Morris Minor Owners Club

My Traveller just won't start without jump leads...I've checked the battery (it works) have just got a new dynamo, drive it on straight roads etc...but it will not (at least only does occaisionally) start. I really don't know what's up. It had spark plugs not that long ago, and the points were checked in November.
If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. The car conks out in the most dodgy of places sometimes. Should I bash the starter motor with a spanner or something? Because of limited funds at present I have to sort this myself, so can't just hotfoot it to a garage.
All the best
Fablovely

Hello FL,
it would help if you would describe the symptoms more clearly.
Does it crank slowly but faster with the jump leads? What about fule, fuel pump?, or could the points have closed up since fitting. Hot start or cold start etc.
Please describe more fully what happens when you try a start.

Alec

Thanks Alec
When I turn the key in the ignition it makes one dull clunk then nothing.
When I use the jump leads it starts immediately.
Sometimes, having driven for a while and then stopped for a while, it starts without a problem. Other times it needs a jump start.
It seems to guzzle fuel at the moment.
The weather doesn't seem to have a bearing on whether it starts or not...it always needs choke initially.
I don't really know what the points look like, so don't know if they've closed up.
Fablovely

Take yourself off to your local ATS or whatever, and ask them to check your battery. It's usually a free test (if it isn't, walk away). I've a feeling your battery is cooked. They'll try to sell you a new one, but probably won't have one in stock (my local place didn't)!

If you need a new battery, it'll be the thick end of £40ish, but at least you can fit it yourself!

That's my tuppence-worth, anyhow!

Yes, it does point to a battery with no charge in it. This could either be a duff battery OR a duff charging circuit. Or of course a combination of the two. If you get the battery checked as Gareth suggests then that will eliminate that from the equation and you can then concentrate on the other bits.

Thanks.
The battery was tested just before Christmas and was deemed ok.
Nothing's happened to drain it since then. However, I've had to have it on charge...car was ok for approx 5 weeks after charging, now it's jump starts all the way. The battery came from the AA, so I'll get on to them.
Fablovely

Hmm........ have you had the charging circuit checked at all? If the battery is OK then it could very well be that! If you can, get the AA to check the charging circuit. If it's duff then it could be as simple as putting new brushes in the dynamo or getting a reconditioned one (they are not too expensive). It could be other things like the regulator but they don't go wrong very often.

Modern batteries do fail quickly!
The one in our Colt failed on a Sunday morning (about 10 am) having been drive home early that morning (about 1am).

I don't know how the Moggie versions are now, but I suspect thay have the same life pattern - i.e. sudden death!

Colin

It had a new dynamo fitted in September 2004 (just been looking at the receipt.)
Maybe the battery has just gone under...odd though...
Thanks for all advice.
Fablovely

But to look on the bright side, noone is going to steal your car! Are batteries really that expensive? Nothing fancy, a moggie battery, is it? Cost me £25

Hello FL,
where do you connect your jump leads to?, if it across the battery terminals it points to that area, if, as some do, you connect the earth to the engine or similar parts you may just have a poor connection in the earth at the battery or underneath at the gearbox strap. Worth checking before you get a new battery.

Alec

If I remeber correctly a battery for a mog from Haulfwits cost abou t£30 last year

the battery nowa days are rubbish one hartd winter and it kills them i have the same problems so got a new battery after all the snow and now fine no problems

Points taken:)
FB

fablovely wrote:Points taken:)
FB

'Doh! That'll be why it doesn't start then!

Sorry...
a

Hello,

I am surprised at the number of adverse comments about modern batteries. Perhaps I should state that I have been around for quite a few years and I remember that battery life used to be two or three years and they were relatively expensive. Modern batteries are more compact and last twice as long if not more and are not that expensive. Perhaps it's the testers who condem them that is misguiding ?

Alec



Alec

Just found the receipt from before Christmas - Halfrauds Battery, Suit Metro/Maestro (it's a slightly higher capacity, and has the terminals the right way round for negative earth) £39.99.

I was in a pickle, 'cos when I'd stopped the car, I couldn't guarantee that she'd start again, so I went to Halfwits and bought a battery - really didn't like the idea of trawling around different garages!!

That's what I need, my battery receipt.
Blast the malfunct manufacturers of mayhem cause, etc.
Fab:)

Alec, I have found modern battery longevity perfectly acceptable. I usually have 4 or 5 years use out of them with no problems. More sometimes.

The only issue I have with them is that the 'sealed for life' units are no such thing! They need periodic checking and topping up.

Fablovely, you need a starting handle. Much easier and quicker than messing with jump leads or push starts.

As for the problem, how old is the battery? And what happens to the red ignition light on the speedo - does it go out quickly after the engine fires up or does it stay on? This often gives a clue to whether the charging circuit has a problem.

My Halfrauds HD battery in the mog dates from late 2001 and it gave me no problems this Winter. In fact I've known two modern batteries that lasted six and seven years respectively (in modern cars).