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1990's Morgan plus 8 (Hot wire injection
models)
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It all
starts with re-chipping.The unique
Rover V8 engine, has been used for the 'Morgan
Plus 8' application for many many years, Essentially it was borrowed
from the Rover P5/P6 model, to 1976, Rover SD1 models to 1986, Range Rover
Classic models (carb to 1989, Flapper injection to 1989, Hot wire injection to
2000 & Sagem (Gems) injection to present date.
The understanding here,
is, An Engine built & intended for other vehicles with different
load/weight characteristics from its intended use, means efficiency, power, and
engine correctness is always compromised in its Std form.With early
carb models, this was not much of an issue as they could be easily re-jetted
and the igntion timing reset to take care of things. With the later fuel
injection types (EFI), it is also very simple but does require changes to the
ECU ( chipping) regarding engine management system upgrades
Therefore we
have put together this special 'Morgan Plus 8' page to help show, not only the essential chipping changes required but
also the other external upgrades that are simple to fix, quick to do that will
give some quite stunning results |
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This picture shown
the Type and position of the 3.9 & 4.6 Air mass meter, this shows that this
vehicle is the 'Hot wire injection' type. Therefore the information
contained within this page is correct for this type. or Morgan normally 1990 to
2000 models |
| Morgan Plus 8, ECU. identification and location
!! Simply locate and remove
the ECU, It is fitted under the passenger side dash ( (RHD models) and
is removed by locating the '2' 8mm retaining bolts, release these, then
disconnect the large electrical harness connector. Socketing, if yours is not socketed Then we can
provide the socket to install or you can send the ECU in and we will take car
of it. for you. (see below).
If your's is
socketed Then it is a simple job to remove the 'Lucas' cover &
fit the Optimax or Tornado chip. as per the supplied instruction's. this is
indeed very simple to do.
Software
variants, There are only two known software variants, 'X36'
approx. 1994 and newer, 'X22'Pre 94.
You however need not worry about the difference between these.
But we will need to know which it is so that we can be sure to supply you the
correct Optimax or Tornado chip for you type. |
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Optimax or
Tornado? (power level choice's) The
Optimax chip. has been designed for all Std and mild tuning on the 3.9
Morgan only, it will add substantially increase economy, Throttle response will
become far more crisp & responsive idle will be smoother with enhanced
pulling power to your vehicle, and in most cases is the ideal upgrade,
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The
Tornado Chip. Essentially the same fuel profiles as the Optimax with more
top end and revised fuelling for the bigger capacity engines such as 4.6 and
beyond (without loosing sight of efficiency) Whichever one you choose, you are
going to be pleasantly surprised by the huge gains achieved by such a quick and
simple upgrade. the following are some of the superb advantages obtainable. the
following information will demonstrate just how simple the process
is |
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Further
understanding of fuel maps!!
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What makes our Morgan Chips different?
 Full control of the fuel map is
contained within this innocent looking Eprom (Chip) It contains all
the fueling rpm & fuelling Load Map information and instructions require to
run your engine. We have unique plus 8 variants to suit all road and race
needs
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Most tuning companies will seek
to poor moor fuel into the top end rpm, purely to gain some more
Bhp, mostly so high up the rev range you'd hardly notice it on a V8, These
engine drive almost entirely on torque so it is important to provide them the
most efficient fuel map throughout the entire rev range, Both Tornado &
Optimax provide for better economy, more torque and Bhp through smoother idle
and help to keep combustion so clean that you engine will survive for years,
This is so important on Morgans that tend to do very low mileage but get older
in the years.When you demand High & Higher
load performance, such as under hard acceleration and load pulling
the Optimax and Tornado will run richer and give you the best possible
performance both without loosing sight of efficiency With over 120 load/rpm
adjustments, the Optimax and Tornado are streets ahead
of any competition. (most of which just target more bhp with more
fuel dumped in at thigh rpm)
When you are in part
throttle cruise driving The fuel mixture using Optimax or Tornado
will run slightly lean giving you the best possible economy |
Further modifications almost as
essential 
It beggars
belief that with a car as valued & unique as the Morgan Plus 8, even
brand new ones are supplied with plug wires, no better than would be found on a
Std Land Rover,
Although they are made by Lucas, the quality would relate
to that of basic speaker wires on a very cheap hi-fi perhaps. So It leaves
little to explain that upgrading them to a seriously good quality plug wire can
have some pretty dramatic results.
lets face it no matter what you do to
your engine its not going to work properly if the combustion is poor. due weak
spark output. This is why we recommend supply and use Magnecor ourselves.
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Magnecor
Street & Race Wires. both Magnecor KV85 Competition (8.5mm) and
R-100 Racing (10mm) Ignition Cables, are used extensively throughout the world
by leading racers and performance minded street vehicle owners to maximize the
efficiency of their vehicle's ignition system. Magnecor Road & Race
Wires are the only ignition wires that can carry the full output of
racing ignition systems while providing superior EMI suppression for
electronically managed engines and superior heat resistance.
Trumpets |
Unlike the majority
of ignition wire brands that have proliferated the performance market in recent
years, Magnecor Race Wires are not just branded cheaply constructed generic
spiral conductor ignition wires that most performance parts promoters like to
include in their product lines to sell through speed shops and
mass-merchandisers in the USA.
We now have a full range of
"Magnecor" V8 Rover leads in stock, For all Morgan models. ( 1969 - 2003) ,
Both the superlative KV85 range, & the less expensive *8mm Street wires".
An essential addition to any performance or efficiency seeking
engine.
We fully understand many plug wire
manufactures claim the earth from gimmicks, special materials and extra
silicone, however the only wires that really work are those that have a spiral
core winding around the centre core thus collapsing high resistance caused by
the magnetic field when carry voltages as high as the igntion is required to
'30Kv' plus,
Measuring resistance in a Plug lead when it is not carrying
igntion voltage does not prove a thing for quality only diagnosing dead
ones.
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Although this coil pack is from
the Later Morgans 2001- 2003 they clearly show the problem with stock and
high resistance plug wires, The coil tower indicated and the one next
to it are completely burn this is because the voltage sent down the cable
was offered high resistance and found it easier to short to the cylinder next
to it. |
These
coil packs cost in excess of £400.00 so it would have been much
cheaper to change the Plug wires to quality ones long before this happened.
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Ignition
upgrades & distributor checking
For further details on the igntion (click here for our
igntion section)
There are so many variants of the igntion systems
fitted over the years the Morgan mostly offering severe compromise to spark
output. typically the worst are the earlier systems especially the points
model. this also includes those that have been upgraded to Luminition as the
quality of these older units cause mechanical dropout and with such small
@dwell' output is still very much lower than it could be. Where to Start,
By going to the relevant page
link above you can read up on all igntion issues, but here we are assuming your
distributor is in great shape and your main wish is to promote the strongest
spark output for it,
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| Installation is
less than 30 min.'s. without any experience. |
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Small on the
outside, Big on Power on the inside. |
Our Unique A&R replacement
amplifier designed to give maximum igntion output. With so many UK
and EU vehicles converting to LPG. ( propane) the weaknesses in the Std.
spark output of even the latest V8 distributors has always been an
issue,,.( LPG is 104 octane) We decided that the problem would need to be
addressed and we invented this neat little amplifier to do just that. To
keep it simple it is best to understand that all Rover distributors have been
designed to reduce the charge voltage by 50% half way through the dwell
period, (clearly visible on an oscilloscope) this in turn means that about 30%
of possible spark output is compromised.
The only reason we can think for
this is by doing so Rover have increased the reliability of the small
transistor found their stock amplifiers, buy reducing its work load. This
does not bode well with the way we see things so we have designed our own
Pre-Amplifier that enjoys 100% charge time, thus restoring the output back to
maximum.
Other advantages is our unit is simple to repair if failure
ever occurs whilst all Rover ignitions Pre-amps are throw away. You can
even retain your original Std one for if you ever need to go back to
it. |
The Adjustable fuel rail pressure regulator
There are two main
players / controllers of the fuelling of these Morgan EFi engines. We
have already discussed the Chipping issues now it the turn of fuel pressure,
but first a quick overview is required
Chipping allows us to play with injector pulse lengths
electronically and control the fuel mix by lengthening the pulse or
shortening depending on engine load/rpm requirement, the downside of this can
be, If you fuel rail pressure ( delivery pressure) is low, the ECU will
struggle to provide a long enough injector pulse and fuel rail pressure will
then be lower,
Installing the adjustable fuel
rail pressure regulator allows you not only to step up the rail
pressure & to relax the ECU & fuel pump, it also ensures enough
pressure is supplied & available for the injectors to provide the best
injector spray pattern, essential for clean and
efficient combustion |
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Show here are many variants of the fuel
rail pressure valve. it essential to have adjustment, as the Std has has no
such ability thus no guarantee of correctness.A very low cost
essential upgrade that gives you adjustment & control otherwise denied to
you completely. |
Injection system
simple hardware upgrades
For further details on the igntion (click here for our
igntion section) Whilst we have many
higher levels of injection hardware upgrades, you will see from the following
pictures just how badly the stock engine is severely suffocated the engines
ability to breath thus robbing it of existing, let alone its maximum
potential. To view the full range of upgrades we can offer visit our
injection pages, by following the above link.
Below however you will see how
a simple upgrade to our 'Superflare trumpets' cannot fail to make significant
gains in basic engine efficiency
| The Rover engine fitted with the
stock intake hardware. 
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Our Superflare trumpets are easy
to fit to your existing intake. 
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This is the Stock plenum chamber as
fitted to all EFi's since 1982, although the injection types may have changed
the Hardware is still the same as ever, even with the bigger variant engines
including the 4.6 The plenum retains the same size throttle diameter, the
trumpets are the same tall design and very narrow and the intake manifold
tracts are the same bad casting as they have ever been. |
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On the left you can see the original
trumpets as fitted to all EFi V8's for the past 20 years,
It comes as no
surprise that reducing the Air flow restriction into the engine has substantial
additional power advantages it also proves how little has been done to achieve
superior power levels for these more modern engines, even for the larger
capacity variants |
Rogue's Gallery
For
further details on these vehicle's (click here for our projects section)
Like
most Morgans we have seen, This one is a credit to its owner(s). As you will
see the "Engine", itself is in great shape due to good & regular oil
changing regime. However the combustion inefficiencies are obvious.
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 Even though very
low mileage, Under 30k, this Morgan was suffering from to many, too short
journeys, Although it sure
doesn't Show it on the outside Chipped plus an RP4 cam upgrade with Stage 1. heads,
This Morgan has not only take's on a whole new lease of life
but its prolonged it by many many years
too.!! |
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So now to
the bad news..
Take 1 very clean V8 & look closer.
Close up of the head Gaskets
It shows
just how much compression must have been leaking almost everywhere. Moreover
the valves, combustion area & head faces show just how badly and
inefficiently this engine has been running. Luckily this is, 'not only all too common' but very easy to fix
too.. |
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| Here, we have another very
low mileage Plus 8. Showing exactly the same problems, This is
common with all Morgan plus 8's that where equipped with all Fuel injection
types, Thankfully the solution is very simple and 100% guaranteed
too!!. |
 It is true that Morgans get some of the greatest care in the
world, Indeed most are very low mileage and serviced regularly,
The biggest problem is, with such poor combustion the engine contaminates
itself from within, No matter how many times a year you change the Oil, you
will never stop the internal cylinder contamination unless you address the
weakness in these engine's when fitted to such a lightweight car.
Notwithstanding this there is so many power and efficiency to be easily gained
too.
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With
the top end removed
, You can see just how clean this original
engine block is. We have not cleaned it all so that you can see the real issues
going on inside |
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So now to the bad bits..
A closer inspection of all the Pistons show's a life of
very poor efficiency and crude Incomplete combustion. |
This is not
indeed a fault of the owner, When a basic Range Rover engines is fitted into a
lightweight vehicle like the Morgan than things cannot be expected to be so
efficient,
When a engine oozes. torque. who notices
anyway. Well we do and you deserve it. It is so easy to sort out from as little
as Cam change, fuel re-map and appropriate engine tune. So why sell yourself
short.
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Its not
only Road cars that suffer, Highly modified's are severely missing out
too.
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Its not
only street spec. we cater for.
There are many Morgan Plus 8's,
with highly modified, high performance engines
(not excluding full race) models out there some with extensive engine
performance mods, running with Std fuel injection trim or poor quality
compromises. this amounts to the same as driving a highly modified race engine
with Std carbs and Std needle /Jet combinations, as you could imagine this
would never work. |
We have been involved with
so many hundreds of upgrades to all model Morgan plus 8's we
offer a full 100% parts refund policy if your are not 100%
delighted. with our products.
below you can find some customer
comments from around the world Customer comments
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Info on chipping Location, identify
etc.
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 This label, located on the ECU top-cover
will indicate ' part no'. and 'date', info, please make sure your is 14CUX type
and Not> 14CU, As it is not possible to chip
the '14CU' variant. Fortunately however this type is not common on Morgans except
NAS models. |
| Pictured, with the lid removed
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 All Done !!!. This ECU had already been
re-chipped, (lower centre left) & has a yellow sticker on the top, it is
shown plugged into our scrambler (Supplied). Both intern are plugged into the
ECU's Eprom socket
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 This ECU points out the Lucas cover over the
original Chip and also identifies the chip that you need to read the part
number from ( see below) this ECU type is easily chipped yourself as all types
with this Lucas cover are already socketed. |
| Close ups !! |
 This close up, shows The plastic
Lucas cover hiding the chip, this at least denotes that your ECU is already
socketed, The top arrow is pointing to the chip that denotes the software
variant within it's part number. (see below)
This type is 'Plug & Play' |
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 This is the (now) rare
alternative often found on early Morgan models, You can see there is
no black plastic Lucas cover, as the Eprom (the
one with the white sticker) is clearly visible & is soldered directly into
the main board.
This type will best be sent
in for socketing. |
| And now 'Even closer'. !!
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 Close up of chip, denoting
software variant's |
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The part
number of this chip (its the square one above the main fuel chip)
denotes the software type that your Morgan has,
It is still quite simple, read the part number, on the top of thew chip
If it has the letters 'KA' this indicates the later variant (X36) software, Otherwise and with any other numbers it
is for sure the earlier type (X22)
software. You need not worry about
the differences, but do we need to know what variant you have to supply you the
correct replacement chip |
For
the more Technical? Or those who just need to know
more.One way of instantly detecting if your ECU is
unhappy is to watch the Rev counter at idle and start-up, because, if the ECU
cannot cope with things or does not understand it will hold the revs a little
high ( it has its own air valve to achieve this) it then makes adjustments
before settling down to the best idle it is capable of,You can be sure
all is correct when the ECU no longer needs to do this
continuously A new EPROM chip must be fitted the same way
round as the one it replaces, or else it will probably be destroyed (fry and
die!). The decoder board and the EPROM chip are marked with a red paint spot by
pin number one, in addition to any manufacturer's markings. If you look at the
socket on the circuit board you will see that that also has a notch at one end,
which identifies the pin one end. However we have seen the sockets fitted
incorrectly in the circuit boards, so the most important thing is to pay close
attention to the way the original EPROM was fitted.
Now reassemble the case and stick the
provided label onto the outside of the ECU case.
Refit the ECU into
the car by reversing the removal procedure. When the ignition is turned on for
the first time without starting the engine, the fuel pump will be heard to run
for three seconds and then stop. This is a good sign at this stage!
It is recommended that you retain the old chips and covers, and keep them in a
safe place. This may be handy if you wish to retain the chips when you sell the
vehicle, or in case the original ECU fails and needs to be exchanged one day
(although they have proved to be exceptionally reliable in service so far).
Please note that the chips cannot be replaced if you exchange them! Remember
that the chips are still vulnerable to ESD deaths so please take care when
handling them.
SETTING UP AFTER FITTING.
It is
important to understand that the Hot wire system is adaptive, and it will
"learn" how to manage the engine over the first 20 miles or so. The rest of the
process actually continues all the time you drive, this ensure the ECU will
adapt itself completely to the most appropriate situation, so knowing this it
is essential to have all other settings correct with timing, air mass meter,
& throttle potentiometer Etc
When the new chips are first fitted,
there will be a small improvement in performance which is noticeable
immediately, but the real benefits will not be observed until a couple of
hundred miles have been covered.
Tornado series EPROM chips provide
full diagnostic capabilities, which are fully compatible with the Land Rover
Test-Book and Autologic diagnostic systems.
TROUBLESHOOTING.
Due to the complexity of the Lucas-Sagem GEMS system, the chip
upgrade should not be fitted if the vehicle has any existing engine faults. If
in doubt then it is best to visit a dealer who is equipped with a Land Rover
Test Book or Autologic diagnostic system and have the vehicle checked over.
This is strongly recommended even where there is no obvious fault, although in
95% of installations there will be no problems.
If you have problems
then don't panic! Your supplier can help you here. Most of the mistakes you can
make have been made before. Just be honest and then we can help you. If there
is any problem with the chipset then it will need to be returned for inspection
before it can be replaced.
1. The fuel pump either doesn't run for
three seconds, or runs continuously when the ignition is turned on. Oh
dear. At least one chip is probably plugged in the wrong way round, or one of
the legs is bent underneath, or the ECU has been damaged during the process, or
the EPROM/ECU is not plugged in yet.
2. I plugged in the EPROM
chip the wrong way round and realized after I switched it on. In this case
it is almost always the EPROM chip and/or the decoder that is damaged, not the
ECU. The best thing to do here is confess, and a replacement can be issued at a
reasonable cost upon return of the dead one. Both the EPROM and the decoder
contain unique signatures that are destroyed by incorrect connection.
3. The vehicle is difficult to start, or runs poorly. This type of
behavior usually means that there are fault codes in the ECU. It is most likely
that this behavior was apparent before the chip upgrade was fitted. However in
certain cases the upgrade can expose or highlight a previous fault. The cure
for this is a visit to a dealer equipped with the Land Rover Test Book or
Autologic diagnostic system.
Warnings.
When working
with GEMS vehicles. Never try to locate a misfire by pulling plug leads
off - pull the injector connector instead. Otherwise you can blow up the
ECU.
. Secondly never swap ECU's between vehicles to test them,
because both vehicles and ECUs may stop working, and you'll have to have them
all reset by a franchised LR dealer (ouch!).
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links to other component pages
[ V8 engine and component
information and pricing ] [ Back to:Carburetion & fuel
Injection ] [
Electrical ]
[
Transmission 2wd & 4wd ] [ Suspension, Handling, Tyres, Wheels & Brakes ]
[ Stainless & Mild
steel Exhaust systems ]
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Prices do not include local EU.Tax.(VAT).
Prices & stock are subject
to change without notice. Information and advice, as always, is free.
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If the engine fitted is not
originally designed for your car type.
First remove advance vacuum pipe from intake and
check for positive vacuum when throttle is applied. 