Morris Minor Owners Club

hi there just had my minor on the road for a few days and the battery has gone flat its brand new also the red light on the dash stays on any tips

Having just done a short run with the fan belt off for diagnostic purposes, I can affirm that absence of a fan belt results in a red light. More generally, red light = not charging.

NO THE FAN BELTS ON AND TIGHTEND UP THINK ITS DYNAMO

DO YOU KNOW IF ITS BETTER TO HAVE A ALTERNATOR FITTED IS IT A BIG JOB

Try cleaning the contacts in the regulator box.

As I have said in one of the (many) other posts on this subject - check you have that 'NEW' battery fitted right way round! has the red light always been on since you got the car - or has this just come on suddenly ?

If it hasn't been used for a while the dynamo field may need flashing as the dynamo requires a small amount of residual magnetism to start generating and a long break will cause it to lose this. Take a wire from the non earthed terminal of the battery and connect it to the small terminal ( field) on the dynamo with the engine running fast tickover. It should only take a few seconds to work, the red light will go out and the dynamo will again charge. When I was in the auto electrics game the lazy way of doing this was to remove the regulator cover and push the cutout contacts down, it always worked but not recomended for someone who does not know what they are doing !

But, as to alternators... very straight forward to fit, dirt cheap even brand new, better output, more reliable long term, but non original if thats a worry to you. Lots of links on this site about it

thanks for all the advice folks so where is the regulator cover i know this is probably a stupid question but im new to morris minors only had it a very short time thanks for all help so have any of you guys got alternators on your cars

Underneath the bonnet, on the left hand side of the bulkhead ... its a plastic covered box about 3"x2"x2" with loads of wires going into it ... just above the hole where the tube for the heater box goes through.

Buy yourself a haynes mystic manual ... its a bit terse in places, but it's generally correct ... only it doesnt seem that way until after you have skinned you knuckles, tried a few other ways and eventually worked out what they were talking about now that you managed it a completely different and MUCH more difficult way ;)

"Slide the suspension adjuster bar forward over the splines on the torsion bar" is a classic phrase that springs to mind .. which does actually work once you have taken it off, put it in a vice, hit it a few times with a 'fit all', wire brushed the splines and covered everything in copper ease ... sigh!

Most required tools for working on Morris Minors : Haynes Manual and a big hammer! Get the Manual and read it cover to cover. Things will then make sense.

But, as to alternators... very straight forward to fit, dirt cheap even brand new, better output, more reliable long term,

alternators = far far LESS reliable in the long term. Output is better but rarely is the increased output worth the effort of fitting one.

Have you checked the dynamo brushes? Dynamos are so reliable that the unit is normally left in place for decades on end... meaning the brushes can be worn out (not hard to replace).
The regulator box is a possible cause of red light, but equally a wiring connection problem could be the reason.

rayofleamington wrote:

But, as to alternators... very straight forward to fit, dirt cheap even brand new, better output, more reliable long term,

alternators = far far LESS reliable in the long term. Output is better but rarely is the increased output worth the effort of fitting one.

Have you checked the dynamo brushes? Dynamos are so reliable that the unit is normally left in place for decades on end... meaning the brushes can be worn out (not hard to replace).
The regulator box is a possible cause of red light, but equally a wiring connection problem could be the reason.

On one of the MANY other threads on this fault I believe he fixed it by installing the battery the right way round.

Luxobarge wrote:On one of the MANY other threads on this fault I believe he fixed it by installing the battery the right way round.

Really? I thought he solved it by:

alex_holden wrote:cleaning the contacts in the regulator box.

;)

Hehe - maybe we'll never know!

I think he simply separated the contacts which had welded shut - but he also changed the battery round at one point - no idea where it all ended up!

no idea where it all ended up!

I think it ended up with an alternator - i.e. the problems have only just begun.

LOL

No - don't think an alternator has been fitted - YET.