Morris Minor Owners Club

How old is the fuel in the car? Mine ran terrible recently due to stale fuel, if it's over twelve months old it may have "gone off" like mine had.

I think we need to find out a bit more about this 'lumpy' business. If cruising along at say 60 mph - does it run smoothly? And if you then floor the throttle does it accelerate cleanly - or does it start to mis-fire ? It could well be a fuel flow problem. Try a pump test - pump a pint to a jar and measure how long that takes.

I have been frustratingly too busy over the weekend to look at my car, let me try and answer a few questions. I haven't changed any parts recently, although I have not had the car that long. The fuel is less than 2 months old, although the tank was nearly empty when I got it, could it have sucked something bad up whilst on the way to the nearest petrol station and I am only just noticing the effects. The Spark plugs look new and the HT leads quite new. The lumpy business: it started by sounding a bit lumpy when accelerating from any speed and progressed to also stuttering which got slowly worse and the car more difficult to dive, it was more apparent when the engine revs were lower, ie after changing up, and got better as the revs rose. It also probably doesn't idle as smoothly as it could, so the timing or mixture probably need adjustment? The exhaust valve gaps seem to be less than 15 thou so I think they need doing. What is the correct method for wiping away the mayo? Also thank you for your patience with my daft questions.

However valve gaps all seem to be 12 thou. Also I joined the local branch before having the car, I had tried to find someone who would be able to show how to do a few service items but for whatever reason it hasn't happened, so here I am asking daft questions on the forum, now I have this problem, and repeatedly rereading the manual.

Just wipe the mayo away with an old 'lint free' towel - something like that. It's probably down to short journeys/cold weather. But do check the breathers are clear - not blocked. And change the oil and filter to get rid of the 'watery' oil - do this with the engine fully hot after a good run. Worth testing the vacuum advance - suck the pipe and watch to see if the dizzy base plate moves. The exhaust gaps are better opened up to 15 thou - but that's not a priority right now.

I am very grateful to the local branch members who came round on Wednesday and got it running better. I believe they changed the points and replaced one of the wires, cleaned the rotor arm, and set the timing. Then they discovered the fuel pump was not working properly; so they cleared all the dirt out of it and cleaned its points carefully, now it works, however it's points are rather worn so who knows how much longer it will work for. Also the breather canister is rather clogged, but I need a gasket before I take it off and soak it. At least the car is now running well enough that I can drive it on Sunday. Thank you all for answering my questions, I am very slowly learning.

Hope you changed that watery oil - and filter too!