Morris Minor Owners Club

So this week's calamity - never drive a classic car to a job interview if you want to turn up a) dry, b) oil free and c) on-time.

Going up the A3 in her usual spritely manner, the car decides that going into what the modern folk would call "sleep mode" is a good idea, creating a gradual loss of power from 60 to a steady 20, whilst in 4th - pulled up, checked the engine - no overheating, petrol pump ticking fine - started again fine - another few hundred yards same again. Wouldn't restart this time.

AA called - eventually after being moved to safety etc we try a new rotor arm - belts round the sainsburys car park a few times in good spirits - get out onto the road and another hundred yards - dies again.

At this point, because i'd followed the AA advice and left my indicators on to increase visibility, the battery is also dead so; back on the flat bed truck.

So, my friends - what are your thoughts? - AA and various roadside helpers opinions range from dodgy fuel pump / blocked fuel pipe through rotor arm (the one we took out was a little marked on one corner) through to head gasket - any other ideas?

I would say fuel starvation for some reason (pump, tank, fuel lines, carb)...

If you pull the choke whilst she is losing power, does it help at all?

it did briefly, but more slowing down the death (enough to get me across a junction at least!)

my gut feeling is fuel - though it's not evaporation as i have shields and we'd not gone that far from home - i'm hoping dirt or a diaphragm issue. We did have a small jerking issue not long back, but that was resolved by the spanner / pump interface.

The water in the rad isn't bubbling though she is getting through a bit more water these days - but no overheating problems in the last 18 months.

Air filter on the carb was dirty, but not unreasonably so.

Oh dear. hope you got to the interview in the end? Run a fuel flow test - make it pump a full gallon into a can and time how long that takes. If that's ok - then turn your attention to the sparks. This is where a complete spare dizzy is invaluable - just swop them over and you should be on the road again. Of course - for this to work it has to be a known good dizzy - that you had running in your engine -you just lift it out with cap and leads, wrap it up and stow it beside the spare wheel. If it still doesn't go, then it must be the coil....connections!

have you tried running with the fuel cap OFF,is the vent blocked maybe,worth a try.

Thank you everyone - looks like it was relatively simple - a dirty carb chamber - a couple of flakes which may mean i need to look at the tank at some point - i'm assuming the dirt was kind of moving around as she was sitting happily under revs whilst static, but stopping on any kind of incline.

BME - i did manage to get to my job interview (after a £70 taxi journey) but i don't think a bedraggled, flustered and oily person was their ideal candidate!

Quite the opposite! I would be very impressed that you had made the great effort - and would give you the job right away! I doubt 'flakes' in the carb bowl will be the problem......for a start - they shouldn't get past the little filter in the base of the SU pump. Check the filter is present and correct.

i think part of the problem was the fact that said filter may have been ineffective and/or not there!

Which is why you need to check it...

Well life hasn't improved. How do people feel about complaining?

So we took the car to a local minor expert, as I'm mad busy with other projects, who sorted out the cutting out by cleaning out the carb bowl and putting in a new petrol filter, and sorting out the wipers that had died......

The wipers failed as soon as we turned them on and the engine died 3 times on the way home. The garage think it might be the petrol or the tank flaking causing the latter but I am kind of frustrated. It's reasonable to take the car back and get it looked at again isn't it?

What do people think about the petrol theory?

take it back
we generally let the experts get away with it

'Local Minor expert'........oh dear. I hope he didn't fit an ADDITIONAL filter - the one in the pump is enough - check it. Do a fuel flow test - pump a gallon up into a can - is it contaminated? Does it pump the gallon ok? The SU carb can cope with all manner of dirt etc - I seriously doubt that's the problem. If he fixed the wipers (how - what did he do??) and they still don't work - take it back - and PAY NO MORE MONEY. What's wrong with the wipers - no go/slow running?

minor experts or they think they are

it's a recognised morris place - yes there's an additional filter installed now. The wipers had stopped dead - apparently it was the fuse; and it appears to have gone again. They won't go back to the parked position either.

It's just an absolute pain as it means time off work to take it back. I really ought to go on a course.

if you have paid good money and the problem isnt fixed then take it back consumer law is on your side

The fuse will blow if the motor is drawing excessive (that's REALLY excessive!) current. Its likely the rack and pinion and wheelboxes are suffering from hard/dried up grease. But it is worthwhile dribbling a little oil down the spindles of the wheelboxes. If you take the blades off the screen - will it run? I really do suggest you avoid that 'Minor expert'.........

I'm just worried they'll say this is a different problem - but I do see that I did take the car in with a dying engine and it still has a dying engine.....now I'm wondering coil - and it's NEVER the coil!! Anyway, I guess i'll just have to have a moan and see if they will pick the car up gratis as it's now dead dead and I won't risk driving it that far anyway.

Maybe I should just find another little local garage in the area rather than using a specialist as I can't help feeling I'm paying over the odds anyway. Sorry, I just needed to moan.....

I don't know about the wipers - they said it was one of the motor wires was bare and tripping when it hit the motor box. I've also noticed the push button for the fluid is jamming. They said they'd refurbed the motor itself too.

I'm just very frustrated with it and I'm trying not to think about giving her up to be honest.

If you can't DIY it - then yes - a small local garage is your friend. You don't tell us where you are - maybe someone local could pop round and help you find what the problems are. By all means try a different coil - I urge everyone to carry a spare - it's a 2 minute job to swap the connections and it will show immediately if it makes a difference, or not. Likewise a spare complete and know working dizzy is a very useful thing. When you collected the car - did they demonstrate the wipers working and parking correctly for several minutes? And did you drive the car around the block a couple of times to test if they had fixed it? Sound like complete 'chancers' to me.....

Its about impossible to block the main jet on an SU(Too big) and if it did, a full throttle opens it up wide so it would clear anyway. If the valve in the fuel bowl is blocking,then its easy to check yourself,just drive it until it stops and take the top of the bowl off,(take a flat screwdriver with you) look inside,if its empty then it is contamination ,or a sticking float/needle,if the float is still at the top push it down .with your finger and see if petrol flows into the bowl,if its at the bottom fiddle with the needle and see if it now lets petrol flow. If the bowl is still full then look elswhere,ignition etc.