Morris Minor Owners Club

how hot is hot?
did it get so hot it was hard touch it? If so then I also agree some thing is wrong.

The rule of 'does it burn your fingers' is a bit hit and miss but we use it often on our test rigs! - if they don't burn your fingers to start with, then you keep touching them over the next few hours / days / weeks to make sure something didn't go wrong.
Of course if they are very expensive or important test rigs we use thermocouples linked to a shut down relay..
Correct fuses will normally prevent fires, but something usually has to melt and go short circuit first.

If you worry about things catching fire the first thing to check is your fuses. If they have been swapped with bigger ones that is usually high risk.

Amanda- sorry if I gave the impression of annoyance, not at all, just a bit confused, it's an age thing.

Picked some other brains on this and they think that the switch is obviously being overloaded it is however not straighforward as it might be the fan/motor causing a strain on the switch or even the rheostat switch coil going home, but the switch overheating to the degree you are getting is quite unusual, so they think a removal and check is required.
As the switch on its own is £36.95 + vat a second hand complete heater unit may be a simpler solution.

Yes, you can pick up complete units at autojumbles (especially Moggy ones) for very little money (less than £20 usually). These may not be in perfect condition but you would probably be able to make a good one out of the two.

Amanda - don't know if you have a driver's handbook but this might be useful in identifying which bit does what, if you can read it!




There were acouple of 2nd hand heater units on ebay recently don't know if they're ended, I'll check.

I got one off eBay a while back for my '52 for £9.50 but I had to collect it from about 35 miles away.

Keep an eye out!

Amanda did you not say when you bought the car that the owner had a shed load of stuff, got to be worth a call to him to see what he has got.

Unfortunately Amanda those two heater units on ebay must have ended, nearly bid on them myself.
Sounds like a real "gem" this character you bought the car from.

Amanda if you can`t unearth the heater give Roger a call on 07768-734339 9am - 6pm he has loads of stuff, is really helpful will post/deliever anywhere and is a member of North London branch, you can mention my name if need be.