Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Squeaks rattles and knocks

Anyone any stories about solving some of these irritations,

I have a growing selection such as;
1. A tinny rattle when engine is not pulling
2. A knock seemingly from the door hinge (no movement apparent) when driving over bumps/grids/poor road repairs etc)

Any others or ideas?

Chris444

Tinny rattle - if the crank pulley turns clockwise when looking from the front (usually do), the engine will lean to the offside under load, so look at what might be catching.....air box is a likely culprit. Something could be catching the bonnet hinge???

Door hinge knock - try moving the screen frame upright, see if that makes the noise. When did you last lubricate the bonnet tapes???? Mine developed an insane creak from the nearside screen pillar, which disappeared completely when I put some Vaseline on the tapes.

I don't know how old your car is and how many miles she has under her belt, but knocks and rattles develop IMHO on all Morgans with use and age.

Is the knock still there a day after the car got soaking wet (if you are one of the increasingly rare breed who drives her in the rain). Sometimes knocks and squeaks come when the wood has shrunk a little after prolonged dryness.

Frank

Thanks car is a 1999 4/4 4 seat long door, 17,000 miles driven in all weathers

You only have TWO irritating noises?

Cris,
Interesting topic I like to keep the car reasonably rattle free where I can, it is a nice "challenge". On the plus-4;
1) Rattle from the bonnet at low revs. Solved with some neoprene & Ducktape on the bonnet catches and the stops. Looks horroble but works so promoted from temporary fix to semi permanent fix. (Can't see it with the bonnet closed anyway)
2) An anoying rattle from the right hand door when going over bumps. Found it was the front window a bit loose in its frame along the top. Cured it by shoving a piece of tie rap by the side of the window. Invisible and cured the rattle but it later fell out so permanent fix under investigation.
3) At crawling speed on bumpy road (to my house so almost every day) a lot of rattle from under the car. Went round tapping on various parts, found it worse when kicking the front tires! Sounds like the springs on the king-pins? Not looked at a fix yet probably wont mess with it if it is the suspension.
4) Quite a bit of rattle from the engine. It is always there, at idle and under load. Thought it was the injectors but I also hear it on overrun so I now think the valves? Checked with the dealer, he says the Duratec has hydraulic tappets. Looked on the internet and found the roadster has hydraulic tappets but not the 2L. However they are "maintenance free" which for the dealer is probably the same thing, they cant be adjusted (unless you take the camshafts out I guess). Anyone else has a noisy 2L Ford engine?

JJW

I wonder if there is a special secret department at Morgan to research good authentic vintage squeaks, it is uncanny driving a brand new car without any at all but after about 700 miles on they come. Said Morgan secret department probably called MOGi8 or something very good they are too. I spent quite a few years as a bus engineer where I spent time curing various faults but there is usually room to work on a bus, do not fancy cutting out floorboards to stick my head through to watch the suspension as I did on a number of occasions, so back to trial, error and guesswork but keep the suggestions coming something will match the tinkle my car has when not on load.