Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Not starting

OK it’s been a long hot desert summer playing M3W mechanic! First I replaced the defective Master Clutch Cylinder. Gave that some early AM miles on it to verify all is well there. Next I decided to change the Bevel Box oil, not knowing if it’s original (just over 2300 miles, purchased at 628 miles). After posting pics here and getting advice to replace the oil seal with a Viton version due to what appeared to be a slight oil leak, I got the seal and replaced it successfully. New Red Line oil back in. I then did the insulation thing all around the interior and put her all back together. Once last stop was to replace the tension rollers for the cam belt with the better version sold by Phil Bleazy. I didn’t change the belt since the original is fine so far. I replaced one roller at a time and put the cover back on.

Then I tried to start it. I have never had to hit the start button more than once in the year and a half I have owned it. It sounded as though it tried to start, and then just the sound of the starter motor turning over the crankshaft. I then noticed the dreaded sump oil flowing out of the air cleaner. Probably taking out the spark plugs to make turning the crank while working on it allowed the sump to fill…never did before but I never took the plugs out prior.

So I disassembled the air cleaner and washed and dried it and applied a proper coat of filer oil. The battery is a year old and is always on a tender and takes and keeps a charge. I’m still getting the same behavior when trying to start it….it appears to fire (sound from exhaust sounds like a cylinder firing) and then doesn’t start.

It was pretty darn sure I didn’t move the cam belt when I replaced the rollers, but is that the next thing you more accomplished owner mechanics would check? It smells like the gas is there so I’m doubting the fuel pump is to blame.

Any ideas fellows?

When doing anything with the cam belt, you need to make sure the cam pulleys are properly located when buttoning things back up. You use 3 1/8" diameter pins to locate the pulleys and keep them from rotating out of position while doing whatever you need to do. The good news here is that the X wedge is a non interference engine, so no worries about valves hitting pistons. So you might start with verifying your cam timing is correct before pursuing other avenues.

You have an S&S X wedge service manual, yes? If not they are on the MTWC website in the 5 speeder section, or pretty easy to find (free) just via Google search.

The pins are 3/16 not 1/8

Lots of cam belt related info in this THREAD. It might also be worth taking a look at your Crank Position Sensor. Slip it out, inspect for damage, clean and replace.

The common one is the fuel pump. When you turn the ignition on you should hear it while as it builds pressure (its in the tank behind the seat) in the rail and then with off. If it's silent then it's pump related (a simple fix). If you have a Schrader pressure tester you can measure it above the throttle body - it should be around 60 PSI

Assuming the fuel pump pumps then I would pull one of the spark plug leads off and hang a spark plug on the lead and crank it with the body of the plug agains the engine. If there is a spark then it's not coil pack, crank sensor etc. If there is a spark then throw a good dose of quick start into the throttle body and crank it - see if it catches.

You could put it into gear and rock it to get the crank dots to line up - you should see the little dots lined up (just make sure you take it out of gear before you crank again) - I doubt very much its this.


Fuel vapour is massively explosive so if it has fuel and spark you will get something!

Ive done over 50,000 miles with this and come across most issues - all long term fixed now

Report back your findings and we can make some more suggestions - good luck!

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback. I took the cam belt cover off this AM and did the cam alignment using the 3/16 pins and with the crankshaft properly aligned via the arrows. Really struggled to get the belt back on and thought it looked good…although I had to remove the right side (marked F) pulley to get the belt on. I’m pretty sure I must have misaligned it again just a small amount. Once I had it back together I tried to start and it fired once again just once each time I tried and then died. When it fired it felt as though it was not at the same time as it did yesterday…slightly later. I am still fairly certain this is still where the problem lies.

I am pretty tired of struggling with this fun but hard to keep up vehicle. There is a dealer about 120 miles away in Santa Monica CA who I have spoken to before. He only has a mechanic 3 days a week and has outright told me he cares little for doing maintenance as he is really only interested in selling vehicles….yes he said that on the phone to me right after I purchased it when I inquired about bringing it in for a look over by his mechanic. I just need to get it running again so I am guessing I may have to use him to do that, but I’m going to try once more to redo the cam belt installation to see if I can get it right.

I had no problem removing and reinstalling the oil seal in the Bevel Box and replacing the Clutch Master Cylinder but I really regret touching the cam belt setup when I replaced the rollers with Phil’s better designed SKF bearing version.

Once again thanks to all for your replies to my problem posts! The community here on the forums is full of super helpful people!

The secret to doing the cams is to remove the rocker on the valve that's being pushed open. When it's aligned the one valve is fully open and right on the top of the cam so the slights movement (with the belt off) and it springs the cam closed. Remove the rocker bolt on that valve so it's not pushing the valve open and then you can virtually turn the cam by hand and it stays where you put it! The other thing that (for me) made the job easier was to use a spanner on the tensioner and then told the spender in place with (in my case) the end of the trolley jack. So now you have the cam not trying to move under the valve pressure and the the tensioner open and not able to move leaving you 2 hands free. Put drills in the cam wheel holes into the tapper chest then the belt goes on much easier. It's tricky but just take it slow.

SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR! AND THE WANKER AWARD GOES TO ME ME ME!

Well I found my mistake was I aligned the crank to the wrong arrow (there are 2 and I used the one on the right, not the left …so this morning I pulled the belt again and redid the alignment and reinstalled the belt. It started fine. Shut it down right away.

Soon after and then as I went to put the cover back on I found I made a very BAD MISTAKE in that I failed to remove the alignment pins for the cams. So the good news is I believe they did not damage the aluminum casting too much (I can still see the holes if I shine a light on them. BUT the pins are bent over in back thanks to the fact they were mild steel. so I cannot remove them without removing the belt gears and of course will need to redo the cam belt installation after I do that.

Any tips on how dig out of my despair at MY CARELESSNESS to fix this mess would once again be very welcome.

It looks like I’ll need S&S part 530-0016 spanner to remove the cam pulleys to get the bent over alignment pins out, however I am not sure that will even work since the remainder of the alignment pins are in the way. Finding that may be a challenge. I may have to suck it up and contact the dealer in Santa Monica to see if they can fix MY MESS!

That sucks Will. Good luck with sorting it out. I've had good experiences with Morgan West, where I bought mine.