Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) What Did You Do To Your Morgan Today?

Excellent tip LOTW, I have never looked inside a tyre valve cap on a slowly deflating tyre...

I removed and disassembled the float lids on the SU HS6 carbs on my car in preparation to shipping them to New York to get the little vent holes fitted with overflow tubes. The car will be out of commission for the duration, and may cause me to miss an event I wanted to attend. Pesky priorities...

If you tire is deflating this is caused by the the valve. You can change them separately, and it‘s worth to do this.
The valvecaps are only an extra safety. Sometimes you can get a set of o-rings at ALDI & Co, Halfords or Motorcycle shops.

Greets René

I agree with René, the valve stem dust caps should have no bearing on air leaks whatsoever. It would be unwise to rely on such to seal a leaky valve even if it does work for a while. It's possible that LOTW disturbed the leaky valve by chance to stop the air escaping. Putting spittle on the valve stem with cap removed was the time honoured method of checking for valve leaks.

Tip: valve stem caps are available with an extended tool that unscrews the actual tyre valve within. A spare valve can then be screwed in to replace. May be worth having both, in the garage at least.

Given that many valve caps are mass produced and that there is perhaps the slightest chance that a mal formed cap might just have some crud trapped inside and which may unseat the valve stem by some degree to deflate a tyre over time... I think that in a slow deflation of a tyre, it takes little effort or time to check inside a valve cap for possible obstructions.. ?

Gave her a pat on the bonnet before closing up the garage. Going out of town for a few weeks...

Belle has a leaky oil seal on the rear n/s half shaft. So I drove her with the bits to my trusty local garage who will also fit new brake shoes & diff oil (they need to drain the diff anyway). A bit too big a job for me & my skills.

Probably a bit late to say this John but put Redline LSD oil in mine which cured the clicking of cone clutches in my BTR diff when manoeuvring on full lock, particularly in reverse.

This stuff, but two bottles needed leaving you with some spare.

Yesterday I checked the rad fan circuit. On the way up to Morgans at Windermere the fan failed to kick in due to a blown fuse just South of Oswestry. Replaced and no problems since. At the same time the in-glovebox power point was being used for satnav power. I have never liked it as there seems too much free play so suspect a bit of play resulted and caused breaks in supply that triggered the fuse to blow. The power to the satnav also failed. The map light is on the same circuit. The power socket appears to be the weakest link as no other suspects were found. The fuse has blown before. I carry spare relays and fuses plus a test meter so straight forward to check on the roadside. On the way home we were stuck on the M6/ A6 diversion for nearly 4 hours and the fan was working overtime but good! I suspect the looseness of the power plug/socket may be the cause as everything else tests ok. Rad switch, relays, wiring, connections etc.
Two jobs planned...
Fit a bypass switch for the fan.
Find a better power socket and fit it in a more convenient place.

Note that fuses “blow” due to an excess of current, not a break in continuity. It seems likely that your power socket (or the wiring in general or some other connected item on that circuit) is causing an intermittent short circuit, which could be simply connections or wires that are out of sight, touching earthed metalwork due to the item being insecure or wobbly or worn. I would inspect closely, as soon as.