Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

I have a 1965 Morris Minor. The Speedo has four lights on it, lower left HB (highbeam) and lower right ignition. Above are two amber coloured lights. Dont remember seeing the left hand amber light lit up since I have had the car so I am thinking this is the oil pressure light is this correct? What exactly is the function of the other amber light, centre right on the speedo. It used to occasionally light up when I was travelling in a gear at the wrong revs. I have recently had the oil filter changed and oil changed. However when I took the car for a drive today this light stayed on all the time which was worrying. Oil level in sump is fine and at the correct level. What could be causing this and am I safe to drive it to a garage for other work I am having done this week on replacing the fuel and brake lines where I could get this looked at too?

The amber light on the left is the blocked oil filter warning light, it is a waste of time and was deleted on later cars. I use mine for the trailer indicator warning light.
The amber light on the right is the oil pressure warning light, it should glow when you turn the ignition switch on and go out when you start the engine
The other lights are main beam warning light (blue) and ignition (red)

So - if that light is ON when the engine is running - it indicates there is extremely LOW oil pressure....and the engine should be switched off immediately. If it NEVER goes out - it most likely indicates a failed oil pressure switch..but could mean the oil pump has failed....which would be very unlikely. Some will suggest the relief valve has maybe jammed open...again unlikely - even it has, with cold oil it should go out on starting up. Did this happen immediately after the oil/filter change ? What oil was used ??

Hi,

The oil pressure light (thank you, I now know which is which) only used to light up occasionally and often very faintly when the revs were wrong for the gear selected. The previous owner who accompanied me on the test drive, said it acted a bit like a modern change gear indicator on modern cars. Today on its very short run round the block was the first time it had ever stayed on 'most' but not all of the time. Yes it has only really done this today for the first time I have had the car out since the oil and filter change. Not sure what the oil type used was, I will ask the garage tomorrow. Being a garage I would have thought they would have used the correct oil for the job. I hope it wasnt the wrong oil type and that it hasnt caused more problems...

On a different note, I am fairly new to this Morris Minor owners Club web page. Is there an area here where you can share your restoration photos. Would be interested to do that.

There is a section for restoration projects follow list below

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welcome to MMOC and the message board

They have almost certainly used the wrong oil... It should be 20W50. But I doubt with cold oil that would matter much. I do wonder if they changed the filter - and did they do it correctly - making sure the plate and spring are present below the filter cartridge. Again - that won't be affecting the engine with cold oil Slight possibility that they may have pulled the wire off the switch - and it's now touching part of the engine - putting the light on. You should check the wire is on the switch - and if it is - take it off , and start the engine - is the light still on ? Sometimes over the last 50 years... the Ign and Oil lamps get moved about behind the speedo - so the Orange light is Ign and the Red light is Oil. Again unlikely - but not unknown. The person who told you the light was like a gear change warning was having a laugh - that light comes on at ~ 7 psi - which is dangerously low oil pressure - and indicates a severely worn engine. It's 'just about' ok if it flickers slightly when the hot engine is idling - but it should NEVER come on when the car is moving - no matter how slowly. The real answer of course is to fit an oil pressure gauge so you know exactly what is going on. Just to add - I notice you say 'flickered faintly' - this is an indication that in fact it may be the Ign warning light - and not the Oil light - which tends to be either On or OFF . Maybe the fan belt is slack? Or the dynamo brushes are worn ?

Hi, thanks again for all your help and advise on this. Was having a chat with the garage that are fitting my new brake and fuel lines today and they think the wrong oil may have been accidentally used too as I mentioned the light only really comes on once the engine has warmed up.They thought it also could be to do with the fuel filter being tightened up too much? as I know the other garage was having some issues with it, as the washer for it was missing apparently and the fuel filter had been rattling around its casing. I also have an oil leak as the underside of the gearbox is covered in oil see attached photo. The service garage thought it might have been due to the fuel filter problems. I also have an issue in that the wash bottle pump seems to do nothing when pressed, but that is another issue of a whole line of other issues I need to addess.

Fuel filter??? Or do you mean OIL Filter ?? Sounds like they messed that up too.... I would be looking for another 'garage' - and you trust them to fit brake lines ?? Hopefully not 'copper' brake pipes..... Should be KUNIFER !!

Sorry meant oil filter (been a long day ) It is a different garage that are fitting the brake pipes and fuel lines. I'd do it myself but Ill keep to the non mechanical jobs for now until Im more experienced. Yes they are the Kunifer type. Ran the car engine for short while tonight. Oil light didnt come on at all, so must be when engine warms up or moves . Luckily the garage I am getting the fuel and brake lines fitted have the means to get it to their garage without running it. Im still not 100% convinced that the wrong oil was put in as the guy doing the job said he had a book on Morris Minor servicing so that should have said what oil to use. He told me about the oil filter casing and how it was when he took it off (washer missing, filter rattling around in its casing) and how it went together which was how it should be, as you mentioned in your previous post. Bizarrely the light also didnt come on like this on the way back home from the garage the previous week. All very confusing. Will ask tomorrow re the oil type.

He has probably use 10W40 oil - or maybe even 5W30 which is common on pretty much all modern cars. So when it heats up it's very thin - and obviously your engine is worn (no wonder if it was running with no filter....for goodness knows how long) and so the light comes on. I wouldn't worry about driving it to the new garage - as long as the light is off. Change to 20W50 (or even 20W60) asap. And seriously consider an oil pressure gauge.

the oil used was Mannol 15W-40, which I am told is a cleaning type oil and totally unsuitable for my car. I think a combination of the bad oil filter and the wrong oil have caused this problem, but there may be more to it. Only hope the wrong oil hasn't caused any engine damage....

Not quite so bad as 10W40 - but change to 20W50 or 20W60 asap. The 'loose' filter may have been like that for a long time - and so the engine has worn. The seller obviously knew that - hence his 'story' of the light being a kind of gear change warning.. My only worry now would be if the garage have really fitted the filter correctly now..... Which is why it's better to do these jobs yourself !