Morris Minor Owners Club

Well, I thought all my work was done once I got the car registered and on the road....silly me!

1: I am having a lot of trouble starting. It's winter here and cold, but not as cold as it gets there in the U.K. The engine fails to kick at all until after about 10 tries at the starter. It is not spark, plenty of spark at the plugs. I am sure it is petrol, and probably mixture but not sure how to check. The car once it starts runs well, though it did have a bit of a miss at low revs - starting off from lights etc. And once it has been running it re-starts again first pull.

Tonight I got her running and ticking over nicely and screwed the adjustment nut down until she started to choke and miss, then screwed back up until she again started to miss and finally settled on about three flats below the upper point. I know about lifting the piston to test but as it has an oil bath air cleaner this is not easy to do, and the H1 has no lifting pin. Any ideas? Am I right in thinking it is mixture related? I feel like she should "catch" after at least a few pulls.

2: Oil Leak. Tonight while trying to start I discovered a nasty little oil leak behind the crakshaft pulley. It seemed as though it had leaked while the engine was turning over trying to start, but once running I don't think it continued. I am assuming this is the felt seal on the timing chain cover. Could it be that it leaked when cold, but once warmed up was OK? It has never leaked from there before, even after a long run. Engine was rebuilt some years ago and sat waiting in the garage for the car to be finished. Again, any advice would be welcome!

You need to make sure the choke control is working - when the choke is pulled- the jet moves down and so setting with 'flats' is not relevant during strt-up. If that's moving ok - could be the fuel level in the float bowl is too low - other slight possibility is that the carb damper is short of oil and the piston is jumping up too easily making the mixture weak.
Oil leak - yes the felt seal thing is useless - but with engine running there could be enough suction to keep the seal tight! Don't worry about it.

Yes choke is fine, new choke cable and moves perfectly. As mentioned previously I will check the oil in the damper. Otherwise, could it just be that it's so cold currently? When I first reassembled the engine and refitted it it used to start quite easily, but that was Summer. Perhaps I've been spoiled with modern cars?

Well - they should have adjusted the fuel mix to take account of colder weather. But even in sub zero temp - it should start up fine if the choke is pulled - and the starter motor turns it over sharply enough ?

Yes, she spins round fine - new battery and once running I have 60psi Oil pressure.

I am starting to wonder if it might be ignition related - I have suspected fuel because when spinning with ignition on there is a spark at Plug Lead one when I hold it close to the block. But maybe the spark is a little weak? It DOES sound like lack of spark - ie: spins and spins and doesn't catch at all. In my experience if it's fuel it's more likely to catch but not fire....

Dizzy Cap and Coil are original, I didn't replace when rebuilding. Might be an idea? Or even just try some WD40?

Well - if it's tracking - but WD40 is a get-you-going fix and shouldn't be relied on as a permanent cure. New cap/rotor arm and leads won't go wrong. Is the coil connected right way round - if wrong way it still works, but reduced HT volts !

Good advice. Given how cheap the parts are I think I'll fit new coil, cap, rotor and leads. Then at least we can eliminate ignition from the equation!

Yes - but just out of interest - fit one at a time - to track down what was wrong!

Funny isn't it? When I started the resto I thought "I'll renew EVERYTHING". But then as I went along I thought, "Nah the Dizzy is OK, the Carby's OK, The Coil's OK" etc etc. Then once you get one the road and start using the car you quickly realise that the only problems you're having are with the bits you DIDN'T replace

Lesson learned I guess.........

Then once you get one the road and start using the car you quickly realise that the only problems you're having are with the bits you DIDN'T replace

often it's the other way round and you can end up fitting the old parts to cure problems!

Silly question, but worth asking... Do you have a fresh tank of petrol? If the petrol is more than 6 months old it can cause major problems. Usually it needs to be over 12 months old but I've heard of problems at less than 12 months.

If in doubt that the choke is working, remove air filter and splash some fresh petrol into the mouth of the carb - this should sent petrol mist stright into the cylinders when cranking and if that helps, it's definately a fuel issue.

Yes, not only new petrol but totally new tank, pipe and pump!

I am leaning towards ignition - the more I think about it if it was fuel the engine would catch and splutter - but I am turning her over for lenghty periods 10-12 times and not even a slight catch. That does sound like lack of spark more than lack of fuel?? I just assumed fuel because I just rebuilt carby.....

Give a few goes at starting then take a look at the plugs.
If they are wet then petrol is getting through OK.
My car only needs 2 or 3 clicks of choke to start when it is cold, more than this doesn't make it start any better. In fact it runs worse.
If you are pulling the choke all the way out you may be flooding the engine with too much fuel.

Yes I plan to take her for a run on Wednesday and then pull No:1 plug and have a look. I really think, though, that we're talking ignition her......Of course I could be wrong!

If it's starting problems you're trying to diagnose, have a look at the plugs after you've tried to start it but before you've succeeded, as MarkyB suggests. That way you'll see whether they're wet with fuel, proving fuel is getting through, and you can also spin the engine with the plugs resting on the head to check for decent sparks at all plugs.

Kevin

Thanks guys. Any thoughts on the oil leak? Seemed funny it only happened while the engine was cranking, not running........

These engines are rarely completely oil-tight - don't worry about it!

David53 wrote:Thanks guys. Any thoughts on the oil leak? Seemed funny it only happened while the engine was cranking, not running........

starter related?

Well, mystery solved. I've been flooding the engine by using full choke!

I didn't think it would be this because holding the accelerator down and cranking wasn't clearing it, but after thinking about it all day at work I thought to myself, "you know it really does feel like flooding". So I tried tonight with 2 clicks of choke and - bingo! Caught first time and started on third pull.

Thanks MarkyB for the suggestion!

There you go! Great success.