Morris Minor Owners Club

My interior light has suddenly stopped working and it's not the bulb. I don't have courtesy light switches in my '57 saloon. If I unscrew and remove the unit from the headlining, is it straightforward to get it back in neatly. I have fears of some disaster involving removing the headlining!

Yes, its a doddle. Can't go wrong really - unless you loose the screws! Two screws hold the cover in place and four screws hold the rest of the unit. Just be careful pulling out the bullet connectors, which may be corroded. If you can't fix it I have a spare!

Not lost the four tiny screws (yet) but the ends of the fitting where the cover attaches with two screws is behind the headlining so I might need to slit a bit of the headlining to winkle it out.

Mine stopped working, and when I removed it the paxoline had broken. I repaired it using printed circuit board from Maplin and replaced the rivets with BA nuts and bolts, using the remains of the paxoline as templates. It would be interesting to see if yours is repairable.

Hi

You don't indicate if you checked the fuse. On later cars its the fuse with the purple wires, that also does the horn.
If the horn is not working check the fuse and the fuse holder as this may need a clean.

youngb506 wrote:Not lost the four tiny screws (yet) but the ends of the fitting where the cover attaches with two screws is behind the headlining so I might need to slit a bit of the headlining to winkle it out.

Maybe....or it may be possible to slide it sideways a bit to do it. I've seen them screwed in front of the headlining, which helps, but it may depend on who fitted it in the first place. The paxoline may be broken, as Gavin says, or it may simply be corrosion or a wire has pulled out. Last time mine didn't work, it was because a bullet connection behind the dash had pulled out after I had been fiddling with the speedo cable.....

All good advice, chaps, much of which I hadn't thought of. The horn's working. I did do a bit of wire fiddling above the shelf below the dash so I'll check that before I go any further. The bulb seems very loose, so perhaps it's a loose connection or the board is broken. Have to take daughter to trumpet lesson now so another attempt later or tomorrow.

Is there a simple way to check there's continuity in this circuit without a multimeter?

youngbob
First of all get the corrosion cleaned up and back to clean metal. If you roll a small piece of emery / sand paper up , you can insert in the rolled metal ( where the hollow bullets go https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/ ... category/6 ).
GavinL's picture shows you what you're aiming for

If it's the original wiring loom on your car you might well find that the bare strands of copper wire have got a bit tarnished. A small wire brush ( used for cleaning suede shoes ) might bring some shine back and a slightly better electrical contact.

No multimeter... OK , can you borrow one from a neighbour ? Get a garage guy / gal to check it over. Chat up a neighbour , who's got an electrician working on his house. A simple Multimeter isn't expensive , e.g https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silverline-D ... XQ3kNTfxa0
Otherwise if you've a couple of suitable wires with crocodile clamps each end, you could connect up the switch with a bulb installed. Connect one wire to your battery negative terminal and then touch the other end , briefly , to the positive terminal ( with the switch in the ON position of course ).

Bob ( very old , positively ancient ! )

I've cleaned up the switch which works fine with the bulb lighting up if I connect it across the car battery. However, it won't work when connected to its two wires which emerge from the headlining. Is there a way of telling if the purple wire has current running through it?

If the bulb doesn't light, I'd say there is no current flow. Try to trace the other end of the purple wire and put a meter, set to ohms, across the two ends, it's likely there is a break in the wire somewhere.

The two wires to the light/switch are permanent 12volts and earth, you can test both with a cheap multimeter using any earth point to check first the 12v ( voltage scale ) and then Ohms to check the earth..
Take it from there...

John

P.S. not having a multimeter is no problem,use a bulb/holder and wander lead instead..

I think I must have a 12volt supply because I've blown a fuse. The fuse I've blown was a 15 amp. The only thing not now working is the horn. Mysteriously, the ancient spare fuse is 35amp. I can't find anywhere in my Haynes manual if the 15amp fuse is correct, although it's been like this for about 23 years, anyway.

My car's been running with a 15a fuse and a 30 amp fuse. The only ref to fuse sizes I can find in any of my books says the horn/ interior light should be on a 50 amp fuse and everything which operates only when the ignition is on should be 35amps. Should I be concerned?

I now feel I need to get this straight before I go back to the interior light mystery!

Back in the seventies,when fuses blew on our 'communal ' Minor we used to replace them with bits of silver paper out of a fag packet
Not that I would recommend that now!

In the Morris Minor Workshop Manual it indicated both fuses are 35amp

Not sure how your interior light unit is fitted to your car, but the fitting looks like the body of the unit would be earthed when the light is on. So you need to make sure the wires are the correct way round, as live on the wrong terminal would blow the fuse when the switch on the unit is in the ON position.

My travellers interior light is screwed to wood ,but still need to get the wires the correct way round as I have door switches, the fuse will blow if wires crossed.

Interior lamp back emitting its vinttage glow. Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Making up a test lamp helped but I might need to splash out on, and learn to use, a multi meter.

Decent looking multimeters in Lidl this week for a tenner or so. Didn't get one as mine is tired but stil working - and I'm tight!