Morris Minor Owners Club

Good evening all,
It's about a hundred years since I posted on here, but behaviour of Wifey's car has me puzzled. Here goes:

Driven a couple of times this morning, starting an running perfectly with no obvious faults. Parked up at 1pm. Around 3pm, Wifey attempts to start again, and nada. Nothing at all.

Things I have noticed and/or discovered:
No solenoid click or headlights/wipers.
Battery is in good condition, showing 12.6V and turns the engine over smartly when I press the solenoid.
Ignition switch works - that is, it connects the correct terminals when I turn the key.
Two main fuses have been checked, and them and their housings cleaned with IPA and a scrap of emery.

Car is '68, fitted with alternator.

Any ideas? What else could I check? I have a multimeter and the excellent wiring diagram that Badfelafel drew years ago.

sparking?
fuel?

When I turn the key, nothing happens. No fuel pump, no lights, no ignition light. Nothing at all. Not sure how I can check for sparks or fueling.

What could have stopped all this working, two hours after it all ran just fine?

No lights? They work independent ie whether ign on or off! Maybe dirty battery connections?

Since the solenoid spins the starter - the battery and connections are good. So - inspect the large brown wire that connects to the battery feed cable at the solenoid. Normally that wire runs to the A terminal on the regulator where it joins up (internally) to the brown/blue wire on A1 which feeds the ignition switch and everything else........ On some alternator conversions - if the reg box is removed - the brown wires (two of them) and the brown /blue are all joined together on a connector block. So - search for such a connection - your problem is THERE !! If the reg box has been retained - it may have failed internally. As a temp fix - just join the brown and brown/blue wires. Best to take a terminal off the battery when messing about with these wires !!

I measured the voltage between the earth connection from the battery and the solenoid, and I get 12.7V. That suggests the terminals are OK.

What's the connection between A and A1 on the control box? It looks like the lighting circuit is not getting supplied so it would seem that connection 'A' is not supplied. As the horn and interior lights are OK, that would suggest that the 'A1' output from the control box is OK (though I don't know what voltage those parts need to work).

Is it worth trying to connect A and A1 together? The regulator is not used, I think, given that I have an alternator.

BMC: There is a brown wire that exits the loom and connects with a Lucar to the same solenoid terminal as the wires from the alternator and battery. Is that the one to which you refer? I checked the length of that that I could see, pushed back the sheath to check the wire core connection, and removed and replaced the connector on the solenoid in case there was a dodgy connection.

Are you describing joining the cables for A and A1 together? I don't think I have a terminal block that will cope with that current. I'll see what I can find.

Yes - join A and A1 - just take the cable out of A1 terminal - and put it in A alongside the brown wire. The connection inside the reg box may have failed. That IS what's wrong!

If A and A1 only had one wire each that would be easy, but there's already two connections on each of A and A1.

The only terminal blocks I have are 5A, which I think may be a little small...

Well - you MUST get them all joined up somehow - it IS the problem....

bmcecosse wrote:Well - you MUST get them all joined up somehow - it IS the problem....

It was the problem, so thanks ever so much.

I made up an H-shape from two layers of some thin steel plate I had lying around (OK, an instant coffee can) and insulated the middle section with gaffer tape. The Lucar connectors go on to the legs of the H.

If it holds, I might well secure it and leave it.

Nonononono! The Regulator box is now doing nothing. I suggest you get rid of it and just put a row of high current capacity choc-block (or similar) on the bulkhead and make the connections neatly there. You don't want to risk a fire with these unfused cables !

I will do a proper job, as soon as I have a chance. The jury-rigged version has plenty of current capacity and no exposed metal but terminal blocks will be much better.

Glad it's working again!!