Morris Minor Owners Club

I don't know when 'Timing Lights' were first generally available, but I can remember my first one in the early 70s was simply an inductive Neon powered by the spark itself. Just a development of using the spark plug itself? A 1930 engine I have was timed (according to the instruction manual) by lay...

First? Check your plugs. That should tell you something. If oil is leaking into the exhaust port(s) like that there is internal trouble. It is either flooding down the exhaust valve guide(s) or passing the piston(s). A compression test might be illuminating. Your pic indicates there is nothing leaki...

what could the consequences have been? I.e. burnt out wiring somewhere? Worse?

Yes, is the obvious reply. Too much current in a conductor will heat it to the point of melting the insulation. Further heating could lead to a fire.

simmitc wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2023 4:33 pm The fuse is likely to have blown because you shorted a supply wire to earth.

Almost certainly the lighting circuit was shorted to earth - it’s not on a fused supply, until you added one.

Check the input and output at the ignition switch to make sure the switch itself hasn't failed - they do sometimes. Also ensure that the battery terminals are clean and tight. If the starter motor is working normally, the battery terminals will be secure and the battery is demonstrated as adequatel...

If an enquiry to the usual suspects (ESM, etc) draws a blank, they are not exactly difficult to make? I would use a piece of suitable diameter hard plastic pipe/tube or a piece of acetal rod cut at the required angle and drilled, or even 3-D print them.

so giving a boiling point of about 106C

You are ignoring the antifreeze?

I’ve booked it in tomorrow, he’ll replace it

Personally I would be checking first, to determine if that is actually the problem. But there you go, he should know and not potentially saddle you with an unnecessary charge.

It should be easy enough to check the temperature of the engine coolant before/when the thermostat opens. No need to take it apart. There is, of course, a risk that the thermostat is not completely closing, which will affect the heater performance. A warm/hot radiator, before the engine is up to tem...

Fixed. Thanks for all your help. It was the door switch, just neeeded a bit of WD40. Now, how does a dodgy door switch affect a broken lamp? The door switch should be positively pushed to the ‘off’ position with the door closed - either off or bent! I think your problem was actually within the lamp...

Cold engine? Likely. Worn engine with a lot of blow-by? Likely. Water leak? Unlikely I put a fancy aluminium rocker cover on my Ford engine (back in the ‘70s) and it sludged up something awful. I discarded it (probably like the previous owner of it!) and the problem went away. I’ve seen far worse.

kevin s wrote: ↑Sun Nov 12, 2023 7:15 pm Perhaps worth checking there are no air leaks between the head and manifold at the shared 1/2 port?

Definitely agree with Kevin on this one. Chip is likely due to serious overheating. It needs sorting before other damage can occur.

Guys, Elaine and her daughter will soon learn the minimum choke action required to get the engine started promptly under the prevailing conditions. Nobody knows, as as far as I’ve seen, whether operating the choke actually makes any difference for the first few mm, for instance I am confidant that b...

I’ve removed quite a few bearing outer races by filling the void behind with bread dough, fitting a tight plunger and whacking the plunger with a decent sized birmingham screwdriver. Mostly ball bearings, but the occasional needle roller.

Otherwise the ‘crumple’ treatment is the last resort…

Radweld claims to not clog up any part of the cooling system that is not leaking. What is the worst thing that can happen if I use Radweld to cure the leak in my heater control valve? The worst thing must be that it didn’t seal the leak, according to that claim. Just do it and let us know whether i...

There will always be a debate between those in favour of points and those voting for electronic. Both have their own advantages. The usual advice offered is to consult the Distributor Doctor. This thread does not appear to be a discussion between Kettering and electronic systems. My reply is there ...

Elaine, We know that some service items, marketed these days, are of low quality. The scenario of cold, and damp/wet reminds me of the quality of modern-day replacement ignition leads from years ago - pretty poor in some instances. Might I suggest that when it is really dark and damp, you look at th...

Maybe so Phil. I would personally still use the pinnion with the correct number of teeth to go with the application. As written in my post, ESM did inform me that they have seen the result of the wrong number of teeth causing damage to both starter ring gear and pinnion. A rough and ready measureme...

Firstly, it depends on whether it actually needs changing.

Does it flicker on when actually in the off position?. Repair, IMO, is always better than replacement- if a common, simple, repairable fault.

If this is the only thing bugging you, well done on your purchase.

Barr's Leaks always used to be the stuff when I were a lad. Can you still get it? Plus 1 for Bars leak. Yes, still available but not quite the same as I recall from yers ago. Likely marketed/presented better, these days. I was never confident with radweld 50 years ago. Bars leak has still done the ...