Morris Minor Owners Club

I am experiencing a hesitation sometimes in the running of my engine. The car is a 1968 traveller fitted with electronic ignition and an alternator. I gave the car a service changing the plugs, dizzy cap and leads but the hesitation is still there. The car starts first time and runs very well apart from this hesitation now and again. Its not like a miss fire just a hesitation now and again. Any ideas ?

Lift the bonnet on a dark, wet, rainy night and see if you've got any electrickery escaping.

My first check would be dash pot oil. I used to have a car that would have problems at idle speed and just above idle, causing a hesitation (flat spot) when pulling away. Topping up the dash pot oil always sorted it.

Regards John

+1 for the dash pot oil. The same thing happened to use in the early days before I became aware of the significance of the dash pot.

That's a vote from me too, sounds very much like dashpot problem.

Have now cured the hesitation. I had a look at the oil level in the dashpot and it seemed ok. I took the car to a friends garage to check on the emissions with the MOT machine and it recorded that the car was running at twice the emissions that it should be. I examined the mixture adjustment and found that the previous owner had wound it up to the maximum to try to weaken the mixture. The needle and the choke tube were very worn causing a very rich mixture which in turn made the engine run very rich. A new needle and choke tube from Southern carburettors and hey presto no more hesitation and hopefully more miles per gallon.