Morris Minor Owners Club

It's been a while since I last posted, but Wilson had a new coil after he last let us down, and apparently the rotor arm was replaced as well just in case, he has behaved himself very well......until today, haven't used him for a week or two, but he started first time this afternoon, and performed very well on the three mile trip to school to pick up the kids.
He started again after picking them up from school, we did about a mile and a half, then we sat outside McDonalds (Daddy's turn to cook!)for the obligatory 5 minutes, due to the fact they are permanently surprised to get an order for a burger, and then we travelled 300 yards and he stopped, wouldn't go at all. With or without choke.

Of course it was at a roundabout and it started to rain, so loads of abuse from a MCD car transporter driver who suggested I put my hazard lights on....halfwit, I popped the lid, took of the the coil lead, replaced it, took off the dizzy cap clips, and wiggled it and replaced it, and bingo, started without choke, very faint, and bubbly, but gave it some throttle and off we went, I got 3/4 mile up the road and I stopped to let a family cross the road, and yep he stopped, and refused to start again, they kindly shoved me down the hill with a good old push, I selected 2nd, and off we go again, and did the 3 miles home.

I've taken the dizzy cap off, and checked the rotor arm, and saw the small points gap, everything looks clean, put it back on again, don't have a clue what I'm doing to be honest, and I unclipped one by one the brass sparking plug leads and replaced them,he started first time with choke, and ticked over nicely. He is currently having his battery charged, but other than that I'm clueless, it gives me a bit of a fear from wanting to venture very far, any ideas? Hope everyone is ok

any ticking from the fuel pump when trying to restart? Just in case it's not the electrics..

If you add your location to your profile, there might be someone nearby who can help

Simon

Yeah the fuel pump ticks nicely, by the way Wilson and I are in North Devon

Just a thought but it might be the low tension lead that's causing the problem. Sometimes the wire 'sleeving' gets frayed and the wire gets exposed causing intermittent shorting which results in the type of problem you are experiencing. Might be worth taking off the dizzy cap and having a check (it looks like this):[frame][/frame]

To regain confidence - I suggest a complete brand new dizzy from this lad - it's a screaming bargain - it's all NEW - and should eliminate all your ignition woes for the next 4 or 5 years! http://www.simonbbc.com/automotiveshop/ ... butor-mini Five minute job to fit - and no more worries. It's the best £30 you will ever spend - and actually - he sometimes has them for LESS (~ £25) on ebay. Go for it!

neilchadburn wrote:Yeah the fuel pump ticks nicely, by the way Wilson and I are in North Devon

Pop it in you profile then it will show up with your postings on the r/h side

Whenever I read that a car has had the coil and rotor arm replaced and now the car doesn't start I am inclined to suspect the new coil and rotor arm before anything else.

LouiseM wrote:Just a thought but it might be the low tension lead that's causing the problem. Sometimes the wire 'sleeving' gets frayed and the wire gets exposed causing intermittent shorting which results in the type of problem you are experiencing. Might be worth taking off the dizzy cap and having a check (it looks like this):[frame][/frame]

Yes! have a look at this part, when failling it will give symptoms such as you have experienced. Then it will fail completely stopping the car dead. It could be that each time you disturb the ignition the LT wire makes contact again. It could also be that your original coil and Rotor arm were fine.

NEW dizzy solves it all - plus eliminates last 40 years of wear and tear............ Except the coil of course - but then (as I've said before) - it's 'never' the coil! Of course 'never' is used here in the sense that I will 'never' win the Lottery - but I still buy a ticket every week..........

Sounds like condensor "could" be playing up too. Do you still have your old one to put back in to try?

Thanks everyone, I popped in to Minor Miracles today, and as suggested weeks ago by bmcecosse (thanks) I got round to buying some spares, a new condenser, coil, low tension wire, points and rotor arm, will commence the work Saturday as it's been persisting it down here today.
I'll add a new dizzy to my spares as well. I'll let you know what transpires, thanks as ever.

The complete new dizzy probably costs less than all your spares! Fits in minutes = no more worries!!