Morris Minor Owners Club

Simply, car won't start off the key, but if i bump it its fine, the starter motor sounds fine, (i can hear it whiring) been bump starting for the last 2 weeks but i have some time this weekend, any idea what to check??

I was wondering if i got a heavy duty battery if that would work? right now i have a standard battery, but it powers the engine, cd player and four 6x9 speakers. Do i need more power??

Does it start if you charge the battery up with a mains charger first?

yeh, it did last time

If the starter motor is whirring but not turning the engine over then you need to take it off and clean the bendix -as they sometimes get dirty and stick, hence whirring but no engagement with the flywheel teeth and no turning of the engine.

Take the starter motor off (two bolts and the electrical connection which also unbolts (I think 5/8" AF and 1/2"AF))- started motor then puuls out of bellhousing from the front, the bendix is the bit at the end- it should move freely down the centre when spin by hand. Check the teeth on it are not worn as well.

Dont use oil to clean it.

You can also get the starter whirring without engagement when the battery is almost totally flat, so if recharging the battery temporarily fixes the problem it may possibly be that the battery's not charging up sufficiently during normal use. Do you have a dynamo or an alternator, and what kind of journeys do you do (lots of short trips are harder on the battery than long fast runs)? A normal sized battery should be OK as long as it's not knackered - the best way to check that is to charge it up and take it to a battery specialist with a discharge tester.

chickenjohn wrote: Dont use oil to clean it.

Over the years I have found problem starters which only respond to a little bit of oil to work reliably

I now tend to use fine oil - 3in1 or similar, work it well into the bendix spline and then wipe 99% of it off.

Using this method I have had no problems with muck accumulating causing sticking and so far my starters have worked well.

When dry I have found they don't always engage reliably and certainly make more noise.

I use grafite powder. Which does the job and is not greasy

Sounds very much like flat/knackered battery. If it starts with jump leads - then you need to check if it's being charged. test the volts with engine running at fast idle - looking for 13.5 volts at the battery terminals. If it's less then sort out the cahrging. If it's ok - then you need a new battery. No need for heavy duty - it's a small engine.

The graphite sounds like a good idea Onne

Got the idea right here on this messageboard!

Yep - graphite - or moly powder can be used. Anything sticky leads to tears sooner or later.

or soft pencil "lead" (actually soft graphite).