Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi all. this is my first post on the forum.

I brought my first Morris Minor 1000 1963 on the weekend and have now started to work my way around a bit of a restoration of it.

My first problem I need advice on concerns the electrics.

Firstly, I have no rear lights. I've tested the bulbs and they work but when turned on I get nothing.

Secondly, my number plate light does not light up, again the bulbs work and when by passing the bulbs with a wire I still get nothing. The previous owner fitted a fuse for the number plate light?

I also have no front left indicator, this could be a bad bulb because I haven't yet checked.

I have no main beam when I press the control on the floor.

When indicating left I have no flashing light on the end of the arm, however I do when indicating right.

I replaced the fuses today. in the engine I have a 10 amp and 35 amp fuse fitted. for the number plate light a 35 amp.

Are all these lights on the same circuit?

Thanks in advance

Hi and welcome to the message board
There are bullet connectors connecting the loom to the lights in the boot, these can get very corroded and cause the problems you describe. Try stripping the tape back off the loom and see what you find.

Thanks for the very quick reply!

I checked in the boot, there was a loose connection. totally off. So re fitted that, now the rear right hand lights work. The front left indicator now works too.

The number plate light and full beams still don't but this I can tackle some other time.

Only problem now is although the rear left indicator works the rear left tail light does not. I checked the bulb earlier but i wonder if its just the bulb?

Also, the indicator arm now flashes both ways but seems a bit temperamental, and the horn has stopped working so I'm getting this could be a loose connection.

Thanks

Best thing to do is trace the wires back and check/clean any connections and earth points, give the fuse box a look at as well, sometimes they can be troublesome with loose holders and dirty contacts.

Thanks, I'll give it a look

Fuses
There should be 2 x 35 amp fuses in the fuse box + 2 spare 35 amp fuses. The later cars have a 10 amp in line fuse for the lighting curcuit hanging under the fuse/control box
Indicators
For the indicators to work properly the flasher unit requires 2 x 21 W bulbs + 5 W warning light. If the warning light does not flash then there is a fault on whichever side is not flashing. A visual inspection will identify front or rear. Check the flasher unit by disconnecting the green and green/brown and connecting them together. Indicate L and R and the bulbs on that side should light but not flash, wiring is OK. Reconnect and if bulbs do not flash then unit is U/S
Side/tail light units
Problems are often caused by corroded units or faulty springs in the base. Replace unit. Test bulbs by swapping with known good bulb
Wiring
Ensure that there is a good earth connection to every light unit, If necessary run extra black earth wires. Check bullet connectors, pull each wire out and reconnect it
Use the correct colour wire when replacing any sections, if you are fitting a new loom keep the old one for spares.
A 12 V test light is useful for tracing faults

Bullet connectors can be a real problem on our old cars. You can clean the bullets but you need to renew the sleeves if you have any doubts, they need to be rust free inside. I renewed most sleeves on my MGB and Moggy and it cured a whole host of problems

thanks mike.perry that was very helpful!

beero - I think I'll work my around the electrics replacing all the connections.

I think I have all the electrics pretty much working now. Only the horn/interior light doesn't work but I see they're on the same fuse connection so I'm guessing I knocked it as I was in the engine.

Thanks for the help! really appreciated