Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Reversing switch - LT77

I suspect the reversing switch has failed on my Plus 8. It has an LT77 gearbox.

What's the best way of replacing the switch - from above by removing the transmission tunnel, or from underneath the car?

many thanks

Looks like from above Dave.

Dave

I can't remember if it is the reversing light or the high intensity fog light that has a relay.

If it is the former then try replacing this before you go for the reversing switch itself. If you have already checked the wiring and confirmed that it is getting current , then disregard this message?

It's not normal practice to use a relay in reversing light circuit. Best to exhaust other possible failures though such as bulb or its holder.

If I remember it correctly, you can access the reversing switch through the top hole in the RH side of the transmission tunnel. You will have to remove the upholstery though.

Working in this area comes up every week these days, with the Rover/LR LT77s or R380s, the most Morgan-used gearboxes in history. (1977-2004 for Plus 8s and 1987ish to 2000 for Plus 4s..about 5000 trads or more than a decade's worth of total production!). That is what caught my eye.

1. Normally, a reverse light problem turns out to be the ground (very common) or bulb (s)..whether you have a LT77 or any other gearbox. However, the two wires from the switch can conceivably fail for some reason. I have only once heard of the switch itself failing. I believe the current part # is TKC6761 (P) but it has changed many times, this number being the latest aftermarket fit. It is not installed in the gearbox, but rather the Sd1 remote that Morgan LT77s and R380s use. It is about 25 quid in the UK and 50+ in the US or Canada. It takes about 5 minutes to remove the old one and install and wire in the new one.

2. The problem is access. It is MUCH easier to build a car than repair one. Cars are built by adding many things on top of each other. Cars are repaired by accessing a lower layer. Like many automobile manufacturers Morgan made a mistake in this area and it has lasted for generations. I imagine it is a factor in the CX cars. At the juncture of the gearbox and propshaft covers, instead of having the flange of the gearbox cover rest on top of the other, they reversed that. That forces one to remove/reinstall the seats, the carpets, the propshaft at the rear bulkhead, the propshaft from the floor, merely to lift the gearbox cover to do a variety of 5 minute jobs that will be necessary over the lifetime of the Morgan. That adds 5-10 hours work, depending on the number of people, expertise etc. Expect to do it many times.

Of course, the cognoscenti (dealers, gurus etc) will not have any of this nonsense. We made jokes about it. But it breaks my heart to see the suffering and money such a simple mistake it costs us owners. I altered my cars decades ago. And I recently canvassed my dealer friends and found they have done the same. We have all been quiet about our mods as many moggers will not alter their Morgans, een to make them better, though we are now in era where the same people spend thousands doing just that with all sorts of mods!

Here are various examples of what we have all done. In all cases, the mods take a small fraction of the time removing the seats requires. https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/GearCoverTweak.html

I attach a diagram of the actual job. Not to worry, there are 3 variants of Sd1 remotes, I merely chose one of them. Aside from the better gear lever bias and ease of shifting adjustments on the one shown, they are all the same. Btw, once you are in the area, there are great things (simple) you could do to improve your Morgan. I have a gomog law that any repair should also incidentally improve the car at the same time.

gmg

Thanks everyone - I will post some pics when I replace the switch (just working my way through a list of things to fix....)

And here are the pics.....




I made a small plate to fit over the hole I had cut, and fixed it with three rivnets. Not pretty, but it is hidden.