Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Non Starting Morgan

Hi, I would like some help and advice for a non-starting Morgan.

It is a 1997 Plus 4+4 with 2.0L Rover engine. It started to misfire few months ago and quickly failed to restart. It has been in a non-Morgan garage for repair since, but the mechanic has not been able to resolve the problem. He has reported no spark. Initial diagnosis was ECU fault, it has been sent to ATC Drivetrain UK Ltd for testing and found to be fully operational. It is now reunited with the Morgan.

I would be most most grateful for any ideas to try, and diagnostic tools that can be applied to find the problem. Would the Morgan have an OBD2 port or is it before time?

More background information:
- The Morgan is in Hong Kong, it was exported when new in 1997
- The current mechanic has been maintaining the Morgan for 10+ years and know the car well. He is very experienced.
- The wire-loom and ECU connector are in good condition with no sign of visible corrosion
- The Morgan is seldomly used so may have contributed to the problem

Change out the relays on the passenger (LHS) of the bulkhead as a first call

The fault sounds electrical from the mechanic's diagnosis.

Follow Simon's suggestion and change the relays, use good quality units , not cheap pattern parts.

I run a +8 , but I think a lots of the ignition system is similar to the Rover T16 engined +4.

The first thing I do when faced with an electrical issue is to check all the connections and especially those to earth, but an experienced mechanic will almost certainly have done this already.

If the relays do not cure the problem , I would look at the ignition module mounted on the left (looking forward) side valence. I have had to replace mine once. The other area could be the distributor and its associated modules. The general method of isolating this is to use another known good one to replace it , but I accept that could be tricky in Hong Kong

Morgans of this age do not have an OBDII port , but they do have a port that can be connected to a RoverCom system . However this was short-lived technology which gave way to OBDII . It is possible that a Land Rover garage in HK has an old one lying around somewhere? That may be worth a try.

Hi Simon, you mentioned relays, can you let me know how many and what functions they perform please? It will help me to identify them with the mechanic.

Hi, yes, the mechanic has checked earthing

Is there anyway the output from ECU can be probed to see if the right signals are sent to the ignition module before replacing it?

Parts such as ignition module, distributor and associated modules would have to be ordered from UK, I am used to doing that over the years :-)

There are also parts like crank and cam sensors that can prevent sparks, is there any way to test them individually?

There will be 2 or 3 relays. One is the main relay, one is the fuel pump relay. There is no hard and fast rule as to the order of which one is which....This is a Morgan afterall

I used to have a 1997 +4 Rover T16
Dont recall any relays, except one near the Rover MEMs unit.

I would check the fuses, which I guess has already been done
Also the inertia cut out switch which for me was under the bonnet, on the bulkhead next to the wiper motor.

When you put the ignition on can you hear
1) The petrol pump &
2) The stepper motor - a clicking sound