Morris Minor Owners Club

charging the battert is your best bet.

I start mine every so often with the starting handle. A) for the practice and B) because my 9 year old loves it

ignition off - turn it over a few times with the handle and get it to compression stage.

ignition on & choke out - quick flick with the handle and it should burst into life

I always PULL the handle up, thumb folded in, then a kickback (which I've never had) just pulls it out of your hand.

Charge the battery, though, it's happened to us all...male and female!
Andrew

if you've left the lights on all night you wont be able to start it with the handle - it only works when there is at least some charge (in my experience). Always useful to have a set of jump leads and a charger to hand when you have a moggie.

it should start with a flat battery if not bump spart it get somone to give you a push or if your on a slope pull out the choke turn on the ignition once you get rolling select 2nd gear drop the clutch she should start once she starts foot on the clutch brake to a stop and drive normally,hope this helps dale.

Once you switch the lights off - the battery will 'recover' sufficiently (give it ten mins) to power the ignition (but maybe not the fuel pump) and as long as the little red light glows (switch off absolutely everything else) - it will start on the handle.

Note for first time users of the starting handle. NEVER wrap your thumb around the starting handle. If the engine kicks back, it's A&E time

Hi guys , sorry i havent let you know any sooner how i got on with the starting handle as i've been on a last minute holiday to spain with my m8s , i charged the battery fully and then had a go but i think i was right the 1st time.............its a man thing , as i'm only 5'4" tall and only weigh 9st 2lb i found it very hard to put enough effort into it and it just wouldnt start from cold , plus i was having to get back into the car and adjust the choke every couple of trys , but i did manage to get it to start off the cranking handle when it was warmed up. Unfortunatly 2 weeks standing in my garage without being started hasnt helped , i got back on thursday 11th oct and tried to start it to go out and it wouldnt even fire and i flattened the battery trying , i charged it up over night and tried again on friday morning still without any luck , charged it up again and tried it again on friday evening , i've done the same thing saturday and sunday mornings and evenings and all i can get it to do is fire and splutter but it will not start and stay running , i've played with the choke adjusting it that many times i'm supprised the cable hasnt snapped , if anybody can suggest a cure i'd be greatfull , if not i'll have to phone a garage and pay them to look at it. thanks Anita xxx............PS:- i rang the lady i bought the car from to see if she could help , she said she used to have the same problem when she went on holiday but she said it would allways start eventually , she also mentioned that the choke has to pulled out just enough to start it , not enough and it wont start , to much and it will flood................to be honest i'm beggining to wish i'd never bought the bloody car in the 1st place........

It sounds like an old distributor cap that has gone porous and is absorbing moisture from the air when it's been stood for a while, thus preventing the ignition firing until it's warmed up. If you don't know when it was last done, give it a full service - new oil, oil filter, air filter, plugs, spark plug leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, condenser, and points. The Morris Minor specialist suppliers sell an "engine service kit" that includes everything except the oil.

it will be a simple thing that is wrong, also get the engine set up right as well

I just went through a diagnosis with her via text chat. Aren't WiFi laptops great? ;)

The ignition components are all pretty new and the points seem to be set right. She got it started but the choke needed to be pulled all the way out to get it to run and it stalled as soon as the choke was pushed back in. I got her to increase the amount of additional throttle opening when the choke is applied, then start it again with three clicks of choke. That appeared to work and it ticked over OK with no choke after a couple of minutes to warm up.

Hey, well done gold star in service for Alex. I've often suggested an instant message link would be usefull for this very sort of thing.

Excellent service that.

Hi guys , i've had nearly 2 months trouble free motoring since you guys helped me out with my teething problems after buying my 1st moggy until tuesday morning and this morning , as your probably aware the last couple of mornings have been really cold , actually this morning was down to 0 degrees and my moggy has just refused to start on both mornings , i've used the choke like i do every morning and even tried spraying it with WD40 but it still wont start , on both mornings i tried and tried to start it until i ran the battery flat , could there be a problem or could it just be the fact its so cold , cause apparantly i've been told they dont like the cold very much...........is this true ?.......thanks , Anita xxx

never had any probs starting all mine in the cold

so have you given the engine a good service

In cold weather you need a really good battery - and a good starter motor. Does it turn over very slowly - or is it turning at a good speed but just not firing up ? In emergency you can spray 'Easy Start' into the carb air intake - but this should not be done regularly - but if you really 'need' the car to go it could be an answer.

Agree with BMC re the battery. A battery that is just OK in the summer ofter fails to cut the mustard when temperature drops below 4 or 5 degrees.

If it just isn't spinning it fast enough then it'd probably pay to charge it overnight and see if that helps. If that doesn't help, then suspect the starter or its earthing strap. often pays to give the starter earth strap a clean before getting a new starter, as that sometimes does the trick.

Does it have a dynamo and do you do lots of short journeys? I used to find with a dynamo when I did journey of 7 or so miles twice a day, it was OK in the summer, but come winter, lights/heater/wipers on all time, the dynamo didn't put enough back and my battery slowly degraded over the winter, and it's when it's cold that any weakness in the battery is really evident as mentioned above. You could either get the dynamo serviced or fit an alternator if that's the case (or drive further! With fewer electrics on!).

If it is spinning well but not firing, then it's likely to be carb (just running so lean that the choke doesn't enrichen it enough) or ignition (clean the ponts), but if you've been trouble free to date, sounds like it's not spinning well.
Andrew

Oh, also, mine starts fine in the cold (maybe I shouldn't have said that )

it's not an intrinsic weakness in the engine. Something isn't working properly.

Mine started playing up last winter. I put it down to the whole 'its cold' or 'its wet' excuses.
However, neither are valid excuses. A Minor should pretty much start in any conditions - in many cases (to my amusement) where modern cars fail.

I bought and fitted an 'engine service kit' and since then she starts 'first turn' even when covered with ice. She also goes through large puddles without becoming flooded. Thats the difference modern sillycone leads and new dizzy cap make... amongst other things.

I can't say for sure which components were at fault as I replaced the lot - but its so easy and cheap to do this you'd be daft not to.

Its a valid point that - and one often overlooked until it wont start properly. Proper and regular servicing is essential to getting the best from your engine.
Just replacing the HT leads, points, dizzy cap, plugs and if youve got money to burn the coil too makes ALL the difference to starting and upgrading the leads to a twin core silicone makes a lot of difference too but only if you can afford them - but not only that you'll notice a LOT smoother running, an improvement in performance not to mention MPG.
Icing on the cake is nice new slippery oil to reduce the friction on cold starting and off you go.

Common problem with a battery that is tired. Cranking Amps drags the Volts too low and you get a weak or no spark from the ignition side of things. The Moggy engine is normaly a first turn of the key starter.

You can fit a 6 Volts coil with a balast resistor that gets bypassed during cranking ala Ford system, but a new battery and tune up is easier and more effective.

they do slow down when it gets cold,u need to have a really good battery.if you have an altinator thease are more efficent at charging the battery rather than a dynamo