Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Help!

I really feel for you. This is so frustrating!

The fact that it ran for 10 mins, cut out and won't restart points towards something, breaking, sticking, blocking, shorting or vibrating lose etc....

Have you had the rocker cover off? It is very unlikely that the timing chain has slipped a tooth ot two, but you never know.

Have you someone who can rotate the dizzy left/right while you're cranking over just to see if you get the slightest flutter on easystart?

I once a Triump Bonneville that had a habit of the main SU carb jet vibrating loose. That made the mixture on that side very rich & it would cut out or run badly . Having 2 carbs the other cyclinder still ran. I'm not sure what kind of carb you have but could the jet(s) have moved?

is the spark nice and blue? it could be that you are getting a spark at the plug when it is removed but once it is put back the pressure in the cylinder may make the spark take an easier route ie. tracking to earth in the distributor cap maybe?

Good luck

David Byrne

As it was running fine, and then just stopped and you presumably did not make any wiring or mechanical changes between it running and it failing then I don't see how it can be things like plug lead mis-ordering. It seem much more likely to be a component failure. I know you have tried changing the coil and the ballast resistor. Is it worth replacing the condenser? Where physically are you located ? Are you anywhere near a dealer ? I would also suggest putting a hand over the exhaust pipe and confirm there is some outflow from the engine when you are turning it over with the starter to confirm that air is flowing into and out of the actual cylinders....

Nowhere near a dealer Oakmere would be the closeted at about 40m away. Don’t know how I can test the plugs under load, but all four to fail at once seems very unlikely and at least would have fired once is five days

Jeez, this is getting frustrating to read I can only imagine the way the OP is feeling as I have been there and done that with my good lady`s Nissan Micra many years ago, though it was winter and had got to the stake of pre heating the sparkplugs with a blow lamp before the thing fired up....

This sort of thing drained my confidence back then, today, would be even worse. I guess one has to get back to the VERY basics in the hope of finding something/anything..!!! Sorry do not mean to insult anyone`s intelligence with my suggestions, just would like to see the situation resolved.

Given Easy Start does not even cause a F*rt let alone a bang...!!! How old is the can, not that I know anything about the ageing effect on Easy Start..!

Voltage drops.... Usually earth related, with the engine spinning over well the battery is not suspect, and with the coil having been wired direct from the battery that cuts out voltage drops through the wiring and switching. As an aside, as best I can remember the ballast resistor is NOT normally in circuit when the ign key is turned to the start position it is bypassed to provide full battery voltage to the coil to side step any volt drop issues of cold weather or old battery etc. etc. etc..? When the ballast resistor fails the car fires up when the ign key is held in the start position but cuts out when the key is allowed to return to the run position.. Earthing of the coil might be worth checking... I guess your dizzy may be a FoMoCo, though in Lucas units I have known the green pigtail that provides the earth between the dizzy base plate and the moving advance plate on which the points are mounted to create intermittent earthing issues.

The hope is that you have seen sparks at all of the plugs. Assuming you have help to operate the ign key while you check this that and the other.... Using their leads to check rough timing with a plug removed and connected to the appropriate lead and positioned where it will be earthed and you can see it spark (preferably without giving you an electric shock) put your thumb over the spark plug hole and have the engine spun over and your thumb should be blown off the hole at the same time as the plug sparks....

You have checked compression, What about induction.. I guess you are unlikely to have a flow meter, but I have been known to put the palm of my hand close to closing of the carb intake and spinning the engine, to feel the induction, always a chance of clearing an iffy jet, though that is not the issue here.... Sorry just going through the motions.

With induction, compression and COMBUSTIBLE fuel with the addition of ignition the outcome seems self evident..?

Again my dear wife tested me some years back when yet another of her cars failed to start in Winter.... It is a long story that involved replacing the fuel pump fuel supply pipe and pouring boiling water into the petrol tank to resolve the issue... All of which causes me to suggest the possibility of water in the fuel... water being heavier than fuel will lie at the bottom of the tank and the fuel pick up pipe entry is usually placed to pick up the fuel from the lowest point on the tank, yeah a very long shot, but...?

Keeping my fingers crossed for you..

Hi Mark,

Considering the fact that all has been checked and double checked from a mechanical point of view, could it be immobiliser related?

I'm not sure if your car has one but if it does this may be an avenue to explore, you never know.

Just a thought.


Rob..

I'm starting to wonder if the valve timing has slipped somehow.

Just to let you know, it fired and run well, and I have not a clue why!
It’s as if nothing went wrong, to the best of my knowlageI did nothing different to what I have done over the past five days!
Thanks for everyone’s help, it has left me doubting the cars reliability, certainly not a fix at the side of the road.

If I knew why it failed to start I could accept the situation, this has been the weirdest situation I have experienced, at least it is running now. Again thanks for everyone’s help.

Good to hear! .... though it's never satisfying when things mysteriously clear up on their own .... just keep on using the car and pretend it was just a horrible dream .... it may never do it again (and if it does there's always the RAC*)


K

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