Well, the Aero 8 was actually delivered to me in September but had to go straight into off-site storage while new garage was built. On Sunday I collected it and have discovered a few niggles. Perhaps because it's barely being used since new (reg'd 8/07 and only 1700 miles now), some bugs haven't been ironed out.

There is horrendous wind noise coming from drivers door and comparing it to passenger side, it does appear to not sit so flush. Tbh, I can see a little daylight between top of window and roof seals so imagine it's never going to be too quiet. As it stands, the noise is unacceptable.

The drivetrain shunt especially in 1st to 2nd is unpleasant but guess this can be driven around/adapted to with more use. Does anyone start in 2nd gear, which may be ok with light weight and V8 torque?

More immediate concern on arriving home was noticed the coolant light was on. Checked under bonnet for coolant reservoir and no immediate sign. Check manual and no diagram. Check under bonnet again and see a black screw directly under bonnet middle, with seemingly no way to fill with fluid. In addition, I cannot seem to visually check level as the container is black.

At least I managed to top up the oil through the very poorly located oil cap.

Can someone confirm that the crazy location for coolant filling is correct?


P.S. Remote alarm/locking didn't work today and passenger door has been inoperable with remote locking since I tried it the first time.

P.S. So this is what is like to own a Morgan?!

kind off
it's like being married: don't talk enough, no food on the table,

drive that baby and bring it to the dealer from time to time to finish the pre-production-client-prototype-fase every handbuild car needs
(incl. laro-aston-...)

IT seems to be part of the FUN!!! Like the Missing Roadster pages from the Owners Handbook of our New Roadster.

Talk Morgan Member's will have most of your answers - Just be patient. Happy Hunting

Take a few Photo Close Ups and Post them Here

I'm going to say your problems are in part due to lack of use. I dropped my car back at MMC today for its first service, 1200 miles in 2 months of winter weather.



I had a similar experience with my previous Series 2, the only effective solution I found to the problem was to put the roof down. Although saying that the Series 4 seems a great improvement.



IIRC on the Series 2 this was an easy fix, haven't had to on the S4 yet. I had to hose on the washer bottle split, and the only way to repair this was to take the wing off.






So I keep being told but its been said on the site before ownership can only be measured in terms of smiles per gallon

Welcome to the club!

If it puts your mind at ease, my S3 also has that 'shunt' you described. I hardly notice it now, but initially it gave me such new car paranoia I even had it checked!

I have a lovely S3 - now with 6,500 miles under its belt, and have had all the problems you mention. They are all now fixed.

1. Wind noise and badly fitting roof. I had the same thing on the driver's side although the passenger side was much better. Water poured in and I could not drive safely in the rain. The roof was adjusted by the lovely folk at Brands Hatch but still was not great. Took the car to the factory just before Christmas (it was just out of warranty but my attempts to fix were documented and Mark Baldwin and team had it adjusted in no time. I drove home 150 miles in heavy rain with perfect fit, no leaks and hardly a rustle of wind noise. It did not take long and I think they just adjusted the pegs. It seems that if you don't 'help' the roof closed as you do up the clips it will not engage fully so try giving it a good push as you close it - might just work, although I had tried to no avail.

2. Drivetrain shunt - you will drive round it and get to know the situations when it's worst. This may sound like a ridiculous 'solution' but I promise you that I got used to it and learned to minimise it pretty quickly and it does not spoil the car for me at all. It makes driving that bit more 'accurate' which I find helps to make the drive even more special. Honest! I did mention it at all the services but I don't think there's much they can do.

3. Coolant - I had a slow leak for ages. The black round knurled thing near the centre of the engine opening the nearside bonnet is the filler and you should be able to unscrew it with a bit of effort. A cloth round it with a mole-grip spanner works as long as you're careful if it's too tight. Fill with anti-freeze as well as water - I use a measuring jug from the kitchen but don't tell my wife. I lost a litre every 6 weeks approximately on little driving. Reported it and a new part was ordered which looks a bit like a stethoscope and requires the bonnet and radiator grille to be removed. I also had a complete failure of a cooling hose falling off which rendered the car undriveable at about the same time. Even after the 'fix' I have still had to fill up the cooling system but it does seem to be less frequently. It's certainly not a major irritant at the moment.

4. Remote locking was very intermittent right from the start and got worse and worse. When I took the car to the factory they issued the car with a new remote control (plus a spare) which looks completely different. However it now works a treat from many feet away - just like you might expect. It never worked like that with the original one. If your transmitter is sort of kidney shaped it is probably the dodgy one like I had.

I have also had a terrible rattle from behind the dashboard that the factory improved - it sounds like a chafing wire or wires and is sometimes worse, sometimes better. If anyone else has found an easy cure for this (the factory said it might required the dash to be removed although they fiddled and it is definitely not as bad), I'd love to know!

My rear axle had a bad leak which caused the lsd to squirm under heavy acceleration. Luckily I topped this up myself and the oil seal has been changed and all seems ok.

Sounds like a lot, but I've loved the car throughout. It followed a new Porsche Carrera 2 'S' which had just as many faults and I could write a much longer essay on that experience.

Good luck and get these things fixed. In my experience a trip to the factory is the best way to address this scale of issues. Then you can enjoy yourself and the noise, admiring but polite glances / comments / great handling / excellent brakes / flexibility etc.

The central locking can be intermittent. Especially if the unit in the door has got wet.

Door alignment has a major impact on noise. My series 3 didn't suffer from the wind noise, just water ingress. My series 4 suffers from the wind noise and is at the factory at the moment having the door adjusted along with some upgrades.

As Asbo says, rack up the miles, discover all the little glitches that can then be resolved and have fun. Put 22,000 in a year on the S3 and just shy of 30,000 on the S4 in 9 months of driving. Looking forward to possibly being the first to roll over 100,000 miles in an Aero!

Nothing more to add, I think they have all said it; oh except enjoy the car and pics please!!

Thanks for all the feedback folks. "Wisco" it's almost nice to know I'm not alone with your very similar issues - input very much appreciated.


But you all have permission to hit me about the face with a wet fish...... Upon checking the Aero again this morning, I discovered that access to coolant was easy from other bonnet opening. Doh! It seemed from off-side opening to be absolute central so had assumed (quite wrongly) that access to it was same on both sides. Assumption is the mother...

So I have now topped it up to minimum level (the level guide was within) and going to check for any leaks, which I suspect may exist.

Central locking/alarm still gone awol but that's ok as I was actually expecting it go off when I entered using key only. As most other cars would.

Once I am satisfied all fluid levels correct, will take it for a long drive and then next step will be to drop it in for a complete spanner check/service with RPM in Perth. Russell seems very enthusiastic/knowledgeable about Morgan and a pleasure to deal with when I visited him last year. Hopefully he can advise/fix door windnoise issue, otherwise a visit to Malvern will be required.

Cheers,

Alastair


P.S. Pic attached but on previous owners reg. I have new period plates made up now for reg "MOG 6G".

That's a lovely car you have there - I saw that at Kensington Aston Martin IIRC during our search.

I'll bring a wet fish on next meeting, any prefereces???
salmon, barracuda, dolphin,...
(sorry can't do the caviarfish/tuna/whale/shark=endangered species)

I believe the cars don't have an alarm (unless after market) and as such wouldnt 'go off'. Its immobiliser and central locking only.

Of course I stand to be corrected.....

PS - lovely car!!

Stephen, have you bought one recently also then?

1560 - bring the lot.

Boshly - aha, another thing solved. Glad I don't need to worry about setting any sirens off at least. Thanks.

Absolutely, I bought mine from Berry Brook Morgan in November. A similar colour but with red roof/interior and silver alloys:

http://www.berrybrookmorgan.co.uk/used-morgans/morgan-aero-8-mk3-so076.html

Congrats on purchase - it's a beaut and looking at it reminds me that I'm still not 100% sure about my gunmetal centred wheels. The all silver wheels are a good contrast to the bodywork.

Come on shooter you can't leave it at that.

Spill the beans. Are you ditching the yellow wheels and going for the fruit salad effect

yeah,
why we all buy'm grey&black???

I think the wheels suit your car, especially with the black roof. Initially I considered changing to your alloys, but I've fallen in love with the car now - only addition I might make will be a rear diffuser.

Just looking at it should make all of your problems fade into insignificance, Gives a Deep Sigh, It looks fab.

Glad its getting sorted - we all have had similar problems!
Don't drop the oil filler cap into the engine compartment - it will vanish and may only rematerialise some weeks later.

Pleased to be of some help, and want to re-state my love / admiration / absolutely huge enjoyment of the car... Mine's not a million miles different in looks from yours - Stingray Grey with black leather/roof but normal chrome wheels. I think for most people the car looks wonderful without needing wild paint colours (although I do love the wild machines too). Mine was built in Jan/Feb 2007 but I bought it 'new' in August 2007 although it was a low mileage (140 miles) trade plates demonstrator.

I know this will not work for all S4 owners, but I've driven S3 vs S4 and the automatic and...

1. S4 engine has a slightly smoother sound at tickover (tiny difference) but feels very similar on the move. Possibly the suspension has a bit more initial compliance without extra roll but hard to say for sure. All later cars feel more special with side windows down as well as the top, and this may be the only real aural difference, because the demonstrator was driven this way, and I drive mine like this more now.

2. I preferred the storage behind the seats in the S3 and the speaker location pointing forward is better. The S3 car feels more airy with greater legroom.

3. The S4 boot is a bit bigger but you lose as much as you gain and the cockpit is more cramped. The air vents in the S4 are much neater but that doesn't bother me at all.

4. The handbrake on the S3 is the end of a long line and I prefer it although I can't make the car stay still on a steep hill! We also have the last of the old logos and they are consistent (not so on some S4s).

5. The fuel filler on the S4 is neat but the central chrome filler is fun on the S3 (although mine is still sometimes a very slow piggy to fill).

6. The extra hot air engine venting on the S4 looks great and is probably a good idea - my S3 gets quite warm in these areas.

7. Perceived performance is extremely similar and the cars essentially drive the same. I'm not suggesting that an S4 is not faster but I really couldn't feel it and I wanted to - I was set on a trade 'up' - but after the test drive I simply could not tell the difference. Both are extremely fast cars!

8. The auto is great and I loved the way it changed at 6700rpm, but for some reason I think a manual gearbox suits the car and for me it was swings and roundabouts.

9. I'm sure an S4 auto is faster for most people most of the time but if you want to go round tracks fast you're probably better off with a Porsche GT3. Otherwise you'll never really tell unless you're a great driver on a straight track.

10. I'm sorry the Aero 8 is no more (at least in <£100K form) and I'm sure a new derivative with a more fuel efficient engine but great dynamics will emerge - truly hope so! Good luck to Morgan and all who have an interest in individuality.

11. Wrong thread and I will try to add to the right place, but I also had the steam in the cockpit issue from the aircon and some of the responses were clearly not helpful or correct. After a long drive in damp and cold conditions I stopped the car (at the Morgan factory) and re-started about 15 minutes later. Massive steam poured into the cabin as though the de-humidifier had poured its contents back into the system. (I had something similar on my Renault Alpine GTA V6 many years ago when the aircon still worked - must get that done!). It is an air-con issue but may not be a 'problem' - after a few minutes with fans and windows open I was back to normal. But a Morgan will never be a BMW even if it uses the same engine. (Thank the Lord.)

Wiscos, interesting to learn all the small differences between the series which can be appreciated during use.

I certainly have a lot to learn about my car but can easily say it's the most elegant car I've ever owned - a unique proposition nowadays. Really feel very priviliged to own it, as I suspect all Morgan owners do old and new.

Now, about reclining the non-reclining seats...

once more driving both RoadsterV6&Maxie today,
I find the V6 more responsive...until you look at the speedo

still strange how people go completely nuts when the see the Aeromax, like hitting the horn to give
while queing, they walk up on to the street to check the badge up front
I'm thinking of putting Dacia on the back

Think you are right Boshly - my S4 has central locking and immobiliser but no alarm.

Lovely car afr!

Great looking Aero afr, but I would say that as our cars share the same external colour/spec . Like you I wasn’t completely sold on the dark inset colour of the my wheels, but now I love them, in fact I’ve now changed/added a few other black things, rear diffuser, wiper arms & blades, exhaust side exit trim. I thinking of tackling the front grill next, kind of a de-chroming exercise!!

IIRC did you car come with some swanky boot luggage?

Matt

De-chroming grill? ...Will be interesting to see that but I do like the chrome on Morgans.

Yes, came with some Morgan luggage, which fits quite neatly into boot.