synergy 2 upgrade for Rover 75 / MGZT / Freelander

PN14

Hi guys,

Any of ye on here have any first hand knowledge of the synergy 2 upgrade for the BMW 2.0 diesel engine on the Rover 75 / MGZT etc.

I have a feeling my ZT is down on power a little. Its difficult to tell as I haven't driven other variants of it to compare however I need to get revs up to 22 - 2500 before the turbo starts to kick in. From reading up on this issue it would appear that the MAF may be on the way out. I had MAF's go before on VAG diesels but the one on the ZT doesn't feel as bad as those to be honest. Also fuel consumption is in around the 40mpg (and this is with long motorway pulls) however some are claiming 50mpg which no matter how I drive I wouldn't come near achieving.

The synergy 2 option with new MAF would seem a way of getting an upgrade on power. There are 75k miles on the ZT.

Costs are around 270 pounds sterling however don't want to invest if they are not a success or if they were to put additional pressure on the car which could cause maintnenace issues down the line.

Any thoughts?

No first hand experience but lads that posted on Rover forums got them and spoke very highly of them, the crowd who sell them are very well respected and they do work.

You'll get a load of tuning boxes are sh1t replies on here though.

PN14

Thanks RoverJames. I have been tuning into the forums from across the water some good useful info on them. There seems to be a pretty good response in relation to the synergy boxes all right. I might take a chance and see how it goes. Will have to wait a month or so though:mad: a few other things further up the pecking order to be done first before finances will allow.

Any sure way of knowing if the MAF is failing? Like I said earlier it doesn't seem as bad as the VAG failures I previously had where you would have distinct flatlines on the turbo.

Don't think there is any sure way as it doesn't log a fault code as far as I know. If your symptoms are just poor ish mpg and being down on power it might well be worth cleaning EGR, it's free to do and won't do any harm at all

johnos1984

Is yours an auto or manual?

Owen

My 75 was the same, about 2.25k before anything would happen. Got a remap and the power was there from about 1500 up.

PN14

Mine is a manual. What effect would manual v's auto have

PN14

Owen,
Did you need to replace the MAF as well or was that still working ok. What kind of milage had you up on it atthe time.

johnos1984

Mine is an auto and I only ever get around 40mpg and a similar drive

Tragedy

Should get power around 1,800 RPM. Do clean out the EGR(easy guide on the owners' club), but yeah it's most likely the MAF if you've never replaced it. My car came with the Synergy (1), I had problems with it after 6 months and Roverron just had me post it to him, he tested it, and sent me out a brand new synergy 2 to replace it no questions asked.

If you want more low down power: Synergy 2
If you want more grunt in the upper range: Remap

I had both and the Synergy 2 was definitely better day to day.

Poor MPG is likely to be thermostat, get on to the on board computer, turn to coolant temperature and see what it runs at. If it's around 80-82, you need to replace the thermostat. Again, guide to both accessing OBD and fitting thermostat are on the owners' club.

With faulty MAF and dodgy thermostat I could rarely break 38mpg, when I got the thermostat fixed it immediately went up to 42mpg(despite having the remap put on the same day which allegedly increased HP from 113 to ~150). However, only fixed the MAF the month before I sold it so didn't get to see how much more that added.

Owen

PN14 wrote: »

Owen,
Did you need to replace the MAF as well or was that still working ok. What kind of milage had you up on it atthe time.

I thought my MAF was problematic same as you, I'd no power until 2500, and then it died around 3500, got the remap and I'd power from 1500 up to nearly 4. Didn't do anything with the MAF after.

Tragedy

Flat spot at 1800 is textbook MAF. Remap may have changed the fuelling enough so that even with low air flow indicated by the faulty MAF, it was providing far more fuel than the original map resulting in improved performance.

Or else your MAF was fine and something else was the problem!

PN14

Thanks for all to info guys much appreciated. I will clean out the EGR over the weekend if I get a chance and will check out the thermostat as well. Since I got the car I do notice that the temp clock on the car usually runs at around quarter ways up on the guage once warmed up. However the moment you hit traffic or idle it quickly heads up to around half way on the guage. When you start driving again it shoots back down to quarter way on the guage. Is this normal or would it be a sign of a faulty thermostat.

Tragedy

PN14 wrote: »

Thanks for all to info guys much appreciated. I will clean out the EGR over the weekend if I get a chance and will check out the thermostat as well. Since I got the car I do notice that the temp clock on the car usually runs at around quarter ways up on the guage once warmed up. However the moment you hit traffic or idle it quickly heads up to around half way on the guage. When you start driving again it shoots back down to quarter way on the guage. Is this normal or would it be a sign of a faulty thermostat.

Faulty thermostat, and a bad one at that. Is your car a facelift model? Know if
1) The cooling fan has been replaced(or uprated)
and
2) Has the lower engine mount been replaced?

PN14

Thanks for reply's Tradedy.
Its a facelift model. I've no record of any upgrades. The servcie history with the car was just a basic service history at rover / BMW main dealers. Services etc were done on time or before time generally but there's no record of any additional works done.
Would the thermostat be something the local indy garage could do or is it an ex rover or BMW main dealer effort? Do the cooling fans and engine mounts need upgrading on these what are the possible issues if they aren't done.

Tragedy

PN14 wrote: »

Thanks for reply's Tradedy.
Its a facelift model. I've no record of any upgrades. The servcie history with the car was just a basic service history at rover / BMW main dealers. Services etc were done on time or before time generally but there's no record of any additional works done.
Would the thermostat be something the local indy garage could do or is it an ex rover or BMW main dealer effort? Do the cooling fans and engine mounts need upgrading on these what are the possible issues if they aren't done.

Thermostat can be done by a decent indy, it's not a complex job, just tight access makes it a pain.

Facelift models have a newer 2 stage cooling fan(low speed/high speed) and the low speed resistor wears out. Means the air con compressor kicks on the high speed fan instead of the low speed, which then cycles on/off and can completely bollix the fan over time(but talking a long, long time). Cheap fix, member on the owners club supplies uprated resistor kits for not much money. I had mine changed by an auto electrician for around €80-€90 because I don't like electrics.

Lower engine mounts are a teardrop shape with the larger bit of the teardrop being a rubber mount with holes in it. It's a weak design, goes on both petrols and diesels. If changing gear is quite harsh/disjointed or you hear a clonk taking off, it's most likely that. 2 minute job to change but the part itself is €80 or €90. Some people have taken to modifying mk3 mondeo mounts as they're stronger and cheaper.

Also, throw up some pics

mcwhirter

Buy the synergy 2 but it only works with the pierburg maf not the original bosch.
The car will be transformed and engine revs more freely, mpg is reduced quite a bit if using all the power on the higher settings.