Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

Hope someone here may be able to offer some advice. I've got a '68 saloon and, despite being a good starter, recently, if I stopped for a short time, for example to get petrol, the car wouldn't start again. After a short 'rest' it would start again and be fine for a while but then do the same thing again, with no warning, some days later. Initially the ignition lights came on but now they don't come on at all.

I thought that it might be due to a loose battery lead so have replaced both leads and ensued that they are very secure. I replaced the solenoid as well and even tried a new battery (although it had a fairly newish one already) but it is still completely dead. Nothing happens when I turn the ignition on. I have checked all the fuses and am now stumped as to what the problem could be. Any ideas anyone?

Louise

could be alternator or dynamo fault,not charging battery, before problem started ,did the red ignition light stay on after u started engine,it should go off after a couple of seconds,maybe voltage regultor, which i know nothing about, if it is ,i have some which look pretty good ,u can have one free if it is that ,steve

Do you have the clamp type battery connections or the type which
cover the terminals and are held down by a central screw?? if the
latter they are notorious for not making proper contact so that when
you pull the starter you get nothing.

Thanks for the responses so far.

Willie - I've got the clamp type battery connections, and they are done up very tightly so I don't think that's the problem.

Steve - The red ignition light always went out after a few seconds. I don't know anything about voltage regulators either so if anyone here does and that's what's causing the problem I'll take you up on the offer of a free one. Cheers!

Anyone an expert on voltage regulators? What do they do and could it be causing this problem?

Thanks.

OK lets get down to basics.....you say the ignition lights do not
now come on.......do the headlamps come on when you operate the
switch?? If not then your battery would appear to be flat so it is
not being charged when the engine is on. This could be a broken or
too loose fan belt, a faulty dynamo, a faulty control box or any number
of broken connections. Has the engine started since you changed
the solonoid?? if not it could be that the brown wire which comes from
the solonoid and powers EVERYTHING on the car is connected to the
wrong terminal i.e. the thick lead which comes from the battery to the
soloniod MUST also have the BROWN lead connected to it.
The CONTROL BOX regulates the charging circuit to keep the battery
nicely charged and is a vital piece of equipment which should not be
tampered with if it can be avoided, it is adjacent to the fuse holder
and you should check that the push-on connectors are sound and clean.

Willie - I'll check if the headlights work tomorrow. The engine has not started since I changed the solonoid. I connected it up exactly as it had been connected previously. The fan belt is not broken or loose. I'll check the control box connections tomorrow and let you know if that does the trick.

Thanks,

Louise

Can you start it with the starting handle?

If the dashbouard lights don't come one, but the headlights still work, then it could also be a faulty ignition switch or loose wire to/from the switch.