Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 potential engine disaster, oil pressure loss

Driving along tonight i had the oil warning light come on, i slowed down and managed to leave the road after about 1500 yards.

engine sounded fine and i suspected a faulty sender. I first checked the oil level which was ok and then noticed the rubber seal in the oil cap was gone.

gone where? Into the oil tank and over the feed hole to the engine causing a total loss of oil pressure.

i removed the tank and oil and fished out the offending split rubber seal. Refitted tank and refilled oil and started engine to my relief oil light went out instantly and engine sounds, runs and performs perfectly. Hope no lasting damage was sustained.

My point is please check the condition of the rubber seal in your oil tank cap. If its in any way split or swollen get it sorted before any damage can occur.

Just yesterday I found the replacement gasket that had been fitted into the cap on mine to cure an oil weep had split and was ready to drop. I've got an early car with the dipstick in the oil tank cap so I've cut a new gasket from nitrile rubber and extended the thread on the top of the dipstick far enough to get a lock nut and large washer under the gasket to secure it in place. The dropping gasket has killed at least one engine as far as I am aware.

Great figuring it out & fixing it. will double check mine...many thanks

A lucky escape andymot , I had a wrecked engine after a bit of plastic off an oil can mysteriously got into my oil tank and blocked the feed hole .

HJP, i think i have escaped! But having run it with no oil pressure, even for a short distance worries me very much as to weather damage has been done, athough all seems well
How long did it take from oil light on to wrecked engine? Did it rattle or sieze ?
Cheers

Hi andymot , I was on a busy dual carriageway in pouring rain , the oil warning light came on , I slowed down but before I could get off the road it cut out out . right by a crash barrier so i couldn't get off the carriageway !

I waited an hour in the rain for Morgan rescue , eventually a traffic control vehicle stopped behind me and told me I wasn't allowed to stop there ! When it eventually got to the dealer they tried to start it , it turned over making a horrible noise , it was returned to the factory who discovered the plastic melted onto the feed pipe .

Thats an experiance you won't forget. Sounds pretty dreadful.

I think i have been very lucky as i was only 2 miles from home so was able to call on back up ( tools,bowl,funnel etc) and the engine was not very hot so the plastic had not melted and was quite easy to fish out once the tank was removed.

For the record my car is a Dec 2014 build delivered Jan 2015 so pretty much a current spec car.

Fired it up this morning as it sounds as normal, i will take it on a long run this weekend just to be very sure all is well.

I hope others read these posts and check their oil tank caps befoe its too late. The thought of it happening out of warranty is frightening- a new engine must cost thousands.

Thank you for sharing, hope all is well with your car. Good job you noticed the light straight away!

For something as inexpensive and simple as a rubber gasket, why is it Morgan don't issue a recall or at least make it known to owners, so we can buy our own seal. Much cheaper than an engine!

Talk Morgan is probably more important to a Morgan owner than the handbook supplied with the car!

Talk Morgan is definitely more important and useful than the handbook !

As for recalls .....it's more a case of denying there is a problem and then expecting the customer to pay for the necessary upgrades when the failures occur

Omg what a horror story - and thanks for the posting to warn other owners.