Morris Minor Owners Club

I refitted the bakelite strip windscreen demister last night.

It worked well before. Rewired to the correct obvious contacts and 'pinched' them together. All tidy.

Switched on and little puff of smoke from near the on/off switch. Wondered if it might be dust and how I'd be able to tell.

Switched everything off and went home......sulking.

Electrics scare me and I must do some reading to understand what I'm dealing with. And buy some diagnostic tools.

Meanwhile, disconnected demister thismorning [wires well separated] and drove a mile down the road then smelt burning. Not exhaust fumes.

Relevant / co-incidence:

Had used the indicator. Working but might be a bit fast.
Had used wipers briefly.
Switched side lights on.
Cleaned up engine bay and might have got something on exhaust although nothing visible.


Switched everything off. Checked wires under bonnet and dashboard. Nothing obvious.

Checked lights etc - all working.

Little plume of smoke from where exhaust meets the manifold [from bolt area] after car turned off.

Is it totally mad to try and drive it? How much protection do the fuses give? Worried about something catching fire!

What do I check now?

Don't say hiring a trailor for the National

have you got any abvious bare wires showing that could be shorting out.have you got the correct fuses in place.if they are too high an ampre they wont blow when there is a surge in the system.sorry thats not much help.i tend to leave electrics to those that understand them,can you call the aa or rac and get them to check everything is ok.

dalebrignall wrote:have you got any abvious bare wires showing that could be shorting out.have you got the correct fuses in place.if they are too high an ampre they wont blow when there is a surge in the system.sorry thats not much help.i tend to leave electrics to those that understand them,can you call the aa or rac and get them to check everything is ok.

Thanks Dale

Nothing obvious at all. Well to an untrained eye.

Same fuses as for the last 4 years. Correct according to the manual.

Can't call breakdown folk as I need to be 3 miles from home.

Ho hum.

Thanks for your support anyway.

PS Have you got a toerope?

The local garage suggested the new regulator box could be causing the indicators to flash more quickly and could be the cause of the smell. Said I need a voltmeter to check......shopping tomorrow....
Would the flasher unit heat up if it was the culprit?

Took it for a drive [now realise that was foolish] and didn't use indicators/wipers/lights on the way. Then used them [one by one] on way back. No change.

It did seem to be a 'sweet' smell when I checked again and I wondered about antifreeze........ ie water leak.

Small water leak by radiator drain switch. Will check all hoses as far as possible tomorrow.

Smoke from exhaust would just be your 'cleaning' - and if the rad is dripping then yes you will smell anti-freeze. Best to stop that drip! Wouldn't worry about electrics - but a cheap multi-meter from say Maplin is a good idea. You should have 13.8/14 volts (DC) on the battery when the engine is running at a fast idle, and say ~ 12.8 volts when the engine is stopped after just running.

I checked the charging current was ok when we fitted the new control box. Everything seemed fine then. My best guess it that as BMC said its just something burning off on the exhaust.

Rog.

And of course a bit of dust on the bakerlite demister might have given a persistant smell!

hi squiggle a fast fix for the leak is putting some rad weld into the rad if you cant stop the leak by tightning hoses etc,i have got a tow rope

I don't trust leak-blocking coolant additives. They might block up something more important, like the water galleries in the block.

I'll stick a voltmeter and towrope in the boot. If you can make it to the pub for the rendezvous we can have a quick check then.

Thanks for all the responses. See you there tomorrow ...... thinking positively now. Safe travel everyone.

You sometimes get a 'sweet smell' from an electric motor getting too hot, in your case the wiper motor would be the one to suspect. However it will have to be pretty warm to do it, definitely hot to touch. Personally I think the problem is most likely antifreeze or a result of the cleaning.

As for your demister, if it is still working then I would suspect dust on the element (this will go away by itself), if it isn't working then maybe you have burnt out the switch. Providing the demister is wired into one of the fused circuits (which it should be) then if you have done something drastically wrong it would have blown the fuse.

The electrics on these cars isn't complex but a few tools like a cheap multi-meter from Maplin will make diagnosing things a lot easier!

Good Luck!

Grahmo wrote:You sometimes get a 'sweet smell' from an electric motor getting too hot, in your case the wiper motor would be the one to suspect. However it will have to be pretty warm to do it, definitely hot to touch. Personally I think the problem is most likely antifreeze or a result of the cleaning.

As for your demister, if it is still working then I would suspect dust on the element (this will go away by itself), if it isn't working then maybe you have burnt out the switch. Providing the demister is wired into one of the fused circuits (which it should be) then if you have done something drastically wrong it would have blown the fuse.

The electrics on these cars isn't complex but a few tools like a cheap multi-meter from Maplin will make diagnosing things a lot easier!

Good Luck!

Many thanks. I think it was to do with the cleaning and I won't forget that one in a hurry

It is wired into the fused circuits so will reconnect it. And treat myself to a multi-meter sometime soon.

Recovering from the National this week

Recovering from the National this week

Must be talking about your purse Chrissie after the spending spree

Kevin wrote:

Recovering from the National this week

Must be talking about your purse Chrissie after the spending spree

That recovery might take more than a week

Need to send that car out to work!