Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all,

Sadly - for whatever reason - my old Moggy (1098cc , 1966 saloon) just refuses to start.

The starter turns for a second, then stops. The car will bump start with no problems.

Have tried jump starting her - but that didn't work - the leads remained cold.

She runs fine once going, but as soon as I turn off the car, it won't restart.

Firstly - does it sound like a battery earthing issue (the jump leads drawing no current, and the refusal to start even after 20minute run) ? Battery is new.

Secondly until I get it sorted - is my starting handle the same as my jack handle ?? Have read tips on starting using the handle, but was wondering what the starter handle actually looks like.

This is what most of the starting handles look like....



As for your starting problems; Does it sound like your starter motor is turning/enganging? Have you checked the earth straps (battery to body and gearbox to body)?

Cheers Lee,

The handle is the one I thought it was - phew!!

The starter turns for falf a second - not just the click - but seems to run out of juice. I was thinking that if the jump leads aren't getting warm, it probably means that there is a battery earth problem, but everthing "seems" securely attached.

sounds like the battery or an earthing problem

battery may have a damaged cell, this can give enough current to run light etc, giving the impression of everything OK. But as soon as you hit the starter it dies, also it will not charge properly due to high internal resistance. This sort of failure can be quite sudden and without warning.

The earth connection for the battery to the engine is underneath the car
fixed to one of the gearbox cross member bolts. If this is the culprit then you should find that the choke cable and probably the accelerator
cable too get hot when you try to operate the starter. It is perfectly possible for a new battery to fail to hold a charge, possible but not common. The fact that the car will start easily with a bump start points to the fact that you are not using the battery to operate the starter so that the full voltage is available to provide a good spark. See how you
manage with the starting handle which will give more clues.(keep your thumb on the same side as your fingers).

Mine have an earth cable from the battery negative terminal to the exhaust manifold as well. Is this present in your car?

To the exhaust manifold? definitely not. The fact that it has been fitted points to previous problems. I still use the original earth strap on the gearbox cross member but had added an extra cable from one of the near side engine tower to chassis bolts to the stud which supports the engine breather pipe. I assume that when you say 'as well' you mean that the original underfloor earth strap is in position? beware, if there
is only ONE cable from the battery terminal and it goes to the manifold then you could get all sorts of problems with bad earth connections. This cable should be thick, as thick as the cable on the other battery terminal.

Try sticking a jump lead between the negative (or posative if its a posative earth) to the egnine block. Does that help?

When you try and use the starter its good pracice not to grip the handle with you thumb around it in case it kicks back....