has anyone suffered a radiator failure on a radiator which had been replaced already? I have, and wonder how widespread this is.

Robbie, do you mean post the full upgrade with swirlpot etc ?

Pre-upgrade I know of 3 local owners who are on their 3rd & 4th rads

I know of a German customer on his 7th!

Yes Rad changed about6 months ago and swirl pot about 3 months ago then new leak ( puddle on garage floor) last week!!!

Really sorry to hear this, just as I was thinking about upgrading my Roadster for a CX, I think I give it a miss for a while.

If this continues beyond warranty, it will become a real problem. I think it will be a while before we can say the radiator issues are resolved. Let's face it, the Trads have a similar issue with plastic tanks, but these rads are much easier to replace.

Check pipework, it might not be the rad.
It seems strange that one owner has had 7 rads and some are still on their first?
Maybe a bad batch from the supplier might explain it? Same scenario as the brakes?
When you make so few cars a year, small problems get amplified.

Had mine back yesterday after a repair. Told this is version 3 ? & latest version of the rad.
service girl told me they have two customers with early cxs', on this latest radiator, who do big mileages & no problems so far.


Mar'22 CX, ice blue, alloys, manual.😁

Our Plus 6 is also in for a replacement Rad, it had the swirl pot fitted with the brake recall previously, but it was still on its original Rad. The car is a bit of sleeper and we have covered more milage this Autumn than it did over 2 years, so I believe we are just seeing the problems that should have showed up years ago. I have also been told the Rad going in is the latest variant.. Time will tell if this is the final fix.. I hope to hell Morgan cover the rads once the warranty expires ( in our case very soon ) as the Radiator saga does not yet seem completely over.

Agreed I had a multitude of very minor leaks from hoses after fitting new rad to my Classic. Eventually just one remained on bottom hose extension no matter how tight and what position hose clamp was in. Doubled up on clamps in that area and haven't lost a drop since.

Footnote: silicon hoses seem to be more susceptible to such leaks compared to rubber.

The upgrades/updates may have been made in haste due to the queue so it is entirely possible that the hoses may be working around a bit once you have driven it for a while. Get it up on a ramp at a local garage/tyre place and check them? It will be quicker to drop them £40 for 30 mins on their ramp and a spanner check?

Agreed Alistair and best done with a hot engine.

You can't even see the hoses with the bodywork on....

And they don't use a jubilee style clip- the hose ends follow BMW practice as did the Aero's with a molded plastic end with an o-ring seal and a sprung retaining clip

Always happy to be corrected. So no spanner, hammer ?

Stick with the Internettery Alistair.....

All hoses have been thoroughly checked by my mechanic who is a stickler for detail - it’s definitely the rad!!

I can't remember the official legal precedent, but I think if you can prove a 'latent defect' then you have 6 years

Give it time to sort out the sagging suspension, brake and radiator issues.

Don’t let it put you off - the CX cars are really wonderful - when all little niggles are fixed!! I have 25,000 Kms on mine and I have loved every one - my local mechanic will have me “on road “ in a jiffy once the new rad arrives!
Cheers!

I've driven the CX and was mightily impressed by the step change in ride quality and the ease with which it achieved its performance envelope especially when compared with the Roadster. I felt a little more exposed in the cabin as it was much less snug, the seat didn't hug me enough in cornering and the brakes felt dead. Very much a modern convertible underpinnings clothed in a 1930's body. At that price point the side screens, potential for drafts and water ingress and a manual hood did kind of leave a few question marks as to real everyday all year round practicality in a UK climate, when not on those halcyon days touring the south France in glorious sunshine.

The wife cant drive the Roadster it just too heavy for her, but an automatic CX might well fit the bill. I'm just watching and waiting for the success of the recent upgrades following the CX issues to see how things pan out. She wants a newer convertible, nothing wrong with her current car, so its a toss up whether we put money into a new Merc and keep the Roadster or keep the Merc and sell the Roadster.

Hi John, we let our 2016 3.7 Roadster go to move to a 2020 Plus 6. I very much liked most of the Roadsters character and did a lot of work over a year to sort its niggle areas. However, the Plus 6 wins hands down on handling and suspension. I am tall and broad which was always borderline on the Roadster, however, the Plus 6 has more driver and passenger room and feels good. My wife is a good foot shorted than I am and the Plus 6 has enough adjustment to allow her to drive it, she could not do this on the Roadster. Since we started using the Plus 6 a lot of warranty related areas have been addressed by Morgan and the dealer, to be fair although it has taken a lot of time to do the repairs they have always fixed the issues. I do not have an issue with the Plus 6 power level and the fact it has no traction control and an open diff, mostly its down to using the right foot at the right time, prior to Morgans we had AMG, the last being a C63, which had a lot more power and was also rear drive only..
The Plus 6 has a lot of character, maybe not as much as the older Roadster, but the smiles per mile is still very high.. I am keeping everything crossed that all the work undertaken by Morgan and their dealer sorts the car out. The radiator replacement is ongoing, I hope this addresses this issue, this is the only problem that bothers me at the moment. Also ref the brakes.. since the master cylinder changeout the brakes feel a lot better than previously.. How much this is due to the change of master cylinder and /or dealer set up i do not know, but the feeling is not as wooden as it was.

Are BMW having similar rad problems? The Morgan rad....is it the same as a BMW ? I doubt it due to fit in the car. It is likely to have a similar cooling capacity spec (same engine) with, perhaps, modifications to deal with different airflow.
Where exactly are the leaks? The core, the tanks, the pipes, the hose fitting? How much vibration damping is there? What pressure is the system working at?
I would guess MMC have/are looking at these factors.
If the leaks are at the hose mounts then how many beads are on the rad pipes and is a sealant used?
Are the rads pressure tested at manufacture? In the factory I worked in every rad went through a test process for leaks. Mainstream BL , small manufacturers ( (JCB, London taxi, Caterham, special MOD vehicles and many more).
These CX problems look like a recurrence of the early M3W problems.
Who is troubleshooting the problems? What is the relationship to suppliers for quality?

The radiator and chargecooler are bespoke aluminium fabrications to Morgan and different between the Plus 4 and SIx
The leaks i am aware of are at the welded junctions were the inlet/outlets join the radiator tank

I have my own views on how the radiator is mounted and the cause of the failures- I believe the factory are on iteration 7 of the mounting...

I don't believe it is thermal shock and i fear the latest swirl pot addition will not fix the problem

The radiators are all pressure tested at manufacture- although one failure I know of within 80 miles led to comments about Stevie Wonder doing the inspections...

Wouldn't it be great to have all those answers sospan although very much doubt it will happen, from MMC at least.

Simon of SiFab did predict it was a mount problem which the latest swirl pot addition wouldn't fix. Too much of the upper part of rad unsupported I believe. He was working on a fix himself I understood.

ETA Simon and I cross posted.

Thanks Dave, very reassuring to hear, the wife is a good foot shorter than me, so range of seat movement has always been an issue in what ever car we share........usually electric memory seats prove a boon as her driving position is weird and very high, and frustrating to get the seat back to how I like it!

I am watching very closely what happens next hopefully for everyone this is a permanent fix and the problem goes away and is consigned to the history books. I will have to try a Plus 6, haven't driven something really special that needs your constant attention since my Porsche 930 turbo. Mind you I was nearly 20 years younger and had the better reflexes than now. Nothing quite like trouser changing fun!

4 times

I’ve been a lucky boy with my Plus 6. 19 plate, honestly never had a rad problem. They did change everything this summer as a matter of course, done 2500 miles in last 8 weeks and no problems. Now reading 18,000 miles approx. Maybe they don’t like being stood and need to be hammered.

Interestingly, my previous car, 11 plate Porsche Panamera , 5 recalls, aircon , electrics, brakes, power steering and wind screen.

Discovery commercial, 3 recalls, can’t remember what for but only 3 years old.

This week, BMW 330 Electronic gas recirculation valve, another recall happened this spring but can’t remember what for. It’s a 67 plate and it’s had 4 recalls.

Basically, it seems that all these modern motors have on going problems. Porsche was pretty bad I remember, they had my car for three weeks waiting for parts in 2017. The year I sold it.

[img]https://imgur.com/a/YOSc0lx[/img]
Hi If this image does not come up then I need REAL HELP! Somebody sort this out for me!

This is our2019 P6 radiator and as you can see it has failed where the tube goes into the top tank.
Kerry

Here ya go

I use Imgur as well Kerry but you need the IMAGE url ending usually in .jpeg or . jpg to be inserted within the img tags, as you do with any other picture hosting site. Pressing or clicking on the required image in Imgur app will give you the option to "Copy URL", top left in options. This can then be pasted into your post between the tags.

Suggest always pressing "Preview Reply" on TM to ensure the result is as expected before pressing "Post Reply".

Kerry, looks like the actual pipe has a radial crack, as opposed to a failed weld - quite unusual

Hopefully Simon of SiFab will comment with a proper tech view ?

The white line was the leak on my radiator

Why is it that rads are always a problem. Back in 2008 I had a couple of replacements for a new Caterham i had at the time, i eventually bought a Pro Alloy rad and never looked back. My 2011 Plus 4 radiator expired at 3 years old, usual issue, leakage at the header tank / core crimped joint. Installed the Mulfab kit, problem solved, still going strong. Pro Alloy manufacture some great ali rads etc. My pal has just took delivery of an ali rad for his C-Type Jaguar, it too nice to install in the car.

It's a space shuttle moment. You need to make your device as cheaply as possible but within a defined standard of quality. People often underestimate basics.

2022 Plus Four auto, had new radiator and swirl pot in September; started leaking A LOT today.

Like Simon above, I'm suspicious of the swirl pot's ability to fix what appears to be a fundamental mounting issue.

Ho hum. Time to get those wings off again...

This really is not great! A radiator fitted in September (obviously few miles since) should not then fail again.....

I think I would be asking for a replacement vehicle and rejecting the car?

I could put up with a few niggles (I accept it is a Morgan i.e., hand built, low volume car) but a decent radiator IS a fundament that needs to be 100%?

Not good, sorry to hear that news....

Understandable

It would be intersting to hear if its the actual radiator that has failed again or an associated fitting or hose.

Dave, looking at previous images within this thread, they have shown it is the radiator.

[quote=CRL]Had mine back yesterday after a repair. Told this is version 3 ? & latest version of the rad.
service girl told me they have two customers with early cxs', on this latest radiator, who do big mileages & no problems so far.


'new' radiator leaking already .. less than 300 miles covered since the new rad. fiited. car was booked in for a miss fire/engine management light showing up for one second with loss of power. - seen someone has had this with a plus six
on here. Brakes/radiators/miss fire! ....if this was from any other manufacturer, then they would have had the thing back. not impressed & i'm new to the marque.