Running on two.

[Tinasminor]

Hi,
We have just purchased our first minor and picked it up today, I had test driven the car around the houses and agreed a deal.
On the way home the car started missing and when back (about twenty miles) it was running on two cylinders.
I removed the leads one at a time to find cylinders one and two not firing although there was a good spark at the leads, this morning bought a new set of plugs but when fitted it was still the same,
Going through it tomorrow with points etc but it's a bit strange.
Any ideas?

[ampwhu]

Head gasket between cylinder 2 and 3.

Do a compression test to find out.

[don58van]

I agree. It does sound like a head gasket.
It is best not to fiddle with anything else until you check compression, as suggested above.
Don

[ManyMinors]

Between cylinders one and two surely if those are the 2 faulty ones
Agreed that head gasket is the most likely cause. Not the end of the world though. Nice simple job on a Minor.

[Tinasminor]

Doing a compression test tomorrow but the oil and water are very clean and no milky signs in either.

[James k]

If it's blown between two cylinders, you won't have oil and water mixing. Blown head gaskets are spoken about as the end of the world on a modern car but, as has been said, they're pretty routine and straightforward on a moggie. Good luck!

[oliver90owner]

Between cylinders one and two surely if those are the 2 faulty ones
Agreed that head gasket is the most likely cause. Not the end of the world though. Nice simple job on a Minor.

Easy, but not necessarily as simple as fitting a new gasket.

The job requires use of a straight edge for checking flatness, on both deck and head, along with remedial action if found necessary.

It can be a simple head gasket change, but if either, or both, faces are not flat (within service tolerances) the head gasket failure is likely to be repeated - possibly at ever decreasing intervals. Do the job properly or do it again and again.

I don’t know from where the myth, re blown gaskets, mentioned by James k, arises. Simply not true - although bent cylinder heads with overhead cam (s) fitted directly in the head) cannot be re-surfaced more than a small amount due to cam bearing alignment and may require a new cylinder head to be fitted, if that is all that is bent.

[James k]

Seconded on checking checking head for straightness, especially since it sounds like it's been driven some distance on a blown gasket.... if it is indeed blown!

I don’t know from where the myth, re blown gaskets, mentioned by James k, arises. Simply not true - although bent cylinder heads with overhead cam (s) fitted directly in the head) cannot be re-surfaced more than a small amount due to cam bearing alignment and may require a new cylinder head to be fitted, if that is all that is bent.

I think it's mainly because mechanics charge the Earth for such a job so it's deemed 'beyond economic repair'. I changed one on a Vauxhall Zafira a few years ago and it was a far more complex job than on a Morris. You have to remove a million wires, the timing belt, injector rail, various sensors, two rather tricky manifolds and probably some stuff I've forgotten before you even get to the head! This was actually to replace a burnt exhaust valve and regrind the valves rather than a blown head gasket and I did it, in part, because of people saying "it's beyond repair"!

[Tinasminor]

Thanks all,
Head going in for a skim tomorrow.

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[Tinasminor]

We bought the car for my wife to use fairly regular so while it's off the road I'm thinking of upgrading to a servo as I would like to improve the brakes for daily use, any hints or suggestions as which way to go?

[Myrtles Man]

A perusal of this recent thread may provide a helpful start to your considerations:-

viewtopic.php?t=74976

[geoberni]

The subject of fitting a Servo is a bit of a Marmite topic.
You will find those that insist they are a waste of time with drum brakes, those that say they are required with Discs and not drums, but ....
Fact is, a Servo does not improve braking.
What it does do is reduce the effort to get that braking.

See this for just one example of a Servo discussion: viewtopic.php?t=70556

[Tinasminor]

To be honest I was hoping it would make using the car easier for my wife who is going to be driving it.