Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Calling all S1 owners

Hello

The time has come to replace the starter motor on my 2002 S1. Even with a booster battery attached it no longer starts reliably after having been left for a couple of weeks.

My understanding is that the job can be made much easier by cutting an access trap in the underfloor. Do any of the S1 owners on this site know whether their starter motor has been changed this way? If so I would really appreciate some photos of the underfloor where the mod was made. I'm not afraid of doing most jobs on the car but don't want to start cutting blind!

Not easy for me to get to a decent dealer as I live in SW France, so any help from a fellow owner would be a godsend.

Cheers

I have absolutely no experience or knowledge of any of the Aero models, but in my experience sluggish starting is much more likely to be caused by a poor earth strap connection than it is by a duff starter motor.

Please forgive me if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, but have you checked the integrity of the earth connection from the battery? They can be visually fine but still offer high resistance. IT's got to be worth changing this before you go the the complexity and expense of swapping the starter motor, I would have thought...

Do not cut the floor, this is not required!!

There is a mod which enables starter replacement without engine removal without damaging the car.

We do this in:-

4.5 hrs from wings off to finish - with mod - or - 1.5 hrs added to a service if integrated into a service where wings are already off.

We only recommend Bosh starters - just under £100 +vat

Hourly rate is currently £55 +vat

Beware anyone quoting long durations or anyone damaging the car as part of the "fix" or using non branded starters.

Hamwich, you're absolutely right and I did do all these things. In fact also had a recent problem on my 1935 Super Sports that turned out to be the two grub screws holding the earth lead onto the battery pole being a bit loose. However, in this case it really is the starter motor, unfortunately a common problem on S1s.

Cerealsurfer, I was hoping you would reply. Message understood about not cutting floor. I have pm'd you.

Cheers

Cerealsurfer, on sending pm I got this message:cerealsurfer is over their Private Topic limit.

How do I contact you?

Cheers

I've deleted a few to make space.... Have another go.

Phillipo,
Millers Commercials fitting the new starter motor today, plus service. Had the car sent on a transporter and Millers have sent me images of the work. Process exactly as Cerialsurfer has described, replacement of starter motor done on service and accessed from beneath. Andrew r had the same fix last year and seems to be the best solution.

image shows new starter in place, viewed from beneath with trays removed.



The general scene, with my car naked

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Lightsphere, many thanks for this update. I will be doing the job next month on my car. Bet you're please to no longer have the uncertainty when you press the start button!

Cheers