Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 4/4 Starting problem.

The Starter voltage under cranking is reported as 6v ....My assumption being that if you monitor the battery voltage during cranking, then if it drops to 6v as well then it's the battery that's failing .... if the battery maintains around 12v then the voltage drop is in the cabling/connections. But I could easily be mistaken! 🙂

K

Apologies K I misread you were measuring at starter terminals.

Thanks for all the very useful information on this problem. I still have to clean the earthing battery and engine leads when I get it jacked up. I have a new battery on order as the present one was purchased in 2013! No doubt that has been hopefully the root cause of the problem. Fortunately I have all the vehicles 31 year history, every invoice and bill from the two original keepers. It takes quite a bit of room up on my shelves. Until August last year the vehicle had been environmentally dry stored for five years but the battery kept alive with a C-TEK charger. Watch this space!!!!

My '93 4/4 had a starting slow turnover. It was the earth connections plus an aged battery. I checked and changed the battery but still slow turning over. New earth straps front and rear, cleaned connections to starter motor. Problem gone.
If you think about a Morgan not many do high miles and tend to be kept long term in a garage/ elsewhere.
Time can be your enemy as things age deterioration can occur. Exposed wiring, bullet connectors ( why?) corrode, insulation hardens and cracks etc.
Similar with other systems. Fuel pipes, filters, pump etc. Interior wear and tear, corrosion......
Annual servicing including a "spanner check" is ok BUT occasional in depth inspection of wiring, pipework, etc is needed. Think about the extra servicing checks/ jobs on the schedule as age/ mileage increase.
DaveW was the master of this! Me? A lesser bersion but enjoyed most of the work.
My 20 yr old Plus 8 had 74k miles when part ex'd for a Plus Four. I had a list of checks/jobs to do IF I was going to keep it, basically future proofing stuff before issues occured. I had already done some wiring refurb when faults were found and repaired, adding that little bit extra upgrade as part of the repair. Add in mods to improve on the MMC assembly methods!
All part of the hands-on Morgan ownership fun.

It's for that reason I don't keep my vehicles continuously on charge Peter, it just masks their degradation. My proven regime is to top them up every 2-3 months with an overnight charge summer and winter. Mind you I never leave vehicles for more than 3 weeks max without a run.

You don't need to change leads, just use connector cleaner or wet & dry .

I have just spent the afternoon cleaning all the earthing points. The car starts now and the only connection which really showed dirt/contamination was the engine block to chassis. No doubt it will be even better with a new battery and give me confidence that it will start. Thank you all for your 'remote' assistance.

Regards and safe motoring.

Peter