Morris Minor Owners Club

HI all I know this is not a Minor but the engine and most electrical components seem similiar!! I just got a Metro from my uncle, when I got it home it was missing a lot and it went off I tried to to start it again and from the battery came a very tired battery sound, after that just a click, I took the battery off and put it on charge to find it was fully charged so I cleaned the terminals and started it first time, problem solved I tghought, I closed the bonnet and it went off again!! with the same result just a click from somewhere, thought maybe a starter motor fault gave it a tow and started it on a gear and it started but missing a lot and it went off again fuel tank is full Any ideas please??

hummm

the just a click sounds like faulty starter motor (sometimes they stick in a position or the burshes might be shot) how loud was the click? could be the solenoid itself is on the way out, but a bump start should have worked.

lumpy running? could be anyhting from poor leads, plugs, electrics, rotor arm, timing, coil, is it electronic ignition or points and condensor? later metro lumps could well be fuel injected with engine management that could be a bit headache.

check the obvious:
fuel, are you getting any in the engine
spark, are the plugs ok, leads good, rotor arm good, points and condensor good (if fitted), make sure connections are sound fuses are sound etc

Starting click = Poor earth on the lead connecting between engine and chassis, terminal not tight on battery.

Rough running. Could be anything (it's a Metro after all) as above, but also check ventilated oil filler cap is sealing properly on rocker cover (lets in air intermittently = weakened mixture), and isn't blocked (doesn't let in enough air = rich mixture).

My guess
1. battery, you migth see it appear fully charged, theres enough there to get it going - or overcome 'two'. You can bump start it but it wont run because theres nothing in the battery to generate the spark to the coil.
2. Duff earth
3. One & two

Borrow a known good battery, try that, see what happens.
(a dead giveaway is sometimes stick a set of jump leads off a running engine with known good battery)
If you can get it to run still check the earths & lives @ alternator & starter.

Your battery may be showing fully charge when it actually is telling you it wont accept the amps because its goosed.

Mundane but as a good a place to start & eliminate possible causes.

Don't know the back end of a Metro from the front but is the bonnet causing a short somewhere because of poor insulation of a componant? Leads maybe?

Also, where is the fuel line? On some cars it's very close to the bulkhead where the bonnet closes down and could be pinched.

Is there an alarm/imobiliser that has a sensor for the bonnet?

The battery is a maintenance free battery, the indicator is seen as black don't know what it meens though there is a hint of green but I'll give a try with another good battery and see what happens if that doesn't work I'll check the solenoid as the car went off after hitting the solenoid! but I'll have to wait for the rain to stop as off all the sunny days we are having today it had to rain!! Thanks for the tips sorry about the car but I got it for free !

FrankM83 wrote:HI all I know this is not a Minor but the engine and most electrical components seem similiar!! I just got a Metro from my uncle, when I got it home it was missing a lot and it went off I tried to to start it again and from the battery came a very tired battery sound, after that just a click, I took the battery off and put it on charge to find it was fully charged so I cleaned the terminals and started it first time, problem solved I tghought, I closed the bonnet and it went off again!! with the same result just a click from somewhere, thought maybe a starter motor fault gave it a tow and started it on a gear and it started but missing a lot and it went off again fuel tank is full Any ideas please??

You might want to take a look at http://www.metroownersclub.org/index.html

It's fairly new, but there's some pretty clued up people on the forum

If the battery has died it might well show a full charge (massive internal resistance) but not have anything like enough grunt to turn the engine, and it could be the alternator isn't doing anything like enough work to even get enough power to the ignition.

If it's a mark 2 (post 86 I think) then it will have electronic ignition, but before that most were points and condenser, so it's definitely worth checking those as already suggested to cure the misfire. I can't remember if all Metros had pre engaged starters, but if it's got one that looks similar to the Minor it'll be inertia. If that's the case look for the solenoid and bridge the large terminals with a screwdriver (make sure it's not in gear!) to see if the engine turns on the starter properly. If it does then the battery might be OK and the click is the sound of a faulty solenoid. Also check the engine earth (can't remember where it goes now!) and try a jump lead from any clean metal part of the engine to a good earth and see if it starts that way.

thanks packedup didn't know there was a metro club, don't think I'll be joining as probabl this metro is more likely to be donating spares in the future for my minor the engine has A+ on it so Im assuming it takes unleaded?

Only the very late 80s A series Metros had unleaded heads (and the smattering that were sold into the early 90s), besides which there's not a great deal else you can rob for a Minor to be honest. The engine isn't what anyone would consider a straightforward drop in replacement, leaving you with maybe the head, alternator and wheelnuts as the other "useful" bits!

To be honest, if you can get it running right you might want to think about keeping hold of it (so long as it's not utterly knackered). They're fairly comfy economical practical small cars, worth having one in the fleet so long as you have room and money to run a fleet of course (I don't, but still seem to have assembled one...)!

The horn may be useful! In this case - it's obviously a bad connection somewhere in th starting circuit - check earths and maybe bang the starter solenoid with a hammer.

Thanks BMC that's what I'll do this morning! before i start taking lots of bits off!

so in the morning in the morning I banged the solenoid and cleaned the earth but still when I turn the ignition on just a faint try from the engine to start and a click so I got myself a new battery this time the engine started turing and trying to start but nothing it just kept on turning but no start could it be something from the distributor? I opened the distributor it's still with a condensor and points so no electronic ignitions. Thanks

Checked for a spark? just earth a spare plug popped in one of the HT leads to teh engine and turn the key.
that will at last tell you if its coil/plugs/points/rotor/distributor cap at fault rather than fuel/carburettor.

thanks orkney will do that tomorrow, to be honest this $$^&^ Metro is at least teaching me some tips and trick on finding engine faults! Never had these problems with a Minor the only problem I remember was the fuel pump needed some new points

One more thought Frank, if you are getting a spark then consider the petrol - how long since the car ran ? could be the old fuel chestnut
If its old then worth draining it and putting in a new gallon at leaast until you get it going.
If you take teh fuel pipe off at the carb put into a jar/can and turn th key at least you'll see if theres any fuel getting through so hopefully eliminating the pump as a fault.
If you compare a sample of old & new fuel in 2 jars you might be quite surprised.
New will give off a haze of fumes - old will not and it wont smell the same. (found this out the hard way recently)

(PS wrong thread but will look tomorrow see if i can find, think i may have a used green indicator stalk lens if you want it)

Just pour a little fresh fuel down the carb throat - and crank it. If fuel was the problem it will run for a few seconds. Most likely it's ignition - check for that spark.

HI all just an update, we tried changing the distributor points and the car instead of just turning and not starting it started but missing a lot, we change the HT leads this made no difference, distributor cap and the engine ran smoothly for about a minute and it started missing again, coil made a slight difference to the better but the condensor was the major problem it seems as we changed that and the car ran very smoothly after that. Thanks for all the advise

Nice one Frank ! all that trouble caused by a pesty condensor then
Hey at least youve given the electrics a good service, should be smooth & trouble free motoring now !

well smooth engine yes but very bouncy ride!!!! especially with the condition of roads in Malta!! hehe