Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello,
Hope someone can help me. A couple of weeks ago, nice sunny day, off i go in Flossie i thought - boyfriend pulled the starter switch thingy (i have a 1956 Series II) and the wire snapped.
Is it possible to order just the wire or will i need the whole thing? Had a little look on ESM but got a little befuddled.
I am not entirely sure where it attaches to in the bonnet so simple explanations please
In the meantime the boyfriend is out there with the crank trying to get her going as her battery is a little flat after sitting for a few weeks. Muttering under his breath.. "crank start not that easy", "old cars", "pah"

The wire passes from the knob inside the car to a connector on the starter switch, accessible best by lowering the parcel shelf. At the end of the cable it is a simple screw clamp on a tube, just need a screwdriver to fix it. You will also need to remove the glovebox to get at the nut that holds the knob to the dashboard. It is one of those jobs that is easier to do than describe!

The good news is that you do not need boyfriend and starting handle! If you open the bonnet you will see that the starter switch is mounted on the bulkhead. It has one thick cable going to the battery and another to the starter motor. Make sure that the car is in neutral with handbrake on and (if it's cold) the choke out. On the switch, between the two big cables, is a metal rod that sticks out. Push it in, and it will do exactly the same job as pulling the cable from the other side, the ctarter should turn.

I can't see the knob and cable that you need listed, but you could use a solid choke cable instead, trimmed to length, to do the same job. If I see anything better, then I'll post again.

Bull Motif are offering the cable second hand, SWH107.
Charles Ware's Morris Minor Centre are listing it new http://www.morrisminor.org.uk/catalogue/ele12.htm
One thought: Has the cable really broken, or is it just that it's pulled out from the coupler? Good luck, hope you get it sorted.

I would think that the screws are probably just loose as simmitc says. If you just remove the glove box liner you should be able to see and hopefully screw it back together!

My starter cable broke, I removed it and the knob, unsoldered the cable from within the knob shaft and replaced it (soldered again) with bike brake cable - works a treat (about 99p)
Worse bit is getting to the screws at the back of the starter switch!
(but being an MM this is obviously different)

I've done that too, but didn't want to worry Hannah about soldering when she'd asked to keep it simple.

If one isn't worried about using the proper knob, then an old wire coathanger can be straightened, clamped in the coupler, and then just dangled on the parcel shelf. Pick it up and pull to start

Hello Peeps,

Thanks for all the advice - will be ferretting around to get this sorted asap and we'll be back on the road - if i uncover anything exciting ill be back on the share with everyone