Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Poor starting.

looking for some helpful advice. Have a plus 4 with Rover engine. Fitted new battery about a month ago. Now seems to struggle to turn starter motor over and fire up engine with ease. Volt meter is showing about 13 volts.
It almost seems if battery is flat?

Any help appreciated.

Check the earth strap from the battery negative to the chassis. It might look ok superficially but still give a high resistance. Replace it if you can, they are very cheap and make a noticeable difference.

Thanks. I will give that a try.

Also check earth leads from block to chassis for the same reason.

Agree with both of above. Also if you have a battery isolator switch check connections there and volts drop across it when starting. I had similar problems with low crank speed and taking out the isolator made a significant difference . I also added an additional earth strap from chassis direct to starter fixing bolt.

It was the engine to chassis earth on my Roadster.

Hi Mike,

I had just the same trouble on my Rover-engined 1999 +4 a few years ago.

It turned out to be the starter motor in the end, which was drawing too many amps. (Morgan had a bad batch apparently).
I eventually changed it for a 'High Torque' PowerLite unit which solved the problem.

Prior to this, in an effort to get to the bottom of things, I'd had the immobiliser unit professionally by-passed; I'd replaced the crank position sensor; I'd replaced the combined starter relay module; I had the ECU tested; I'd replaced all the earthing straps; I'd replaced the coil pack, plugs and plug leads; and had the battery tested. But still it wouldn't always start. It was really starting to piss me off big-time!

So to save you suffering the same grief, maybe a High Torque starter motor is the answer.
Good luck in getting it sorted.

On my T16 engined plus 4 I replaced the starter motor with one from Brands Hatch Morgan, it span the engine slightly faster and I presume drew less current.

I solved my lethargic starter problems by installing a bigger battery with more cranking amps. Engine spins a treat now!

I had similar on the 4/4 a few years back. I used a long booster cable from the battery negative to the starter negative/earth and the problem went, showing it was the earth. New earth straps all round was the full solution. A lot of the electrics on Morgans are exposed and age adds to the deterioration.