Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi! I'm looking for a bit of advice with my Morris Traveller which won't start.
The Morris has been in my garage for some years now because I have only limited knowledge and technical gear for her.
I was advised the problem was probably the petrol pump because when you turn the ignition there should be an initial clicking noise - and I never had that.
So I bought a new pump but in removing the old one managed to turn the wrong nut which twisted the petrol supply pipe from the tank. A bit more time passed (!) and I sawed the damaged pipework near to the pump and, using some clear plastic tubing from the DIY store conected the pipe to the pump again so the petrol had unrestricted access to the pump.
Turned the ignition but still nothing, only now I can see from the plastic tubing there is definately no petrol coming through to the pump.
There is certainly petrol in the tank. Could it be that after four years or so, some muck has settled in the pipe from the tank?
I've put some hosepipe in the tank to stir it about, rocked the car to and fro to shift andthing that may have settled in there, all to no avail.
At sometime, incidentally, a small silver metal part has come detatched - I don't remember whence it came from. It's round, about half the size of your thumb, maybe a little thicker, with a thin black wire. I cannot display a picture of it as I haven't got the gear for that.
Thoughts on this, anyone?

Without the ticking your probably not getting power to the pump.
That washer with a wire sounds like the connection on the pump to the points need to find a diagram of the pump breakdown.
You could start by removing your fuses and cleaning the terminals - and making sure the fuses themselves are ok.

Idlemorris wrote:Turned the ignition but still nothing, only now I can see from the plastic tubing there is definately no petrol coming through to the pump.

Does the new pump tick? It should tick very slowly even if the supply pipe is blocked. If it ticks quickly and doesn't stop then it's drawing air in on the supply side.

At sometime, incidentally, a small silver metal part has come detatched - I don't remember whence it came from. It's round, about half the size of your thumb, maybe a little thicker, with a thin black wire.

Does it look like this?

The old tank petrol will now be useless and horribly contanimated - I would drain it and throw it away (environmentally of course!). Better to try to start it using some NEW petrol maybe from a gallon can for now.
BUT - if the engine hasn't run for ages you should take plugs and squirt some engine oil in, then test if it can turn by using the starting handle. If it's tight - don't force it! If it is turning - then who need to get the oil pressure up - spin it on the starter (spark plugs out) until the orange light on the speedo goes out. Then you can refit the plugs - new ones would be good! Probably also better to at least clean the ignition points - and check if you are getting a spark at the plugs. Then - you are ready to start it with that new petrol.
Expect the clutch to be stuck to the flywheel - and of course the brakes/tyres etc will all be needing attention or renewing.

The Morris has been in my garage for some years now because I have only limited knowledge and technical gear for her.
I was advised the problem was probably the petrol pump because when you turn the ignition there should be an initial clicking noise - and I never had that.
So I bought a new pump but in removing the old one managed to turn the wrong nut which twisted the petrol supply pipe from the tank. A bit more time passed (

OK if you problems have been over a period of time mainly due to your lack of expertise/knowledge it might be best to contact the local branch to see if there is somebody local to you who could have a look at the car for you, if you filled in your location it would be useful in case somebody on here is nearby.

alex_holden wrote:

Idlemorris wrote:Turned the ignition but still nothing, only now I can see from the plastic tubing there is definately no petrol coming through to the pump.

Does the new pump tick? It should tick very slowly even if the supply pipe is blocked. If it ticks quickly and doesn't stop then it's drawing air in on the supply side.

At sometime, incidentally, a small silver metal part has come detatched - I don't remember whence it came from. It's round, about half the size of your thumb, maybe a little thicker, with a thin black wire.

Does it look like this?

Yes - that's the baby!
Thanks for the advice here chaps... will take this on board and have a go.

It's an ignition condenser. If you unclip the distributor cap you should see one underneath (unless it's been upgraded to electronic ignition). Perhaps the loose one you found is a spare left over from a service?

Appreciate your feedback, very much. Being rather new to this site I don't know if my location is flagged up but am in Peterborough.

I think I may have a bigger job here than I first thought!

And to think I was told by a couple of non-Morris(!) owners that these cars basically run on an elastic band!!

Depends where it became detached from - that one ^^^^ is the condenser inside the distributor - but a very similar thing (more usually with the black wire you mention) is sometimes fixed on various spots such as the fuel pump to act as radio interference suppressor. If so - these have no effect on the running of the engine and won't affect the starting in any way. The orange wire condenser inside the dizzy - working with the points and the coil are indeed very necessary to make the engine run!

Idlemorris wrote: these cars basically run on an elastic band!

How very amusing...
a

PS You'd written your last answer inside the quote tags - changed now so folk can see what's going on more easily

Are you sure the fuel pump has both the + and - wires connected? Mine has a ground connection wire screwed onto the side of the pump housing and from there to the firewall. I don´t know if the pump needs this extra ground connection, but I don´t think mine runs without it (from memory)
Maybe the pump fittings on the battery compartment wall have rusted, preventing the ground connection?

Also, even if the pump is new(ish), turn on the ignition (after verifying you have 12V at the pump) and then give it a light tap or two with a suitable tool. The contact points inside might just be sticking a little or suffer from oxide.

Cheers /Richard

Being rather new to this site I don't know if my location is flagged up but am in Peterborough.

No its not showing, it should be in the left hand column, if you go to your `profile` and then `change your postnuke profile` you will see a location box, thats what you need to fill in.

No the part is not left oer from a service - at some time I realised it had come off something but I don't remember going into the distributor so is probably to protect the radio from interference.
What could be a good idea is to instal a 1100 engine into the car as the 997cc engine was making heavy weather of powering the car. Is this common in Morris 1000 Travellers would you say? It used to be embarrassing coming off a roundabout, with someone tailgating you!

As for the pump neg. connection it should have a solid enough connection to the battery compartment, as far as I can see, but there is no ticking now when the ignition is turned.

Is this common in Morris 1000 Travellers would you say

Well for starters the engine is normally a 948cc in the engine before the 1098cc the 997cc is a mini cooper size I think.
Yes the 1098cc does have a bit more power that the 948cc but is not quite as smooth, but the first thing is to get the existing engine running properly and then compare it to a 1098cc engined one.

In fact the 948 version of the car had a numerically higher rear axle ratio - and so generally acceleration was almost the same ! The bigger 1098 engine has a good bit more power - and if fitted into the car while retaining the 948 axle ratio will indeed give better acceleration - but at the expense of fuel consumption.