Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) snapped brake cable

Yes welcome and enjoy.
My 2009 4/4 Sport has also let go. As I have said in a previous post it is possible to change the cabal without stripping the interior. But it is fiddly.

The problem with the 4/4 is also the more acute route angle to get the cable round to the drum. Once you have a 'chunk' missing on the outer case, if you do not 'mend' the cracked or chunk it's only a short time before the cable lets go. As part of my mantenace schedule it's a watch point for me now.

An all weather Mog used on salty roads will suffer more than most.

Welcome red jellybean to TM. Apart from your handbrake problem I hope you're enjoying owning your 4/4. Nice for a change to see it was the vehicle of choice for a lady to own.

As others have said I have heard of a few handbrake cable failures in recent 4/4s and for that reason I very rarely use mine by usually leaving it parked up in gear or when in my garage I put wooden blocks behind the back wheels. I'm not quite clear if the fault was a batch of faulty cables or whether it was down to the way the cable is fed around the sharp corner on later models. My 4/4 is a 2011 so I'm very conscious about mine!

Other than, enjoy your car.

I've always left mine in gear when parked since reading of the cable letting go on Richard's and Jay's 4/4s. With my parking spaces at work, this is VERY important !!

Yes it certainly did...well remembered Richard!

Welcome to TM redjellybean! The cable snapped on my 2010 4/4 ....just as I was pulling up to the start line at Shelsley Walsh at the end of the MAC Rally. My swearing is captured on video somewhere in the net!
The problem was down to a batch of poor quality brake cables....they can be identified by a much coarser reinforcing wire in the outer sheath The tight bend of the cable into the brake back plate can eventually cause cracking of the plastic casing, the reinforcing wire rusts then eventually snaps which then rubs the inner cable.
Whilst my current car has an earlier cable, I've wrapped a few layers of tape around that area and check it every now and again.

Mine snapped at just over a year old....I was shocked that it wasn't covered by warranty...but it's treated as a consumable. As it is with many other car manufacturers.

On some cars....like Cains by the sound of it....the cable is easier to get out than others. Mine was firmly held in by p clips and shirt of cutting holes in the floor from underneath, I had to strip out the prop shaft cover....which meant taking the seats out! The hardest part actually was getting access to the end of the cable in the rear brake. The hub plate gets in the way. I couldn't manage it...nor could Mike Duncan. His son Ben ended up,taking the hub off to access it!

I do hope that you manage to get it sorted without too much trouble.

Yes welcome to TM redjellybean. It is always great to hear from the girls that share our passion.

I'm pretty appalled by this. You pay a lot of money for a Morgan and another £50 or even £500 is not likely to make or break the deal. However the use of poor quality components could be a decider about an owner buying another Morgan.

I have mentioned before my surprise at the use of poor quality screws and such instead of good quality stainless. Now I hear of brake cables that rust! Haven't they heard of the invention of stainless steel. If mine breaks I will certainly not be re-fitting a Morgan replacement but I will have the best quality cable that money can buy. Whatever it costs it can't be as high as the cost of replacing a broken cable.

I also had P clips, used a 90deg ratchet screw driver to undo them, with the addition of disconnecting the prop shaft at one end.
But every Mog is different.

I would say my 'new' Cable is now 3 years and 9 months old and 36 thousand miles, with two chunks resealed.
I also lubed the cable before fitting old style pre-mentainance.

I was quoted £300 by Mike Duncan......hence me doing most of it myself! The new cable I think was around £50.

Welcome from me too!

Very sorry to hear of your issue.

Have you written to Steve Morris ?

Whilst you should not have to it might be worth a few written words to him?

Do keep posting ...and enjoy TM!

Quite worrying really, I often think Morgans whole policy is determined to ensure no warranty claims as these could bankrupt the firm, as a professional fleet engineer and manager for over 40 years then it is balderdash, my old Mog is now 16 years old and some of the original fittings are finally failing but that is to be expected, at 3 years not a chance.

You do right to publicise this nonsense as I am sure they read these threads and certainly my local dealer does - come on Morgan admit it and fess up!

As someone who is soon to contemplate an order for a brand new 4/4 I have read many posts with interest on the subject of reliability. My reason for buying new would be to safeguard any problems faced for what I assume would be a 3 year period.

Is there a feeling that this warranty may not be 100% secure? I'm no mechanic. I would expect to be able to say ...I've got this problem, can you please fix it under warranty.