Morris Minor Owners Club

Well, the Trav's new starter motor is jolly good, but the battery has responded to the snow and ice by catching a bad cold, and I am going to have to get a replacement pretty soon.

Meantime, I have been starting it in the morning using the cranky handle. I know enough to keep my thumb on the same side of the handle as the rest of my fingers... but I still caught a nasty bruise on my forearm when it kicked back.

Top tips for starting on the handle?

get the wife or a friend to do it and say you need to be in the car safest place

Retard the timing a bit, it will help the starter motor too .

Turn it over with the crank once or twice before you turn on the ignition. Leave it set with the crank just past bottom-dead-centre. Then, with the ignition on, one smart pull should start it. Don't be timid about that first pull, give it a hard fast one.

As above - kicking like that suggests too far advanced ignition.

Thanks for the tips! I've retarded the ignition a bit, and now I've replaced the battery too, as I just don't seem to have enough oomph for the windy handle... (was rescued by a neighbour's offer to help jump start it this morning )

It helps to give it a bit of choke if the engine is cold and also a bit of accelerator. You can do this by pulling the end of the outer cable out of the cable stop and pulling it sideways so that it rests on the side of the stop.

I used to turn ignition on to enable the pump to fill float chamber then turn off, pull out choke then turn engine over with the handle to 'prime' the cylinders leaving the engine at the approach to a compression - then turn ign on again and give a smart pull on the handle - worked every time!
Went through a complete winter with a 'flat' battery!

I find that using as much choke as you would when starting on the starter generally works best.
If the car starts easily normally then it will start easily.

If it doesn't it needs servicing!

Pulling the choke automatically opens the accelerator slightly- if it's properly adjusted.