Morris Minor Owners Club

I haven't owned a Moggie for 50 years. I have had my latest one since Summer, it is stored in a dry garage, not warm. The car has been sitting unused for about 10 days, the average temp about -2. Today I put in a new battery, a nice 60Ah which spun the motor nicely although it took a little longer to get going than I expected. Anyway I let it warm up for 5 minute or so & drove off, after a few minutes I put the choke right in. I then pulled up at some lights & the engine died. It started easily & then died at the next lights. I got it home leaving the choke slightly out. I presumed I'd disturbed something whilst installing the battery but all looked fine.
Im now wondering if during this cold snap a Moggie needs a lot longer to warm up than I have been allowing, ie 10 mins.

I was driving my Minor in this cold weather (-3C) and I have an unheated garage that is separated from the house so rather cold in there. My car started very easily but I gave it a lot of choke. As soon as it started I reduced the choke a bit and gave it some revs (not a lot but more than idle). In days gone by, people would blank off part of the radiator with radiator blinds/muffs/cardboard etc to encourage the engine to warm up faster in cold weather. The other day I pushed the choke in too soon and it stalled at a junction. I think there are too many variables (ambient temperature, engine revs, vehicle speed, engine load etc) to be be precise about how long in time or distance driven it takes to warm up. You just have to judge it for yourself. I tend to be over eager pushing the choke in under the belief that running a rich mixture for too long will coke up the engine.

I'm the same with the choke, always wanting to push it in as fast as possible.My garage is also separate from the house. Maybe when the car is undriven for days & left in sub zero temperatures, on starting & running, the engine itself gets hot quickly but the carburettor & other ancillary items remain cold for a lot longer. The very nature of the large area of empty space under the bulbous bonnet wouldn't help matters.

To "let it warm up for 5 minute or so" before driving off is considered bad practice. Just get the engine started on as much choke as it needs and drive off, you can progressively push the choke control in over the next few minutes.

I'd read the same about not letting it warm up while stationary. My Traveller is my first as well and it's outside on the drive! Second time starting isn't unusual but then I leave the choke out until I know I have a good stretch of driving ahead that won't need me to stop. i.e. the lights at the end of our road are too soon.

I'm actually finding that any drive less than 20 minutes isn't worth taking him on, as it takes that long to clear the condensation and to generally get him running nicely.

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 10:11 pm To "let it warm up for 5 minute or so" before driving off is considered bad practice. Just get the engine started on as much choke as it needs and drive off, you can progressively push the choke control in over the next few minutes.

I'm not sure about starting a 54 year old car in -3C with the oil like syrup lying at the bottom of the sump & then driving off. I would always wait for some oil to circulate before moving. If this is "Bad practice" then so be it.

Possibly, all you need is to increase the idle speed a bit. The first part of the choke only increases the idle speed. If you need to pull the choke farther to get moving, that would be a sign of not being warmed up enough. You report it runs fine and only stalls at idle then it just needs a bit more throttle

I often put in the choke too early and it stalls when I stop at a junction. Same as mentioned above, I'm wary of running rich for too long.

I'm not sure exactly why it stalls when I stop at a junction specifically. It doesn't cut out at idle, it's only when stopping and coming quickly back to idle from driving. I wonder if it's to do with the clutch putting an extra load on braking when stopping or something else.

I let the engine idle to warm up a bit while I scrape the ice off the windows. The oil pressure gauge moves very slowly on a very cold start so as Maurice said, I don't want to immediately drive off with it in that state. I don't leave it long, though. Once I've finished with the ice, the oil pressure is fine and it runs with only a little choke so I drive off.

If it's not bitterly cold, no ice and good oil pressure straight away, I just start driving immediately.