Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) CX Auto lock

Having some experience of breakdown truck operators in Spain I wouldn't be any more confident of their willingness or ability to unlock the Morgan gearbox than I would a UK operator as I doubt many of them have ever come across this question before, especially when it appears there aren't many CX auto owners out there who've actually tried it themselves. As for the helpful diagram in the handbook, it might well tell me where the mechanism is but there simply isn't enough clearance to get at it, not even for a practice. Showing the handbook to the Spanish breakdown man out on the plains, in the rain, might appear a sound approach to some but I'm not so sure. Optimism and a positive approach are I think essential qualities to own and enjoy a Morgan but there's also a need to look out for reasonable precautions which is why I've been in contact with Berger in Germany who has given his approval to sharing his email with TM :-

"" I’ve been driving a Morgan since 1981 and have just developed some useful improvements for the latest models in the CX range. These include a hydraulic bonnet lift kit that I’ve developed myself, and the engine/gearbox disconnect switch you mentioned. Ever since 2019, I’ve been annoyed that the Morgan can’t be moved when the engine is switched off or has broken down. That’s why I’ve developed an installation kit.
This allows you to unlock the lever – which normally has to be pulled using a special tool from underneath the car – directly from the engine compartment. This is achieved via a Bowden cable, concealed beneath the car. I’m offering this kit in Germany, complete with installation instructions and all the necessary parts, for 590 euros. If you’re interested, please feel free to get in touch again.
Best regards, Birger ""

My mechanical knowledge is limited so I leave it here for those with a greater insight. Whilst my first thought is to applaud the chap for approaching the problem but then I begin to question whether my insurers would understand and accept the modification. Either way I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear from anyone else on here and I'm all ears.

Thank you for the explanation. Guessing a bit, it looks like he's devised a mechanism which is fitted to where the factory tool applies leverage and rather than find a way to get under the car with the tool, his mechanism is operated by a lever under the bonnet, via a cable like a motorbike brake/clutch cable.

That would be peace of mind, but not cheap.

Morganmike,

You mention the breakdown truck using skates to get your Volvo aboard - what sort of skates are they please? If ever I should need picking up in the Morgan it'd be useful if I could explain to my recovery people what's needed before they send anyone out and it might help me sound as if I know what I'm talking about (?).

They are 4 wheeled things where the car wheel sits off the ground on skid supported by the 4 wheels. The car's rear wheels don't rotate

These type of skids are sometimes used for moving a car about on a level garage floor. Maybe not suitable for loading it onto a car trailer/recovery vehicle though:

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/ws4000-680kg-wheel-skates

TeddyAds, they are much more beefy than the sgs engineering ones Dave mentioned but what they do is lift the car onto the skates and roller skate to the repair dealership .in our case it was a software issue that caused rage problem.. I said this previously but Volvo instructed us to open all doors + boot, close and it might reboot itself. We thought we might have been on candid camera !!
MM

I was reading something about this last week, and the breakdown driver said that they kept some trays from macdonalds to put under the wheels of locked electric cars to drag them onto the back of the truck.

Classically simple solution that works.

DB

OK, not seen many of those on the back of a breakdown lorry but thanks for the description. Looks like I'm back to just hoping for the best.

I've seen commercial removal co's use a simple rigid plastic board with hand pulls to skate heavy washing machines

Given the number of years that cars can end up with locked wheels have been around, I expect that recovery drivers will be well used to dealing with them, but as suggested it does seem a good idea to forewarn them should your car very unfortunately find it`s self in any locked wheels situation...