Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Skip Fire and Bump Steer

Hello fellow 5-Speeders!
I have owned my 2012 since last November. Reading the better part of this forum's posts once cannot be wary of steering and cooling issues on the M3W. Accordingly, I have avoided driving in warm conditions since my trike has not been updated with a fan. Due to noise, cost and esthetics avoiding the modification has been my preference.

Today, wanting to run an errand, but noting that the Southern California heat here in Santa Clarita had already pushed the reported temp to 89 degrees f and climbing (92f by time I returned home) I decided to test the trike's heat tolerance. Subjected to 30 miles combination of suburban traffic, sitting parked in the sun, and freeway speeds the engine ran flawlessly. No skip fire condition observed. I did shut off the engine when prolonged waits at traffic light were predictable. The engine does have G56 Stage II mods.

My question for the forum is: Is heat intolerance a rare event affecting only a few machines?

I mentioned before that after installing Ohlin shocks the trike steering and handling is enjoyable (without bump steer)d IMHO without further modification. So the same question applies to the steering modification.

I'm still trying to balance my experience against that of other forum members.

Cheers!

Dave

Dave, I too have a 2012 machine with stage 1 and no fan and have yet to experience the skip fire condition, even when driving in 95 degree heat. I will say I rarely encounter any significant traffic due to living in the boonies.

As for the bump steer, mine already had the steering kit fitted so can't compare. But being familiar with bump steer set up from my racing days, I can't imagine that your machine would be devoid of it, because it's a function of suspension geometry in relation to steering arm geometry. Shocks do nothing to eliminate bump steer, unless they are simply reducing suspension travel.

Guys skip fire mode is a protection - Having been stuck in severe traffic for a long duration the constant stop start increase in revs and lack of adequate cooling brings it on & it’s a horrible experience. I’ve not experienced it at all since fitting the fan.

Whether the bump steer upsets you or not it is a mechanical flaw that should never have been allowed and needing correction. The geometry will cause uncommanded steering action with suspension movement, hence independent of wheel, leaving the car in a dangerous driving condition at some point.

An immediate improvement involves lowering the suspension to bring track rods parallel to ground under static load or raising steering arms on stub axle (comfort kit) to achieve same. The ultimate is the Empire kit now sold by Krazy Horse which also provides shorter upper wishbone to bring its pivot in line with track rods and desirable negative camber under compression. It also allows adjustment of camber and castor.

Having G56 or other freer flowing exhausts will significantly lower the engine temp and is probably why you didn't get to trigger skip fire. As Mark says, it;s a protection mechanism so if you've not had it don't worry!

Having said that the Urban Cooling Kit fan is very effective and helps the cooling airflow around the engine when your in motion. Aesthetically you soon get used to it, particularly if you paint the top of the shroud.

Re the bump steer, it's very obvious as the car will occasionally jump to one side on hitting a bump. The Ohlins would reduce this with better damping and being adjustable allow you to lower the front of the car so the steering arm is more level. This reduced bump steer as well.

Basically, if you're happy just use the car and enjoy it.

Chris99 mentions something that I was going to add. Mine is a '17 but when I added Ohlins and using the factory pre-setttings, they did noticeably lower the front end. Perhaps the Ohlins are mitigating your innate geometry issue but they don't solve it.

The bump steer is corrected/solved by the comfort kit for pre 2014 and in the standard geometry from 2014 onwards.