Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Yet another regulator failure?

My M3W is coming to the end of the world's lengthiest chassis replacement. It went in to have it done in May last year at the service agents in France at the Paul Ricard circuit. They say it is all finished now but the regulator is U/S (Hors Service in French). This was already the third regulator this car had had in 6000km and was one of the few bits that was working properly when the car went in for its chassis replacement.

The price in France is a not inconsiderable €750 on top of what I am sure is going to be an epic bill for the extra work I had done, when the chassis was being replaced. I suspect the bill may be "optimised" wherever possible, as the garage has gone way over the permitted hours for the chassis replacement (40 hours) and I am guessing may be looking to recover some of the unfunded labour costs.

Does anyone recondition these regulators or is there any alternative regulator which has a longer life? I have currently fitted, the later type of regulator, which sits with its fins facing forwards on 4 metallastic bobbins to the lower right of the engine, looking from the front.

Wilson

This is just appalling and I wish I could provide an answer but I hope all is fixed soon. Is this work being done under warranty?

Use the Harley Davidson regulator instead part no 74540-01, much cheaper and more reliable. It is a direct swop apart from one ring terminal which you need to change for a larger size.

It should not cost anymore than MMC would charge. Ask them and challenge your dealer.

Plenty on ebay if you want a price guide.

Wilson, the last regulator that should be fitted is the standard, original fitment one from Morgan. It appears to be vulnerable to internal failure due to heat and/or vibration plus the quality of the external wiring is poor leading to breakage of the copper cores and cracking of the insulation which leads to short circuits and early failure.
I have no idea why MMC persist with the original regulator, it just seems to be such a poor bit of kit. On the other hand the cheap, "for Harley" regulators direct from China via eBay just work.

Thanks guys. My suspicion is that the powder coating was not properly cleaned off the new chassis where the earth wire from the regulator attached, to get a proper contact. Apparently this cooks the rectifier and control MOSFET in a few minutes. The regulator I am considering using is this one https://goo.gl/XhT39R from Amazon France. A big saving from the S&S/Morgan/Cycle Co at €134 instead of €750 and hopefully the bonus is that it will work better.

The chassis repair work was an agreed warranty job but the service agent did not find out how many hours they were permitted to do the job and have gone considerably over. They asked me to fund the difference. I declined even to become involved in the discussion and said that this was between them, the main agents in France and Morgan in Malvern. I have been told it has been sorted out.

I did have quite a bit of extra work done: Centa Compensator, S&S cam drive bolt kit and new belt, Chassis Comfort Kit, better quality 150ºC Aeroquip Neoprene-Kevlar oil lines and a oil temp gauge added (all supplied by me), bevel box flushed and refilled with Hi-Shock 75W250, new rear hub and new super lightweight/hard steel rear sprocket (sprocket supplied by me) and new rear tyre. All of that and the attendant labour, I have agreed to pay for but I will want to see an itemised labour bill for it.

Wilson

Thats the correct HD one.

I had a MMC replacement last year and the rectifier was £275 (plus VAT)

€750 seems a bit steep, even if you include fitting.

Anyway the HD one is the way to go.