Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 4/4 won't start!

Check the earth connections.
My 4/4 - 1992 CVH was the same. A good clean of the connections cured it.
As a test, try connecting the neg battery terminal to a mounting bolt for the starter. This bypasses the earth connections that may be at fault. If the car turns over ok then it's one of the earth connections. You can clean the connections/renew the straps to solve it.
I used a jump lead on mine but BE CAREFUL, connect to starter bolt first then battery! Luckily the jump lead is long enought to reach from battery to engine.
For a few days I carried the jump lead "just in case", until i sorted the earths.

I have read your Problem again, if the Motor is worm, Fan is working, the power is not 12V, the solonoid could be the problem, i have revisited compled the Starter an Alternator, problem disapear.
Please check also your coil, if he has 1,5 or 3 Ohms, if coil is damage your starting fire is bad.
You have CVH injection or with Weber?
I have now problem with the ignition!

The factory fit earth strap (from chassis to gearbox) is a bit limp. I had a similar problem (isolated to an earthing problem when I burnt my hand on the heater cable!) and fixed it by adding an extra earth cable in the engine bay - where I can see it- from a suitable chassis point direct to the engine.

Hi Folks,
Just to say a big thank you to everyone, who wrote with suggestions and thoughts in sorting my 4/4. The problem was the earth lead from the starter to the bodywork. The very point where the RAC guy had cleaned the connections, when I broke down. Whilst this sorted the problem temporarily, as one post said, the leads can look in good condition from the outside but failing on the inside. I replaced the lead and it has now fired up a treat.
Thanks again, Mark

Hi there,

I have a 1992 4/4 cvh engine that has this same problem with the starter when hot and after sitting for a few minutes. I have cured the problem by insulating the downpipe and starter motor with heat resistant tape. The residual heat from the manifold after sitting will eventually wreck the starter. Every Morgan with a CVH engine must suffer from the same issues.