Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - very serious steering issue.

We went out for a b road spin on friday all very sedate normal pot holes and parked back in the garage in the late afternoon. Yesterday being a scorcher we decided on a run around the elan valley. Once on the dual carriageway I noticed the car slightly pulling to the left need the tracking doing so i thought, upon entering a roundabout I filtered to the left but the car went straight on with a car now on my outside we nearly collided.When leaving the rounabout the same thing happened with a massive amount of play in the steering before take up. I decided not to risk the dual carriageway going home we branched off and did a nail biting 20 mph all the way home like driving a front wheel drive car on marbles. jacked the car up this morning expecting something seriously broken or loose cant see anything obvious will ring Mark at the factory monday morning before i get it put on a proper lift for inspection. As i say very weird expected to see something broken ....Em

Whilst its been amazingly inconvenient to get it back to the factory, I think its the right place for it to be. It could well be that as a result of their findings, any issues found. might require inspections to be increased eg the manufacturing check list or the PDI list of checks. before delivery or increase the regular annual/periodic service inspection of this area. to address any issues or check of components /specifications used..

Just to throw in my little bit; I think it is outrageous that you have been charged by the factory to put this right and even more so since you are a long term customer.
Think about this. If you had had a serious crash you would have been held responsible but most likely nobody would have ever thought that the cause was detached steering rack, and damage to the car might have precluded an investigation.
At the very least I think a letter to the CEO is in order but I think I would be getting legal advice. This is dangerous enough that there should be a re-call on all the cars fitted with this steering rack for a control and rectification.

Strangely enough I had a similar experience years ago with a Vauxhall Velox that belonged to my mother. The bolts holding the steering box in place came loose and fell out. Fortunately when it came completely adrift I was probably only doing 10 miles an hour having travelled only about 50 yards before the first left turn. It went off the road and I was just able to stop before going into a ditch. It was certainly a weird feeling not being able to steer the car. My mother was always somehow conviced it was my fault
Five minutes later and I would have been on the open road at at least 50 mph so I guess I was lucky. I was able to tighten up the one remaing bolt and drive it cautiously the 10 miles to get it home.

Not what they need as they start selling in the USA but as a cx owner I,m concerned

It is not really about the type of steering rack that is the problem: it is about the security of how it is mounted at the factory including a system to check that such a critical part has been correctly mounted.
Beyond that there is the issue of whether or not a check, and or security modification, should be performed on all cars in this series.
There is also the question of whether or not a customer should pay for rectification on a car with relatively low mileage even though it is out of warranty. It is not normal that a customer should pay for something that is clearly a factory fault, and a security issue, that perhaps should be subject to a recall.

At the least this is appallingly bad publicity for the factory and should have been resolved in the smoothest possible way along with sincere appologies to the customer.

I do hope you get a full report on the cause of your issue....and let us in on the findings...?

I pick the car up tomorrow.Not happy with the explanation or bill to be honest, They had never seen it before and would be reported to the design team. The car should go to the factory for servicing apparently and they might have picked it up. Bare with me, bought the car at about 3k just had a service back to Morgan for a rad at about 6k so they pull the front apart so the rack is visible. I get the car back Mot and service the rack bye the way is covered by an ali plate. Another Mot and small service oils and filter etc.So inbetween the factory and two mot and service is only 6k miles.So my suggestion was that this could have happened at any time. I cant begin to explain to you how dangerous this could have been the whole thing was held together bye a thread. Given the car has only done 13k molly coddled miles and the seriousness of the situation I thought they would have at least picked up half the cost. Anyway paid the bill don't ask how much and another trudge back up to Malvern. You do not expect this on a car with 13k on the clock one very unhappy Morgan customer. Em

I wish I could offer more than my previous advice to write to the MD and explain the facts of what occurred and how MMC responded to the issue.

Previously, I had an excellent relationship with the key people within the business and I believe I know exactly how they would have responded to this, when provided with the facts. However, that relationship has ceased in recent years. In fact, quite recently, one department within the business reached out to me, I offered assistance on the particular area they wanted to discuss and I didn't even receive the courtesy of a reply. Let me reiterate that: they reached out to me (not me contacting them), I said I would be happy to assist (because I felt the content would benefit the wider Morgan community) and they didn't respond when I confirmed I would meet with them. That really tells me all I need to know. It is rare for me to (ever) 'blow my own trumpet' but the area they inquired about falls directly into an area that is a particular strength of mine. My belief was that it was win-win: good for MMC and good for the Morgan community. To not even respond gives me a perception of how they view the value of my time and this Morgan community.

Em, I'm sorry, if I could have interceded, I would have. The people I used to deal with at Morgan trusted me; in my experience, they knew that when I spoke to them about a specific situation, on behalf of someone within our community, it was for a good reason. This, to my mind, would have been one of those instances.

Ok everyone had long chat with the factory this morning. Something maybe i should have had when i picked the car up but it was on a Saturday .I have been assured that this was a complete isolated incident they do check for play on a service but dont take the plate off iff out of tolerance it is then inspected fully. Since emailing the factory I have received prompt verbal attention given the gravity of the situation perhaps this should have happened last Wednesday. They have been honourable and I wont be hugely out of pocket given the car is 5 year old but relatively low mileage. On my behalf can I say I felt nothing wrong with the steering no play or judder until the incident happened had the car not had power steering maybe something might have shown up who knows. So that's it really and I feel happier with the outcome. Credit when its due, Em

I bought my endoscope with built in light from Amazon for less than £20. Just downloaded an App & plug into phone or tablet; have used it several times over the past year, especially locating a coolant leak in an awkward place at the back of the engine.