Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Stumped on fluid leak

Apologies, it was £1600 to be exact.

It seems its a yearly occurrence, this whole 'why do I keep accepting things like this' when it comes to service. I had it once at the factory for some paint warranty work and decided to pay extra for clear coat etc. Add in service etc and it was well past the £2000 mark. I was given the car with the steering wheel pointing to the left at 1 o'clock and the car pulling severally to the right! Upon going back I was told it was an apprentice who did the work,

Got home and went through the x point health check list. All were ticked and passed MOT - washer nozzles were lose and pointing the wrong way, said alignment issue, air filter was absolutely black yet was noted as not needing changing etc. I was about to embark on my cross EU trip. Thankfully MMC did send a flatbed and brought the car back and kept it for a few days. But again, for a specialist car and paying top money for what is in the end a simple oil change, one wouldn't expect this.

I've owned 30 plus cars during my time and never once have I had such issues.

Once again, apologies for the rant. Car washed and buffed and being a lovely garage ornament whilst I wait for mid Sept when I have it going to a private garage for a once-over.

Appreciate the kind offer. I've got that exact spanner and thankful for it!

it's booked into an independent garage that a mate who has a Morgan has been going to for years. I'll see how that goes.

Thanks again.

It's been just over a month since going in for full service and was then informed it needed king pins, rear brake cylinders and had a brake fluid flush while at it.

* I assume they sprayed the rear springs as I have copious amounts of sticky oil being left each time I park up. I know this is normal for a day or two but not after 6 plus weeks.
* The reason for this post - something leaking at the front. Zero leaks or issues before bringing in
* I appreciate the pins need bedding in but the front is bobbing along worse than when new. Fingers cross it settles
* while not mechanical, I left there being made to feel like I'm new at Morgan, or better yet never owned a car. I always bring my car in freshly washed and polished and asked they do not wash it. I got it back where clearly someone took a dirty wet rag and wiped the whole car down. The explanation I was given was they had to wipe the washer fluid off after testing said washer. ???? Last I checked that doesn't require them touching the whole body
* I got in the car to leave and the car was rolled...hand brake on. I yanked it back as far as it would go and I could still push it. In it went again and clearly something was up as they had it on the hoist for a good 10 mins with the wheels off. Last I checked, you can adjust the cable in a few mins.


When you pay just shy of £2000 you would expect the car to come back better than when left.

I should say, the lady who dealt with my booking, greeted me etc could not have been nicer. Top marks in that regards.

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Okay
Kingpins never need bedding in, that just means they’ve been incorrectly reamed (incidentally GoMogs recommended 5 thou clearance will fail a U.K. MOT on excessive play)
I ream to size using an adjustable reamer with a pilot, and then hone/polish for final clearance

The handbrake shouldn’t have needed adjustment even if new wheel cylinders were fitted. What they haven’t done is reset the self adjusters on the brake shoes correctly. ….

Even if a car just has a service wash as a courtesy, it should at least be leathered off properly and not left streaky…

I was talking to Chris Thompson about your car on Friday evening ( I look after his Uncle Andrews’s ARV6- last years Morgan challenge winning car)
You can get in touch with my through him or directly if you want my recommendations

Sorry to take so long to respond Perry, I finally got round to taking some pictures for you, they’re a bit boring so I’ve included some from last weekend at the British touring cars, my daughter had a try at being a grid girl, since she doesn’t like make up, high heels or hairdos, she decided it’s not for her
I wonder if Ash Sutton’s car has the same springs as yours, his car seems to lean a fair bit!
The new landie was a weekend demo, must say, it’s very good.
Back to the springs, mine seem to be bang on even both sides, excuse the grime, I don’t bother cleaning there until I’m servicing, my thinking is, the greasy muck is protecting against corrosion. I have the tiniest amount of play on my pins, but nothing like enough to bother interfering with, I’m sure I recall when I did clean them last, I could rotate both springs with my hand, so they’re not tight against the stub.

Thank you Ewn and Simon. Much appreciated.

I took off the drivers side wheel again to clean up last nights leakage. On a whim I lowered the car down to where the passenger side tyre touched the ground and the a bit more to where the drivers side sans wheel kept going down a bit. I heard something give. In short, the slack on the drivers side is now gone and my lower springs are now both snug and looking much like Ewn's.

Good news Perry, hopefully that’s all it needed, take it out for a proper thrash next, that’ll fix it for good.
I’ve no idea about the fluid leak however, sounds like the car doesn’t need it whatever it is, so better out than in I’d say, take it out again for another thrash just to be sure.
I’ve done my own servicing since I bought it, now that you’ve put a value on that , I think I’ll treat myself to something nice as payment now, a ski holiday in Gstad or maybe scuba diving in the Maldives
Mind you, I also have no service record so perhaps I shouldn’t be too generous, I’m off to Orkney in it next week, that’ll do nicely.

I'm glad it has moved but worry that it stuck. Hopefully driving will help but I would still complain to Oakmere.

Only a wild thought...don’t suppose the grease nipple was replaced with one with too long a thread, which then rubbed tight against the king pin? (This issue is referred to in gomog.) If it happens again, may be worth unscrewing the nipple to see if anything gives.

I would agree with John. It could have just jumped from one unnatural position to another given seemingly poorly reamed bushes. You could try squirting a little more grease into kingpin nipples then taking car for a good drive over bumpy roads to loosen up suspension. Jacking, dropping then rolling car back and forwards several times whilst everything is loose will allow for an average static position and realistic check of rebound spring situation.

FWIW correctly reamed kingpin bushes should just allow a greased kingpin to drop slowly through stub axle under its own weight, before re-assembly.

Yet another thought...the fact that it released when unbalanced force was exerted on the cross frame as it was lowered with one wheel on the ground, could it be due to a broken or maladjusted diagonal brace rod. (the rod that connects between the top of the cross frame with the lower end to the chassis. Not unknown for these to fracture.