Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Running rough

Rob, the symptom of a cylinder not working is not necessarily caused by the ignition.
Your car probably does not have OBD2 because it was built before 2000.
I had the symptom of a cylinder not working some time ago. My OBD2 reader was a great and quick help. It was a weak contact in the electrical wire to one of the injectors. Therefore she run only on three cylinders. These injectors and their electrical supply lines are in a wet area where rainwater constantly penetrates. If your Rover engine has electric injectors then it would be worth trying to check these contacts as well. Here is my former thread.

http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthread...injectors-issues-today-solved#Post678897

Have a look at the plugs.

If one of them is black and oily it suggests it has fuel getting to it but not firing properly. Similar to running very rich.

If it's the injector it will probably look cleanish as it's not getting any fuel to it.

One other scenario. It could be sticky valves in that cylinder. Don't know if that's ever been a problem on the Rover engine.

Hi Rob B,

Kieth at Brands Hatch is very Knowledgeable about the T16 Rover Engine, unfortunately so am I, it is by sorting issues with my engine to get it running sweet that I have come across all manner of issues.
Other TM folk have suggested possible causes and effects.
You need to investigate the patient then when you see what the problem is deploy the fix, there are a few quirks such as low battery voltage effects the MEMS unit and as John says the Vacuum pipe connected to the mems can become blocked with oil crud or break off, however I have disconnected my vacuum hose to the mems unit and the engine runs without misfire
I use a ODB reader and software to help with diagnosis and also have fine tuned my engine.
The software / odb gives readings of all sensors and the Lamda reading
Software and reader is on this link http://memsdiag.blogspot.com/2015/01/memsdiag-what-is-memsdiag-memsdiag-is.html

I expect it is the ECU failure.. I have a 95 +4 and had a similar issue, a new / replacement ECU fixed it..

Where in Kent are you? If you were close you could try my one but expect you have an immobiliser which might make that problematic...


It is quite common for the ECU’s to fail.. What’s the code on your ECU if you have a look on eBay you might find a cheap replacement, alternatively there is a places that will repair / replace it for about £100.

I once had a plug where the insulation cracked. It might be worth changing them.

Start with the simple things - plugs and leads

Thinking about it... new leads and distributor cap / rotor arm (if it has one as it might be on coil packs) would be a good start. If that doesn't cure it it could likely be the ECU playing up.

No dizzy at T16 uses the ECU. My ECu played up then it would either idle perfectly, not at all or a 3500 rpm.

Update,

Changed the leads and plugs, got fed up with fiddling about as the plugs are directly under the bonnet hinge with very little room to work so I took the bonnet off and what a difference this made.
Got the job done and routed the leads properly, put everything back and hey presto it runs like a dream.

Thanks to all for your input and help......