Morris Minor Owners Club

got home 6 hours late last night on the back of a relay truck :'( i need some advice as to what might be the problem :/

when driving up a hill she coughed and died - the symptoms, i thought, of a broken fuel pump (been there before!) when the old trick of hitting it failed, a friendly policeman pushed me to the side of the road (onto double yellows it must be said! :p)
i checked feed to the su, and the pump's working. the float's all free to move etc as well.
there was a spark from the king lead, but not from the ht leads.
the AA man (who i was instructing, it seemed!) cleaned the dizzy components and the hts then were sparking.
still, though, shge refused to fire. with the float removed, the float chamber had a large amount of s**t in the bottom (i had let it get v low on petrol), so we removed and cleaned and reassembled the carb, but still no.
also did the points.

she has been stood for a week, but i don't see how that would make such a difference?

does anyone have any suggestions? - all welcomed and appreciated!

Rotor arm?
Make sure the isn't silt in the tube to the jet too, out of sight, out of mind!

Matt
What state is the distributer cap in generally ? Plenty of spring in the carbon brush in the top...it's still there isn't it and a decent length ? The four contacts all clean and no cracks in the cap itself ?

"Did the points "

as in replaced them and reset the gap correctly ?
The distributer is firmly clamped to the engine, i.e not loose and able to rotate, affecting the timing ?

The low tension side of ignition.The wire from the coil to distributer is sound, no breaks and connectors good and strong.The small earth tag on the side of the distributer/ to the points spring connection all sound ?
If you are getting a spark from the HT King lead ,it means the coil should be OK.
The condenser...cheap to replace, would be my next go at a fix ...if everything else checks out, including MarkyB's suggestion of the rotor arm

Good luck with the hunt.
Bob

Are the plugs wet? If so - it's not a fuel problem. If dry - it could be a fuel problem - tip some fuel down the carb and crank Bit - does it run for a few seconds. based on your comment that it is sparking - it's obviously NOT the coil ( ) - nor the points/condenser/LT wire - so it must be the dizzy cap or rotor arm. Just fit your spares - and it should go.

SHE'S RUNNING (JUST!)

Are the plugs wet?

they weren't - hense the assumption that it was a fuel problem.
the AA man and i stripped down, cleaned, and reassembled the carb (fuel pump and float chamber had already been checked) to no avail.

tip some fuel down the carb and crank Bit - does it run for a few seconds.

nope :p -- stubborn as ever :/

so i reset the points, cleamned up the dizzy cap etc, and re-checked the spark

"Did the points "
as in replaced them and reset the gap correctly ?

-- no, just leaned them and re-set the gap (didn't have spares)
it was sometimes there, sometimes not, and weak when it was there (though there was a spark when the aa man checked it, it obviously was too weak to ignite any fuel)

so it must be the dizzy cap or rotor arm.

-- indeed, replacing the rotar arm, along with cleaning the rest up and it fired - just.

Rotor arm?

-- markyb, you legend!

with all the fiddling around the aa man and i did with the carb, it's way out of adjustment :/
30-50 takes a mile!

i'm just off to see a friend who's going to help me re-tune it

thanks all for your help and support.

cheers, matt

That's what this site is for.

Take the lesson - and start carrying a few spares.. A complete spare known to be working dizzy with cap/HT leads and rotor arm is a good start......

The carb is also causing problems now,
the piston was sticking, and so the jet had to be re-set.
the mixture is still way out, but after 8 solid hours at it today we gave up and i drove home, running very rich!
roll on tomorrow... :/

Take the lesson - and start carrying a few spares.. A complete spare known to be working dizzy with cap/HT leads and rotor arm is a good start......

i will, my boot's already full, but those sort of useful things were in the shed! :p
rest assured whatever i carry in future won't be needed, and the one thing i leave at home will be!

cheers again for all your help. watch this space if i can't get it properly tuned tomorrow.
it'll be back out with the colour tune!

Colour tune ?? Oh dear.......

And by 'known to be working' - I mean parts that have been running well on the car - and are removed complete. put in a good thick sealed poly bag - and carried in the car ready to be fitted if required. Dizzy/carb/fuel pump are good starting points.....maybe even a coil! Weigh little and take up little room. Invaluable when the engine stops...

Colour tune ?? Oh dear.......

what would you recommend? i'm open for suggestions!

And by 'known to be working' - I mean parts that have been running well on the car - and are removed complete. put in a good thick sealed poly bag - and carried in the car ready to be fitted if required. Dizzy/carb/fuel pump are good starting points.....maybe even a coil! Weigh little and take up little room. Invaluable when the engine stops...

i've got a fuel pump in a poly bag, wrapped in a padded envelope, and i'll get the rest of the bits together.
as a student, though, i tend to only buy new parts when they're broken! :p

Best to buy new parts that are NOT broken.......... No need for colour tune - just use the lift pin.