Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax The ol non-start issue

Some great information here, trying to digest it all!

Mine is a Ctek CT5 TIME TO GO GULF UK


Ctek - Gulf Edition

This has an AGM function which is what I have always used on the Aero's, I charge via the cigarette lighter adaptor as that seems to be the best way for me and never had any issues with the old one being left on 24/7 - so I can only presume the battery or starter is a dud!

Invoice for the starter has no part number but does say Bosch/BMW - so guessing its a genuine one.

yeah, they all do that, don't they?

I looked under my Aero and saw a pool of electricity - a slow steady drip that would drain the battery in a week in winter. Nobody could ever figure out where the leak came from.

Using the isolator switch slowed the drip enough to start the car after 3-4 weeks.

Where I parked I couldn't get a trickle charger to it, so the solution was the three R's

1 Reduce the risk of a flat battery: drive the car at least every other week (which let's face it, is hardly a hardship!)
2 Remove the worry of an unexpected flat battery: store a charger in the car: they're pretty small these days. I used a Noco Genius, and even remembered to charge it a couple of times a year
3 Remember that batteries are not for life: a fresh Odessy or similar quality battery every 4 years or so, going into winter, at the first signs of 't old one being tired.

Will

Nick you mention using the AGM setting? I am not aware of the S1 Odyssey model but the S2 onwards just used a normal lead-acid model and not an AGM one as I understood it. So the AGM setting on the charger would not be optimal?

I have used a CTEK 5 on standard setting and maintenance mode pretty much forever. Interestingly the S2 can go ages with a boost but the Coupe cannot go 2 weeks.
I also invested in a Li-Ion battery booster-starter and it has proved very good. It seems odd that something so small and charged using a simple USB-C charger can kick a V8 over!

Good point Alistair, my old S1 had an older battery which I check was AGM - being totally honest I have not checked the current one as presumed it would be the same based on the age etc, but I will go and check!

The selling dealer did mention the issue, so I can take some comfort that it isn't related to anything I have done regardless.

Ok so had a check, photos confirm my old S1 had an Odyssey PC-925 which was AGM, new battery in the GTN is a Full Throttle FT410 PC925 also AGM.

Interestingly the old S1 battery I think reading the sticker albeit not entirely clear was dated 2008 (casing manufacture I believe so guessing 08/09)! The new (suspected troublesome one) is 2022...not sure if thats luck or just speaks for the quality of Odyssey!

Just a comment on Odyssey PC925 batteries.

I have one fitted to my 2003 4/4.
The original factory fitted battery was a Red Jet.
I fitted my first PC925 in 2008. I fitted my second PC925 in 2018. (Not because it was as obviously weak, but due to a pending extended tour of Northern Spain)

During the winter, I tend to top up the charge with a garage wall mounted Optimate Charger, about every two weeks.

Both battery and charger are highly recommended

Bud
4/4 - Stanley

I admit to not being that technically minded with this stuff.

I have probably in excess of 20 cars all hooked up to CTeks and have done for over 10 years or so.

They’re all 5.0 and 8.0’s

All I’ve ever done is connect them up and taken zero notice as to what mode they’re in and walked away. Some cars left this way for years. I was under the impression they sorted themselves out.

Reading all the above has worried me that I might be sitting on a ticking bomb

One particular car has a battery that is now over 13 years old

Will ping you.

I have owned my 2003 Aero for 17 years after a trip through France and Spain and continuously starter clicking being afraid to turn the car off even in petrol stations. We bit the bullet and travelled to Cereal Surfers father’s garage in High Wycombe(a lot cheaper and quicker than main dealers)and had a new starter fitted. By then the only way to start the car was to bump it, we made the whole journey from Pembroke including three stops without turning the engine off.
This lasted a few years before the click returned, I then contacted a company who supplied hi torque starters and he told me he supplied a Morgan main agent with standard starters regularly but he didn’t know it was a problem.
The car was booked into my local electrical car repairer to repair/modify the air conditioning and I asked them to remove the starter motor and refurbish it, I was very surprised when they said the starter motor was ok but the solenoid was burnt out.
Now onto last year and the click was again back so back to repairer and again it was the solenoid.
Sorry for prattling on but basically all the Morgan dealers want to do is fit new starters for extravagant prices.
My car is on a Lidl battery conditioner since the original one broke with no problem.

The clicking comes from the piggyback starter motor solenoid so you should not be surprised that burnt out. What usually happens though is either a near flat or time expired battery is not able to provide enough current. The otherwise perfect solenoid drops out just after starter is engaged as the current draw causes the knackered battery volts to drop very low. Battery volts then recover and the process repeats in very short order, several times a second hence clicking. Although less likely it can be caused by poor battery or earth strap connections.

Bosch used to provide the solenoids as a separate part although replacement involved soldering. Nowadays a failed one means a complete new starter motor as solenoid is essentially an integral part.

It occurs to me you may be calling the starter relay a solenoid. The former is a standalone device one step further up the starting chain and could also cause the issue although unlikely. Always worth carrying a spare as it's a simple plug in replacement. Ditto fuel pump relay, they are often the same.