Morris Minor Owners Club

A colleague at work has a series2 1937 Morris 8. 6volt.
Its part of a few cars he has that are used for weddings, hire for special occasions, and so on..

He has a charging problem.. the red light stays on he says..
Wants to know what the causes could be, and what is needed to overhaul the original dynamo.

He's checked that all the connections are good, and the belt is tensioned correctly.
Can anyone advise of the procedure to strip and overhaul, or if its not the dynamo, what could it be.
thanks
Jon

Start by inspecting the brushes - usually easy enough to get to and easy to change. Does it have a voltage regulator - or just a switch that selects high/low charge ?

Hi,
From what he's said, its a high/low charge switch.
He's tried it on high charge, and given it a good long run, but no difference.
Are the dynamo parts, bushes readily available?
Is it an easy diy job to get the dynamo repaired if it is the dynamo?

thanks
Jon

Yes, they are easy to strip and replace the bRushes! Even if you cannot get the exact same size you can still file them to shape to fit the carrier.... Any old worshop manual will detail the steps required if its not blatently obvious to you when you look at the job.

Usually very easy to get at the brushes - especially on these older models. Often a simple clamp style cover that is loosened and slid along the body of the dynamo. Simple check with a voltmeter (cheap in Maplins) will tell if charging - should go to ~ 6.8/7 volts I guess when charging. If just hovering around the 6 volts - then it's NOT charging!

Sounds good to me...

i'll give him the good news..
He's an ok type a chap, but when it comes to business he will not sink.
Bit like a duck.
He will also give a good deal in all of his sidelines..hire cars, embroidery, and i don't know what else he's into.....

Went to collect some bits from superchargedfool today..
Got a lift in his car...very quick standard looking moggie..

thankyou all.
Jon

Steves happy,
He changed the brushes, and cleaned out a bit of dust , and no red light anymore.

thanks
Jon

Great success!

Hello,

I'm sorry to hijack this thread! I have been having a similar problem with charging my Morris Eight as well, except I don't think it is a problem with the dynamo itself.

I thought initially that it would be the brushes but I checked the output with a voltmeter and the output is reading between 7 and 8.5 so it should be charing alright except after running around for a day or two the battery completly dies - and I mean completely, even if you are driving along and not coming to a stop the car will start 'chugging' a bit then just cut out ten minutes later; the only way to start it again is by putting another charged battery in (I always plan two days ahead before taking the car out and have both charged!).

The car has the 'high/low' charge sleection on the dashboard and also has a regulator box.

Any tips would be really appreciated
Morgen

Morgen. You say you have checked the dynamo output, but from where? I mean, off the back of the alternator or at the battery? The regulator is adjustable so it might not be passing the charge on to the battery...?

Thanks for getting back so quick!

I checked it at the battery.... but, I know that doesn't really make sense (at least not to me) the batteries do charge up from my charger so I'm really at a loss as to how the output can be reaching them, yet they are loosing more than they are getting. From the looks of things the wiring has been interfered with in the past, and not that well so it could have something to do with that. The regulator seems to work well inasmuch as the battery will go for just as long with or without lights on so it does seem responsive to what sort of current is being drawn.

OK, well my next checks would be to make sure all the wiring is in good condition, with good connections and with good earths. After this I would be checking what current is being drawn from the battery. Is it possible maybe that the starter motor is still drawing current for example? I'm not fully au fait with the 8's wiring and electrical system but I imagine it is fairly basic so probably not much to check?

Thanks for that, the 8 lives under wraps on my parents drive-way so next time I'm over for a visit I'll give it another look - good point about the starter, that has been playing up for a while too (got the car last May and since then it has been a process of fixing other peoples 'fixes'!).

Come to think of it, the procces has been the same on the Minor and the Mini, funny that

Sounds like the regulator (is it really a reguolator - or just a 'cut-out'?) - is sticking in and allowing the battery to discharge back through the dynamo when the engine stops! Clean it's contacts - and observe it's action as you start and stop the engine.