Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) GDI not starting

Thanks everyone. I,Lloyd take a look

Lets us know how you get on. Good luck.

RichB,
I had this non starting issue a couple of times on my 2014 Plus 4 and it mysteriously cured itself. Can you possibly indicate where the earth lead bolt is (I've had a look but can see nothing obvious) or, better still, post a photo of it?
Many Thanks

I had this a couple of weeks ago with my 2015 GDI and called the AA out. Fuel pump worked, click but no crank. All electrics fine and full battery. He spent a couple of hours on it in conjunction with a very experienced Morgan owner/ auto electrical expert giving a second opinion over the phone but to no avail. Everything was checked including earths etc. He came to the conclusion that it must be the immobiliser kicking in when it shouldn't. I tried both keys to eliminate them.

Anyway, the Morgan expert kindly came down the following day and took the fuse box apart checking all fuses, relays etc. After some handling of (now bear with me as I have zero technical knowledge) the connector housing that all the wires go into and subsequently plugs into one of the control boxes (not the ECU one I don't think), the car kicked to life and has been OK since. Coincidence? Maybe.

The suggestion is that possibly the pin/wire which controls the immobiliser may be loose or faulty and that is next to be looked at to eliminate it, but at the moment the car is working.

A few years ago I had the same problem with a Freelander and off it went on a truck to the auto electricians but when it was taken off the truck at the other end it fired up and has been OK since.

Maybe it is the same Gremlin!

N.B. This came after driving 200 miles from MOG 18 in soaring temperatures then left in a very warm insulated garage for a week before starting the car again. Maybe there was some expansion/contraction of rubbers/plastics in the connection housing that caused a bad connection. Unlikely but just a thought.

To follow on from my previous post - the cylinder head of GDI has a secondary earthing wire fixed to the rear of the head low down just above the join with the main block on the left hand side (passenger side in UK). Photo from the rear left hand side of engine shows the wire (pinky red, running vertically upward) bolted via a ring connector to the head. Not a good photo but best I could get as access is poor and flash bounces off all sorts.

When my GDI would not start (engine turned, petrol pump worked etc) this bolt was found slightly loose – when tightened all was well.

One to file for later reference!
Nice find

Just off to inspect..........

I have now had a good luck at all of the areas raised.

The head earth bolt did not appear to be 100% tight but tightening did not cure the problem. I Checked the main earth to the block and that was fine. I also checked both keys and disconnected and reconnected everything the in the electrical box. It's still the same. I have it booked into the garage on Monday so hopefully they can find the problem.

I'll provide an update next week.

Not for the want of trying. Good luck at the dealers next week.

As an idea - the only other item I checked (as best I could) was the crankshaft position sensor. Mine appeared ok ie connections good etc but its difficult to tell if its actually working.....