ZT160 - Service costs

[pmanson]

I've been quoted £320.00 for a "full service" by a local MG specalist who I trust.

I've only recently purchased the car so I thought it would be good for them to give it a good going over!

Couple of issues i'd like to get sorted out at the sametime:

• Handbrake needs adjusting
• Slight coolant lose (Car has replacement water pump etc back in Feb)
• Temp gauge occasionally drops to zero

What can I expect from my full service? They mentioned cleaning out the plenum drains and giving the car a once a over... (I told them about the coolant lose and that the handbrake needed adjusting but forgot to mention the sporadic temp gauge.

Does £320 sound like a good price, looking online some people have been charged about £150.

[Mike 820]

£320 sounds like a lot to me.

I have the same engine in a ZT aswell.
I service it myself and carry out 90% of the repairs myself.

I got 8 litres of oil from costco £38
An oil filter from Quikco £5
6 spark plugs and a pollen filter Euro car parts £43
Front brake pads from Euro Car Parts £18
Air filter Euro car parts £7


You can adjust the handbrake yourself. Simply jack up the back of the car. Remove the wheels and then you have to reach in through a small hole in the hub and spin a gear clockwise/counterclockwise to push the pads closer to the hub assembly. Thus when pulling your handbrake on it doesnt have to travel as far. The method is in the Haynes manual.


Have they said what else they will be doin in the service?

Ive only sent my car to an MG garage twice.
-gearbox oil change £50
-thermostat housing change £188 (would have done myself but didnt have time)


edit to add - your coolant loss may be the thermostat housing leaking like mine was. Quite a common problem. Have a look into the 'v' of the block. (in between the cylinders) to see if there are any pink stains from coolant leaking.

-with regards to your temp gauge. I havnt heard of one dropping to 0 for a short time before. Maybe there is an airlock in the system of or a loose wire?

Edited by Mike 820 on Wednesday 26th January 13:24

[Mike 820]

The plenum drains are also very simple. All you have to do is remove a bit of the plastic above the ecu/just under the window and check there are no leaves in the drainage holes by using a wire/pipe cleaner to clean out the plastic pipes.

There are three drains in total. One on the driver side. Two on the passenger side (one under ECU).

[Jumturbo]

Hi, is your ZT160 the 1.8 turbo or the 2.5V6? You mention in your other thread that the car had a turbo badge so I presume it's the 1.8 turbo k series. If you're losing coolant, check that the headgasket has not blown. Look for mayonaise under the oil filler cap and dipstick. Headgaskets are a common failure on the k series if regular coolant checks are ignored. Don't worry too much as replacement is usually about £500 but I suppose this will more or less include your service costs as well! The latest gaskets are supposedly a permanant fix too, if done properly.
I have an MG ZTT160 1.8 with just 26K miles on a 56 plate. I love it, but check coolant at least once a week and check the temp gauge more than the speedo! Nice car btw!

here's mine:-

Edited by Jumturbo on Thursday 27th January 22:16

[Mike 820]

NICE Jum, how much was your exhaust conversion?

[Jumturbo]

Mike 820 said:

NICE Jum, how much was your exhaust conversion?

The exhaust is a cat back custom stainless system and cost £350. Even though my car had only covered about 24K miles the back box had started to rot. I was going to get a standard replacement but when I priced them up at Rimmers I was gobsmacked....nearly £300 just to buy it! I started looking at the custom exhaust suppliers/fitters and came across a local 'Top Gear' franchise. They offered the duplex system and although quite dear was more of an attractive proposition than the standard especially with a lifetime guarantee. The only thing I had to do first was move the charcoal canister up higher and out of the way (relatively easy) and form the extra cut out in the bumper. The only other issue is that the exhaust is a bit too boomy in the cabin at certain revs, but I hope to cure this with some extra sound-proofing in the bootwell and under back seat. Oh, the other issue was the heat shield. You can't get the driver side for face lift ZTT! I bought two face-lift ZR items and shaped them slightly with a grinder to make them sided. From the front they are almost symetrical, so a bit of shaping where they mate with the bumper was all that was needed.

Edited by Jumturbo on Friday 28th January 21:28

[Mike 820]

Jumturbo said:

The exhaust is a cat back custom stainless system and cost £350. Even though my car had only covered about 24K miles the back box had started to rot. I was going to get a standard replacement but when I priced them up at Rimmers I was gobsmacked....nearly £300 just to buy it! I started looking at the custom exhaust suppliers/fitters and came across a local 'Top Gear' franchise. They offered the duplex system and although quite dear was more of an attractive proposition than the standard especially with a lifetime guarantee. The only thing I had to do first was move the charcoal canister up higher and out of the way (relatively easy) and form the extra cut out in the bumper. The only other issue is that the exhaust is a bit too boomy in the cabin at certain revs, but I hope to cure this with some extra sound-proofing in the bootwell and under back seat. Oh, the other issue was the heat shield. You can't get the driver side for face lift ZTT! I bought two face-lift ZR items and shaped them slightly with a grinder to make them sided. From the front they are almost symetrical, so a bit of shaping where they mate with the bumper was all that was needed.

Edited by Jumturbo on Friday 28th January 21:28

Certainly looks the business.

I have the X power cat back system. Sounds nice and sporty without being too loud. It does drone on the motorway at certain speeds/revs but I dont mind.

[bamberwell]

pmanson said:

I've been quoted £320.00 for a "full service" by a local MG specalist who I trust.

I've only recently purchased the car so I thought it would be good for them to give it a good going over!

Couple of issues i'd like to get sorted out at the sametime:

• Handbrake needs adjusting
• Slight coolant lose (Car has replacement water pump etc back in Feb)
• Temp gauge occasionally drops to zero

What can I expect from my full service? They mentioned cleaning out the plenum drains and giving the car a once a over... (I told them about the coolant lose and that the handbrake needed adjusting but forgot to mention the sporadic temp gauge.

Does £320 sound like a good price, looking online some people have been charged about £150.

depends on which service it is and what they're doing......i've got a 2.5 kv6 and lates600 does all my servicing, when i bought the car i had the 6year service including belts ,water pump ,thermostat etc and it cost 710 squid. he local mg garage wanted about 1400 squids.............as others have said, keep an eye on the coolant loss as it is a VERY common problem on the 1.8 and HGF is very common , with replacement with a mls gasket costing around 500 pounds ish. the handbrake might be ok because they all roll back a bit after putting the handbrake on....

[pmanson]

bamberwell said:

depends on which service it is and what they're doing......i've got a 2.5 kv6 and lates600 does all my servicing, when i bought the car i had the 6year service including belts ,water pump ,thermostat etc and it cost 710 squid. he local mg garage wanted about 1400 squids.............as others have said, keep an eye on the coolant loss as it is a VERY common problem on the 1.8 and HGF is very common , with replacement with a mls gasket costing around 500 pounds ish. the handbrake might be ok because they all roll back a bit after putting the handbrake on....

It was the main service so it's had all the fluids done (brakes, clutch, oil, coolant etc) along with fitting a temp sender and standard sized rear plate.

Labour was about £140+VAT and the rest was parts.

The car feels 100 times better - smoother, faster so pretty pleased.