Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Car conked out, not starting

TMers, hope all is well with all? A couple of weeks ago i went to the factory, as part of the Morgan Historic Register. Had a cracking day and even got the thumbs up from a lady driving a new convertible Lamborghini on the way home. Everything was great, sun was out and the MOG was going great. Topped up with fuel, not Shell that i normally use and within 20 miles the car started coughing and splattering. Got to Marlborough and it came to a halt, on a roundabout! I had noticed before that i had to drop a gear to keep the revs high. Anyway luckily a biker stopped and help me with a push to a safe location. Now i must admit my car was blowing a little at the exhaust gasket. I gave it 20 minutes to let everything cool down and the engine kicked into life. Got back to were the car lives (30 minutes later) and it conked out again. Same thing, left it 20 minutes but with only just made it to the garage, were i had to push it back into the garage. Anyway a couple of days later the starter motor works but the engine does not kick over. Could it be dirty fuel? I know i have to sort out the gasket but any ideas of why this would happen? the coolant is ok, it was a very hot day day but the temperature gauge was nothing unusually. Any ideas? Sorry the long winded story.

As normal many thanks for your suggestions.

So, Dirty or contaminated fuel.... possibly not a coincidence problem!

Your car I take it is a carburettor/ distributor type vehicle, a little more info on type and age would be good here though. Any upgrades such as electronic ignition etc.

Check points, rotor arm distributor cap condenser, in distributor. then plugs/ leads king lead and coil + connections.

Next, fuel filter, just change it. Now check spark at 2 plugs, if none, check spark holding king lead above the rotor arm contact and see if you get a spark jumping there to the top of the rotor arm when turning the engine over... wear rubber gloves! if not suspect a coil or low tension contact issue or duff rotor arm. If all is working here then come back to us and we can start to advise further re fuel, earths and the like! Start with car details.

Dave, thinking about it some more whilst working I think I'd look at your coil first. It really is presenting with a failing coil symptom so you might be getting a spark and it might look fine but it could be weak and this presents with fuelling type problems but its electrical. You can test the coil with a multi meter, low tension side, ie little terminals pos to pos and neg to neg multi meter leads on a low ohm setting and you are looking for a steady reading below 5 ohms HT side pos to pos terminal and neg to king lead hole on a 20,000 ohm setting and if memory serves me correctly you are looking for a steady 300-500 ohms reading. Most return about 380-420 ohms.

Sewin

Many thanks for your reply. The car has new leads and plugs. My Coil dates back to 2021 and unfortunately these items do not last like they use to😒.

But i will be checking.

In addition to Sewin's advice, note coils tend to fail when hot, so if you test cold may give acceptable readings

Absolutely cooperman, I was going to add that but thought that if the coil gets to a state of ignition inadequacy it would always produce a low reading and that would show an indication to change it. just another thought for Dave, when you refuelled the car how long was it since the last refuel. could it have loosened some corrosion in the tank and is partially blocking the filter?

Sewin

The tank is stainless steel. Also i have been topping up the tank every couple of weeks, taking advantage of the summer!

I had loose Pins at the ecu in my plus four....

But this can not be the solution for a 1976 car...

Check your idle jets - very easy to remove and blow through (I'm assuming a 32/36DGV carb).

It happened to me quite often until I changed my tank. I carried a can of carb cleaner under the seat so I could clean them in minutes and be back on my way.

My next check would be Dizzy related - if you are on points, I'd suggest a new Condenser, if you are on a Accu/Powerspark I'd recommend sticking it in the bin.

TBM
Twin 40s