A long way in "Emma".

[SGTBILKO]

It was decided to drive the Morris from Saumur, where it had been reposing since October 2010, back to near Gisors in Normandy. After checking all levels, tyre pressures, brakes etc and changing the battery for a new one we set off on a Friday morning towards Blois. We drove on the south side of the Loire until Montsereau where we crossed the iron bridge to the D592 on the north side. The car missed and ran roughly for a bit but settled down to a steady 50 MPH. The slight and intermittent misfire was put down to a bit of dirt in the petrol. By the time we got to Tours things got worse, the misfire was more frequent. We continued in this way until we were about 12kms from Blois were the car packed up altogether. On investigation the nearly new distributor cap was scored inside, on changing for a new one the main HT lead fell out of the old cap. The terminal was severely corroded and fell apart and there was no spare lead in the boot nor any silver paper to effect a temporary repair. We then pushed the car to a café car park which was about 500 metres off. The village turned out to be Chouzy-sur Cissé and yes there was a garage open. So we had lunch and rang the “garagiste”, his wife seemed very doubtful that they could do anything for us when we told her that it was “une ancienne voiture anglaise”. The “patron” turned up very quickly with a HT lead but the car refused to start The starter would not engage but trying the handle and even pushing the car down a gentle slope would not work. It was decided to tow the car to the garage which was 1 km away. In a very clean and well ordered workshop the points and condensor were changed and it was found that the coil was missing its pinch bolt resulting in poor earthing. Probably the root cause of the problem. Now a pinch bolt does not just fall out, it has a bolt from the clamp either side. I lay the blame entirely in the hands of the well known specialist who supplied the car about 4000 miles and 15 months previously. Someone had evidentally changed the coil and decided that the pinch bolt was superfluous. As for the starter nothing could be done, it was diagnosed as needing a new spring. So any starting was done on the crank handle. We stalled once in Blois and later on, embarrassingly, in front of the “péage” of the A10 motorway which we took to Paris. The Morris ran very well at about 60 MPH in the nearside lane with the caravans and HGVs and for some reason the starter motor was working again. After a stop in Paris, we took the A15 towards Normandy the car ran at a somewhat noisy 70 mph but without too much strain.

The lessons learnt from this trip; undertake more thorough checks before a long journey and carry more tools and spares. What should have been the most agreable part of the journey, along the banks of the Loire, turned out to be a nightmare.



Amboise

[bmcecosse]

An excellent journey - I've driven a good bit of it one time or another. The answer seems to be - that the FASTER you drove - the BETTER it went! Well done!!!!

[Alec]

Hello Sgtbilko,

good to hear it had a happy ending. Just as a note, the coil does not need to be earthed, and would have no bearing on your problems. It does need it's clamp screw to prevent chafing of the support clamp.

Alec

[chickenjohn]

A nice story and a happy ending!

The starter motor may just need to be removed and the bendix cleaned / freed off and pencil lead graphite placed on the bendix thread/ spring. I have to do this periodically to my cars.

[SGTBILKO]

Hello Sgtbilko,

good to hear it had a happy ending. Just as a note, the coil does not need to be earthed, and would have no bearing on your problems. It does need it's clamp screw to prevent chafing of the support clamp.

Alec

You are probably right about that but the mechanic seemed to imply it did. Incidentally how does one explain the very severe corrosion of the main HT terminal? Damp? Why did the points on the distributor cap become scored so quickly? Worn distributor? I have since replaced the HT leads by a set bought of ebay, "AccuSpark" and purporting to be for Morris Minors, they are far too long in my opinion. I need to find a way of tidying them. I shall try the graphite on the starter motor, thanks for the tip.
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Colour Co-ordination.