Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello all,
My 61 traveller heater is threatening to leave me as just a puddle of water with only my tiara to show I was ever alive! I read somewhere ?MM mag, that you can disconnect it under the bonnet for the summer. Is this right and if so how do you do it??
Whilst all advice is gratefully received, all this getting under the bonnet is very very new to me...so keep it simple please much talk of thingys is about my level.(but I am hoping to improve! )
Look forward to hearing your replies

If your car has a heater, then it should have a heater valve located on the engine at the back just in front of the battery (small wheel). Turn this and your heater should be disconnected (water wise) and only blow cold.

Many thanks Cam, will give that a whirl, sounds simple enough...even to me!

dont the early ones have a push in thing on the dashboard then ? ....

id been melting in the last heat wave because i was leaving my heater on thinking it migh help keep it cool, but it just seemed to upset the running - ive switched it off and it doesnt seem to have made a difference to the engine temperature, so i sweated for nothing !!!

cheers
grainger

The late ones have a dash mounted push in knob, but the early ones have an engine mounted screw valve.

Now then... i have got an unidentified black ?pull/?push thing under the shelf. I thought that that might be a knob for air shutters, but it neither pushes or pulls! Is that something that I need to check out as well as the wheel thingumy?

karen

Karen,

You shouldn't have both, and a 1961 traveller should have the heater valve wheel (it has a copper/brass look when new). Open the bonnet and you should find it within seconds.

Later cars have a black knob just below and to the left of the steering wheel (not attached to the dashboard but underneath it). By pushing the knob hard it will go back almost an inch, closing down the flow of hot water.

not your choke then is it ?

how much do you not know ? your engine is probably newer than the car ... if you lift your bonnet and look at the back end of the engine - under the battery shelf - thats where your heater valve will be on top, you will see the rubber pipes taking the hot water into the car , see if its got a round tap like cam says - if not it might have a cable connected to the top of an arm thing that should move left and right - it might just be stuck, pull it to the right as you look at it .... then put some oil or grease on it and pull it back and forward a few times - mine always sticks.

hope you get it sorted - this weeks supposed to be a scorcher

cheers
grainger

Grainger,
may be a complete novice but have located choke! I knew that coz had big white "C" on it .
Will investigate both the wheel and the unidentified knob and get back to you.

Cam
Thank you from the bottom of my newly cool toes!
Still begs the question,what is my unidentified knob thing?? I shall do some research and get back to you

On my 64 the heater valve is the brass one. I had to refit the round handle after clumsily shearing the top off! Didn't seem to be that hard a turn at the time! Anyway to avoid a bit of filing and drilling, if it is a little stiff, slacken off the gland nut and then retighten after closing/opening the valve. Sorry if this seems like a "sucking eggs" comment, but I have been playing with vehicles since Villiers engines were common and I did it!

Karen, the mystery knob, if it's towards the centre and under the parcel shelf, is probably a fresh air control. It's probably seized up through lack of use. I'll post a picture which will hopefully identify it.

Hello Karen - is it the knob circled in red? If so, it controls the air to the heater. Pulled out for fresh air, push in to recirculate - no air from outside.

The mystery of the knob is solved! I thought is was something to do with air but as it has never worked and unlike everything else didn't seem to be making Maurice poorly i ignored it!...Yes yes I know the name is unoriginal but he came with it
It seems to be bending under the dashboard, is it a fairly straight forward thing to replace? Could a willing novice do it?
many thanks
karen

It's a bit fiddly, but if you've small hands and slender fingers it's not too much of a problem. Only think is, that to fit a new one, you'll have to shorten the later-type of heater control cable. The early air-flow ones are not available. You might find that it is possible to remove your calbe, and oil it a little. Lots of WD40 should sort the hinge / flap assembly under the parcel shelf, too.

Good luck!

I think you turn it clockwise to close... but I'm not sure.

Watch the spindle when you're turning. If the knob seems to be screwing down, then you're cutting off the water to the heater, so it won't get hot.

If you're screwing up, then you're opening the valve.

It may take a few turns - it's a lot like turning a tap on, but you have to get it on full...

I think you turn it clockwise to close...

Crikey - my view of teachers has improved with that comment (only kidding). Yes, almost every time it is clockwise to close.
['Clockwise to close' was an industry standard for valves from way back in the good old days when engineers had pencils and slide rules and commonly knew what they were doing.]
This works on houshold stuff like radiators, stop cocks, your gas main.. but also on the emergency shut off valves at chemical plants.. The idea to make them all the same was for safety as you don't want to guess which way to turn every valve as sometimes there are peoples lives at stake.
(anyone would think I used to work at a valve and actuator company)


Getting back to the point, it should be clockwise to close the heater valve. [I will of course eat humble pie if that is wrong, and forever think less of those 1950's engineers.]

If it keeps turning and turning, it sounds broken!

My teacher taught me "righty tighty and lefty loosey" and that holds fast for Maurices' valve too. However as he has required an extended trip to the health farm to sort out his inner tranquility and previous cowboy work I can't guarantee this will be the same for yours.
My father would be so pleased to see that I did learn something useful at school!

My teacher taught me "righty tighty and lefty loosey"

Hmm that could be construed as a bit of a political remark