Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Centra Compensator falling apart.....

OMG GLLOQs pics are startling to say the very least.

I thought this was one upgrade from the early models which MMC had nailed - clearly not the case.

It will be most interesting to see what the outcome is between MMC/Centra and customers suffering this issue.

What symptoms did you get and for how long before you lost drive GLLOQ? How many miles had the Centa drive done before failing? Does your gearbox bellhousing have the hole for lubricating the original compensator War Bird? I cannot see any other easy way of inspecting inside. Unfortunately my car doesn't even have the lubrication hole but ignorance may be bliss.

This doesn't surprise me as the loads taken in the M3W installation are not constant or in one direction. The Centa drive will have a hard life. As mentioned, some ventilation may help extend the life of the rubber rollers but that would be a big job and may introduce contamination that would increase the wear rate.

Darn!!! (Or words to that effect), just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.....

I had a centra fail for other reasons related to a mistake by the installer. The shop gave me the old centra unit and the rubber rods are on the shelf in the garage. They have about 5,500 miles of use on them and look as new showing no checking, fractures or stress marks. The current centra unit has about 11,000 miles on it and "feels" fine to date.

I just drove 435 miles yesterday from Arizona to California and was enjoying how nice it was to have the vehicle sorted.

Think I'll add a bit of bourbon to the morning coffee....

Thats not good at all, what makes it worse is the time and effort involved in replacing the rubbers.

If it was a 1 hour job it could be just an inconvenience or similar to replacing the rear brake shoes.

I'm sort of happy that I stuck with the MK1B compensator with grease nipple. Up to press it has been 100% reliable and quiet with 10 pumps of grease every 1000 miles or so.

Has anyone reported this to their dealer or to MMC yet and if so have you had any response?

I have well over 12,000 miles on the Centa unit and it has shown very little sign of falling apart. I also baby this car when I drive it as I really keep the revs up. I've always done this. I am convinced that low revs will eat any compensator made. I destroyed the original stock unit modeled after an H-D design. The Centa unit is made for relatively constant rpm's and after really watching the torque/hp curves I have to add that if you dip into the low rpm territory the Centa unit will get eaten.

My two cents worth...

I agree. I'm NEVER below 3,000. Almost always between 3,000-4,500

I was warned by some strange noises that resembled the sound of a barrel of wine rolling in the bottom of a schooner in bad weather, the noise at low engine speed changes speed to stop the tw, Slowing down the rubber pieces go to the front of the torque damper housing and gets stuck because the casing is reduced forward, when started to drop the steering rack there were visible rubber tracks, the deposited starter There was much easy rotation of the flywheel with the finger.

Thanks for the description of the noise GLLOQ, not a noise I have heard but I get the idea. Never thought of looking around the steering rack hole for signs of rubber, a good idea.

I do drive my M3W at lower rpm. Since fitting the G56 Stage 1 system it seems to be quite happy down to about 2000rpm. That equates to about 30mph in 4th, a useful urban speed that you can use without feeling like you are reving the nuts of it through towns. Agreed, with the standard system the engine is not so flexible but the standard system does the engine no favors in any depatment. My Centa drive has done 7,000 miles without any hint of a problem (yet). It will be interesting to see how it lasts. I will keep an eye on it, thanks for the warning.

I concur with Planenut. The Centa used to be unhappy in the low 2000s rpm, but I haven't heard a rumble out of it since fitting the G56 exhausts. Frankly, when I'm gently pootling about, anywhere betwenn 2,500 - 3,500 rpm is comfortable, but great fun can also be had at higher revs.

Tim