Morris Minor Owners Club

Went out to work on the car this morning to find no power checked the 2 fuses in the fuse box and they appear to be fine....horn works.....but no lights or ignition, its the original wiring but hope that hasn't failed

any ideas

i think my dad may have shorted one of the wires out behind the speedo as he was having a look at something for me and didn't disconnect the battery :@

Battery charged ??

What voltage is showing on your meter when place across the battery terminals ?

12.2v it was a brand new battery in 2011

Probably not enough to turn the starter. Try charging the battery....

im not getting any ignition lights or anything tho? just darkness

because your battery is flat. Charge it and try again. Also check battery connections are clean and corrosion free.

if the horn works there should be enough juice for the ignition light. Recheck the fuses and give the fuse holder a good clean/scrape. If you have the pull starter, that will tell you instantly if you have a good charge in the battery.

ok put a charged battery on it still nothing horn is working......i reckon my dad has fried the wires :'(

checked the fuses again and given them a clean and a spray of wd40 still nothing

If he had "fried the wires" the fuse would have blown or the wiring would be in flames or there would be a smell of burnt wiring. More likely a wire has been disconnected behind the ignition switch. Take the glove box liners out and check for any loose wires

Everything can "look fine" but be passing no current. Corrosion on the fuse holders can stop things cold -- and a very slight shift in the fuse can literally turns things on and off. You need a test light -- they're cheap, and will save you endless grief. You ground the clip on the light anywhere handy and use the probe end to check things. Where there's current the light in the handle glows. I keep one in the glove box (it's all Lucas, after all).

Check all the spade connectors at the voltage regulator as well. I got all done working on my car one day and all of a sudden she wouldn't start -- no dash lights either. It was nothing more than corrosion on one of the connectors on the regulator. It's tedious, but a very good idea to pull apart each connector (one at a time), scrub it up with a wire brush, smear some dielectric grease onto it and plug back together. The connections should be snug. If not, crimp the female end gently till it is. Do the same with the fuses. Doing this once can save you all sorts of grief down -- and on -- the road.

The lights and ignition are NOT through fuses........ The main lead from the battery goes to the solenoid (or pull start) - with engine out of gear - press the rubber button on the end - does the engine turn over? Assuming it does - there is then a brown wire from the solenoid to the A terminal of the voltage regulator - check it is firmly connected at each end. Actually - it must be - because the horn works..... Check with the excellent wiring diagram at the (second) top of this section - print off a copy. There should be an internal connection from the regulator A terminal to the A1 terminal - sometimes this burns out inside (actually below) the regulator - so check for volts at the A1 terminal. I'm guessing there is none..... If so - just run a cable loop from A to A1 and all should be well. However - if dad has created a short further up the line - and that short has burned out the link - then when you make the loop connection there is a risk of a large spark...... so take care - just 'touch' the loop wire on at first, and if no spark connect it up. If there IS a spark -remove battery terminal and investigate exactly what Dad has done !!!!!!!! If there IS 12 volts at A1 (and if there is -the lights should work...) - then you need to look inside at the Ign switch and see if the brown/blue cable has been pulled off. Could be - if someone has been rooting about in that area......... At this point I would again pop a terminal off the battery while you investigate - in case live/bare wires are swinging about in there...........

I'll second BMC, he is spot on. I had these symptoms and it was the link on the back of the regulator.
Having said that if your dad has fiddled about behind the dash then the wires on the back of the ignition switch would be favourite.

Aye - but if that was ALL - the lights would still work. I reckon burned loop or bad connections at A or AI

undo the two screws that hold the regulator on and see that the terminals have not burned out , some one told my how their dip switch burned one out once,

Possibly a wire off the ignition and the feed wire to the light switch, they are close.