FIXING THE MORGAN IGNITION SWITCH by Dennis O'Neal MSCC 7564 1990 Plus 4
GoMoG thanks Dennis for offering this article for posterity!
Problem started with the key being too stiff to turn easily...then refusing toturn at all without some force. Finally not being able to remove thekey or turn it. At the final stage I had to turn the key using pliers soto start the car or to remove the key.I checked on the internet to find this problem was not uncommonand occurred on many vehicles using the same type of switchmade by Lucas.
On the rear of the switch there is a black plastic molding (see first image below) which isheld into the main switch body by a small threaded screw. My sonremoved this and pulled out the plastic switch part (plastic multi-connector) which was linked tothe ignition key part of the main body. This was the main electricalswitch for the car.
On checking the ignition key we found it turnedwithout any problem and then checked the rear switch operationusing a screwdriver to turn it. It was very difficult toturn so we had found the problem. He then removed the cablesfrom the car. He found it was better to remove the steering wheeland work under the dash to give himself more room.This round black plastic unit is clipped together and we managed to takeit apart to find ramps had been made over time on the internalcontacts. We used a Dremel type tool with a small stone to cleanand level up the contacts and rebuilt the switch (not easy) afterlubricating the contacts found it would turn smoothly. When putback into the switch body everything worked like new.
Thinking like many others the whole switch would have to bereplaced I had ordered a new one which arrived and on checkingthe problem rear plastic switch found it was much larger andlooked stronger. Apparently, the manufacturer knew they had a problem and impirved it since 1990.Lucas also supplied this switch body SBB307 at around £15. Thishas two extra cables which I removed and one extra cable terminalwhich I insulated so I have purchased one ready to fit if our repairsdo not last. The beauty of repairing or replacing the or rear plastic switch ifthis is where the problem is you do not have to remove the mainswitch from the steering column.
IGNITION SWITCHES, OLD AND NEW REPLACEMENT Lucas SBB703 switch.
INTERNAL PIECES
1. BROWN Centre feed (direct from battery)
2. First turn of the key in ignition. WHITE with GREEN tracer. (power to fuel pump) Second turn of the key in ignition. WHITE. (to ignition switch powered items) Third turn. Start the engine. WHITE with RED tracer. (To starter starter solenoid)
The switch is a MG sourced part and has a extra spade terminalwhich I removed the cable then insulated the terminal. Also aanother cable used for a alarm if key was left in the car ignition.This is not attached to the rear switch on the ignition switch butgoes to the multi-plug.All other cables remain the same as original ones but are connectedto a plastic multi plug which needs to be cut off and cables fittedwith solder on bullet connectors so to be plugged into the Morganmain harness. I was also lucky that a very good Morgan owner friend who had aswitch which he had removed and replaced with a new one and hesent it to me. So I used it to find out where the problem was. Afterstripping and cleaning the contacts I found the switch was workingperfectly so replaced it into my main switch on our car which itstill remains and working like new. The original rear switch is nowrepaired and fitted to the one my friend sent me.