Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Please help identify this rattle (audio attached)

The bad news is shipping it back to Shane, the good news is they have already changed a customer's compensator for the new Centa so he has moved one notch along the learning curve.

So, I broke down the center tunnel and was able to localize where the rattle is emanating from. It clearly comes from the junction of the drive shaft and bevel box. There is a tiny bit of play in the drive shaft as you can see here:

[video:youtube]http://youtu.be/shQB4Ps8uW4[/video]

Now while driving, you can hear how this small amount of play is an amplified rattle at low RPM's

[video:youtube]http://youtu.be/vwYYZsQr6aI[/video]


I strongly suspect the culprit is the compensator, which is translating the lumpy torque from the engine at low RPM to the dive shaft, which rattles due to a small amount of play.

So the two questions are:

1) Is this amount of play between the drive shaft and bevel box "normal"? If it isn't what's the fix?

2) Will a greasing of the compensator help?

Any further advice appreciated gents...I suspect my car is going back to Phoenix unfortunately...

P.S. Can anyone tell me how to embed YouTube video on TM? I use the "insert video" link when posting, but it just posts the link, not the embeded video...

Awful noise. I hope you can work that out without shipping all the way to Arizona...

To embed your videos, use the url in the address bar rather than the embed video link.

[video:youtube] YouTube URL from the address bar [/video]

Example:

Great detective work. I cannot help with the cause but the backlash noise at the bevel box input is definitely not right and requires further investigation in my opinion.

That is EXACTLY the noise that I have had in my car since new. I reported it at the initial service, but the view was broadly along the lines of "they all do that". In their defence, it has got less obvious with time - my car is now on 3000 miles - but I think it is ultimately die to the inadequacies of the compensator. Mine is at its worst on an even throttle, light loading at cruise. Some are worse than others so I guess down to one or more tolerances with a little too much leeway.

Sorry if I didn't notice your mileage, but writing this reply I cannot see, so perhaps yours will die down a bit too?!

I would say there is way too much back lash in the BB. This will wear the bevel gears out at an alarming rate.

Thanks Blue for the youtube tip! Looks like you need to not have the link be secure - which is where I was mistaken (i.e. http:// NOT https://)

Here are the embedded videos for those who prefer it:





FYI the car only has around 1000 miles.

My dealer is forwarding the video to Morgan for some tips...

Could be backlash in the bevel box, could be the compensator...

Could be that I just need to buy some dynamat and insulate the heck out of the center consol and seatbacks and live with it!

That is not acceptable. This is a problem that needs to be acknowledged and addressed under warranty by Morgan.

Well "Penguin" ... I would tend to agree, but the cost of shipping the car to Phoenix from Houston gives me pause.

Keep in mind, I exacerbated the problem by removing the tunnel and lugging the engine at low rpm in second gear, with the tunnel on, with revs up and at speed, it's not really there.

I've come full circle and I now embrace the vaugaries of Morgan service, reliability and ownership Doing otherwise will just ruin my enjoyment of this flawed but enjoyable car.

The one-way cost is one thing, but shipping round-trip would bother me, especially if something else needs attention in the future.

Texas needs a Morgan dealer fast. Also, check out this list for future reference... http://www.texmog.com/Parts%20And%20Services/Parts%20and%20Services.htm