Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all,
When starting her after work on friday (it had been raining hard) the yellow light on the r/hand of the speedo came on briefly before she started. I'm guessing that this is the oil pressure warning light, if it is what does the yellow light on the l/hand of the speedo do?

After pulling away it had a momentary bit of weirdness, I can't really explain as it caught me by surprise, but there was a loss of noise and power (ignition light and yellow warning light DID NOT come on again).

Is this something I need to keep an eye out for? It didn't happen when I started her today, and this is the first time I've known it happen.

Cheers,
Chris

PS she is a 1966 saloon

Chris - it is the oil warning light. It should glow when you insert the key in the ignition and turn it to the right (along with the red ignition light).

Both lights should go out 1 or 2 seconds after the engine fires.

The yellow lens on the left is supposedly to warn when the oil filter is clogged. I've never seen it work (probably because I change the filter every year).

As for the momentary hiccup - the only damp related cause would be moisture in the leads or distributor cap. I've never had this problem with a minor, but I suffered it with a Citroen AX which was a pig to start when it was damp. The cause was a hairline crack in the distributor cap allowing moisture to form inside.

Am I correct in thinking the filter warning light wasn't fitted to all cars?
On both mine the light lens is in the speedo face but it has a rubber cover fitted over the lamp holder at the back. Or were these originally fitted and a change to a screw on type filter means they are no longer used. I can't see any extra wiring under the bonnet though.

I believe that the oil filter warning light was discontinued for cars built after late (October?)1969, but subsequent speedo dials retained the yellow lens - probably because BMC were using up old stock as the production run-down started. I'm not sure when it first appeared, probably when the black faced speedos were introduced.

The oil filter warning light appeared in October '64.
'57' don't understand your reference to the 'screw on
filter' no minors had this type. All of the 948 and 1098
engines had the 'bolt through the middle' type. If you
have the screw on type it has been modified.

Sorry Willie, what I meant when I mentioned screw on type was after a conversion/modification .

Yes, I have a screw on (spin on) filter, so my warning light wire is just dangling in the engine bay. I don't think it was a particularly good idea anyway, as if the light does come on then your engine is in danger of damage as the filter is not working properly.

Doh!

Yes that light does come on every time I start her, that was just the first time I noticed. Don't I feel silly now

I've never seen the oil filter light come on though.

Cheers for the help,
Chris