when cold if white smoke is emitted from the exhaust the inlet manafold gasket will need to be replaced.

[Wicker Man]

There's loads about, but at £800 there will be plenty of rough ones. That's not to say you wont find a gem if you look at enough.

If you can accept ~28mpg and insure it, then the ZS 160s are a real bargain.

[Mr2Mike]

Wicker Man said:

If you can accept ~28mpg and insure it, then the ZS 160s are a real bargain.

ZS 180 - the ZS never came with the 4 pot 160VVC engine.

[Wicker Man]

Mr2Mike said:

ZS 180 - the ZS never came with the 4 pot 160VVC engine.

Sorry, I meant to say that the MG ZS 180s are a real bargain - (but there are some rough one of those about too!)

[-Lummox-]

I'm about to buy a ZS 180 - have already had a look at it and aside from a noisy PAS pump it seems to be very tidy and well looked after. Are there any particular problem areas to look out for on these cars (late 2002 model) and is the PAS pump a pig to change? I have found a scrap unit for £30 but not sure how much bother it is to change?

[Mr2Mike]

-Lummox- said:

I'm about to buy a ZS 180 - have already had a look at it and aside from a noisy PAS pump it seems to be very tidy and well looked after. Are there any particular problem areas to look out for on these cars (late 2002 model) and is the PAS pump a pig to change? I have found a scrap unit for £30 but not sure how much bother it is to change?

I posted some things to look out for in this thread.

Changing the PAS pump should be pretty straightforward, it's mounted right at the top/front of the engine and after you have removed the various plastic engine covers is pretty simple to get to. However, before you go diving in, make sure the fluid is right up the the line on the reservoir, it doesn't have to drop much to make the pump noisy.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Wednesday 15th February 11:08

[-Lummox-]

Looking at the comments about fitting a catch tank, can you do this with the standard air filter or do you not have any space?

[Mr2Mike]

-Lummox- said:

Looking at the comments about fitting a catch tank, can you do this with the standard air filter or do you not have any space?

I'm certain it would possible to do it with a standard air filter, there's a reasonable amount of of room in the engine bay considering the size of the engine. A smallish tank would probably fit next to the charcoal canister behind the battery.