Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Bevel Box oil change

Hello,

About a week ago I purchased a Morgan Three Wheeler that had largely been sitting since 2017. The previous owner did fire it up some, that said when I changed the engine oil, it was just about black. So, I know the Morgan has not had the fluids changed since 2017. This has me thinking the bevel box is probably in major need of a service as well.
Does anyone know of a set of instructions or a video to help guide me through this service?

Thank you!

The stuff that is in there from the factory is black.
There is no "major service" to be done to the bevel box other than changing the oil.

The oil that I drained from the engine was black. Just curious if anyone has instructions on draining and changing out the bevel box oil. I know the Morgan has not had a service since late 2017.

I am assuming your Bevel Box is the standard box with no upgrades:

Take the vehicle for a drive to warm the box.
Jack up the vehicle so you can get under the rear with the front slightly higher than the rear.
Go under rear between the tire and the box, feel up for the two bolts above each other at the bottom of the rear facing side of the box.
Undo the upper bolt first this is the fill hole. Then undo the lower bolt which is the drain enuring you have the drain pan ready.
Once empty replace the lower bolt and lower the front of the vehicle till level.
Fill up with fresh oil through the upper hole till it flows out of the hole (this is the fiddly bit a hand pump can help put the oil in, also warming the oil first or if not using a pump putting a pipe in from above helps) and replace the bolt.

Then you are done. Hope this helps?

Thank you britmog! This most certainly does help.

brtimog, do you know what type of oil the bevel box needs and how many quarts? Sure would be nice if Morgan put this information in the manual that comes with the car! Thanks again for the help, much appreciated.

Surprised to hear that your engine oil was black when it came out, it must have been in there for a long time. The oil is usually still nice and clean when it is changed I find.

To change the Bevel Box oil there are a set of photos here: http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/180189/3. I would go with what Bunny says on page 3 particularly. You don't need to remove the bulkhead panels. The BB should take approx 330cc of oil to fill it to the correct level hole, over filling will cause it to run hotter and possibly leak through the seals. I use Redline Heavy Shockproof 75W/140 (75W250), others use Millars EP140, MMC say Morris Lodexol XFS 80W140 synthetic. I usually replace the BB oil at the same time as the engine oil, every 3000 miles. The BB runs hot and the oil has a hard life.

I think Quaife recommend every 30.000 miles - the same as the gearbox but not sure now where I red that. You may find that your car is one of the early ones where Morgan tried to quieten the box by filling it with Molybdenum disulfide sealed for life grease - mine was like this and as you say it is black. I had to warm the box up and rinse it through with white spirit several times and then use a flushing oil before filling with standard EP90 gear oil - it has done 25,000 miles since and I believe it is getting quieter but it may just be my ears shutting down!!

The front seal is like the crankshaft seal - running on a poorly finished and poorly sized shaft with the centre of the flange sealed to the splines with mastic - leaks are common. If you have the seal replaced get the shaft polished while it is out and make sure the mastic is replaced well with some under the retaining nut rather than too much inside the box.

Good luck and happy 3 wheeling,
Phil

You might want to consider flushing through the brake and clutch fluids too if it's not been regularly serviced.

As per Phil's recommendations. Mine had the black gloop in and only about a tablespoon of the stuff came out.

I jacked the rear wheel off the ground so it could be run in gear to warm up, flushing out with diesel 2 or 3 times and then cheap 20-50 engine oil. This was continued until the oil coming out was as clean as it went in.

Have used Millers EP140 every year since with no problems or leaks, and like Phil's it seems to be getting quieter.

1 ltr of oil does about 4 oil changes.

Best of luck with it.