Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello again,
My moggie has a tendency to die at junctions! Ive adjusted the idle speed and most of the time it is okay, but sometimes the car just dies, could it be a fault in the ignition circuit ie dodgy plugs , leads etc. It happens with a cold and warm engine.

Thanks
Mark

Do you mean that you are sitting at the junction with the engine idling and it suddenly stops or that when you put your foot down to drive away the engine loses power and/or stops?
After engine has stalled does it start easily, the first time, or is it difficult to get it started (or do you have to get it towed away) ?

Hello ,
Yes im sitting at a junction idling and it dies, sometimes it can be difficult to get it restarted .
thanks

Mark

Does it die suddenly, or splutter or miss a bit before cutting out?

It tends to miss and splutter
mark

Everybody will probably suggest something different for this one but I would start by cleaning out the carburettor float chamber.

Yes, and while you have the carb float bowl lid off, check that the needle valve is closing correctly and not sticking either open or closed.

The float chamber was cleaned out at the weekend but ill have to check the needle valve movement.

Mark

Lo, if no joy after checking the previous suggestions it might
be worth cleaning the petrol pump points.....the fact that you
run ok but it stalls if you are stationary may point to a pump
which is reluctant to work unless the car is bumping along
the road. If this is the problem you would hear the pump
ticking quickly when you did re-start the engine as it filled up
the empty float bowl???
Willie

This was happening with my saloon last week, on the way for an MOT!! The engine stopped at every set of traffic lights/junction etc. It restarted on each occasion until eventually no go at all (and it ALWAYS happens at the most inconvenient spot). It was the contact breaker points. I cleaned them up enough to get me home and fit a new spare set. Car's been fine since. Just a thought anyway.
Yes it passed MOT on Wednesday, no problem.

The petrol pump is a possibility as mentioned, but petrol pumps tend to stop more randomly than that.
If it happens whilst driving you get that 'running out of petrol' feeling where the engine won't run on full throttle then after a few seconds it won't run with your foot off the gas either.
My first reaction is to listen for an occasional click of the pump, as if everything is silent, it is often the pump - a hard tap with the knuckles of plastic screwdriver handle will set it off again and it'll pump rapidly to fill the empty carburettor.
The running out of petrol symptoms will be the same for a sticky Carburettor inlet needle/ float as already mentioned.

How long do you idle before it stalls? If it stalls very quickly when you come to idle then your throttle slide may be sticking open which will over-richen the mixture and cause a stall. To check that (engine not running!)
remove the air filter assembly, pull the throttle cable to open the butterfly valve and you will see the throttle slide blocking the carburettor bore. Stick a finger down the carb and lift the throttle slide. It should give some resistance to opening but snap back shut freely. If it is not snapping back shut then usually the vaccum pot / piston needs cleaning, or it is misaligned somehow.

The other hints look pretty usefull, but I'm also wondering if you are sitting in a very long que of traffic. When you sit in traffic due there is a very limited air flow through the engine bay. If the fuel hose is close to the exhaust it can warm up causing the petrol to vapourise and not enough petrol gets to the carb. I had that a few times on my first minor and it would take quite long to re-start and it would run badly for the first 200 metres after I got past the traffic.

Let us know what it was - chances are that there are lots of other possibilities....

Hello

Ive checked the float needle valve this morning and it seems okay, just a thought but could it be that the float level is incorrect what should it be for a 1965 model as it seems a bit big more than in the workshop manual.

This morning it went into town and to start with would idle about 1 min if that then other times would be okay.

Don't trip over yourself... if the car was running ok and
has now developed your stalling fault....since you haven't
altered the float level...it is unlikely to be that.
Willie

Hello
Ive fitted new spark plugs and she is running better now! She is now just dying going over speed humps , its okay if i pull out the choke to the first notch, could it be a problem with the fuel pump, on a related topic i have a gunsons multimeter what terminals do i connect to on the car to measure the revs as ive lost the instructions for it!
Yours Mark

If it measures the 12v LT (as I suspect that it does) then the CB side of the coil (not the IGN side).

This is where electric/electronic tachos take their feed from.

You will also need to connect an earth terminal to the body (neg earth cars).

Pulling out the choke to the first notch(there shouldn't be
notches on it) does two things if the choke is adjusted
correctly.....it increases the revs and enrichens the mixture.
the simplest thing to do is to increase the tickover speed
slightly( until the red charging light just about glimmers or
has just gone out) and see if this stops the problem. If you
are ticking over and you depress the clutch does the engine
stop or falter?
If not your MIXTURE may be wrong. Do you ever get a spitting
back from the carburettor??
Willie

Willie - I wonder if some non original choke cable pulls have "notches"? My saloon's choke has these, there are definite clicks which hold the knob in position, but my Traveller doesn't have this and is probably as original.

Yes there were some cars which had notches but not the
Minor it should be a smooth pull which will stay in any
position which you choose. If correctly adjusted you should
feel a very small amount of free play followed by about
1/4" of easy movement(this is merely opening the throttle
slightly)then harder movement as you are now moving the
Jet down to enrich the mixture. Mind you if the 'smooth pull'
type wears out you finish up putting a clothes peg on it to
stop it going back in!!!
Willie

Fortunately not reached the clothes peg stage yet! No doubt a full set is required of varying thicknesses to ensure a correct mixture during engine warm up??

Hello
Update !
At the weekend just gone i bought service items for the distributor , a new cap and new HT leads. As i thought it might be easier i decided to remove the dizzy to make fitting the points etc a bit easier, good job i did, previously some body had overtightened the pinch bolt thus cracking the body of the dizzy, after a bit of swearing , I rushed of yet again to see Jim at Minorite to see if he had an exchange distributor, he did so it was duly fitted, after adjusting the timing and re colourtuning the carb it appears to have solved my little problem, so thanks for all the advice.

yours mark