Hi Everyone,
I bought a '62 Morris Mini a year and a half ago in England and shipped her home, myself. I'm new to mechanics (I'm a programmer by day), but I've always wanted this car, and I want to learn to fix it myself. My diagnostic skills are no where near yours.
A few months back, the generator broke. I replaced the generator and put a trickle charger on the battery. And she started running again, but the battery wouldn't get recharged. Turned out the 10 month old battery was defective. I swapped it out and kept the trickle charger on the new battery, but it still won't take a charge.
I gave it 2 weekends, just letting her sit at home. Now she's not starting at all. I tried push-starting her yesterday, and that resulted in me and my neighbor pushing her home. First time ever that a push-start didn't work (I used to have battery problems, so I'm no stranger to the push-start).
The far-right terminal on the voltage regulator, (reading left to right: A1, A, D, F, E) ... "E" was very low, showing about 0.6 volts. So I've got a new voltage regulator, too. Now I'm seeing 13.2v, 13.2v, 0v, 0v, and 6.6v. I'm not sure that D & F should be at zero though??
I thought that while she was down, I'd switch the electrical system from positive-ground to negative-ground. I did that last night, and I polarized the generator, tapping a wire from positive battery lead to the smaller lead of the generator a few times (it sparked as expected). And because I'm sitting here, twiddling my thumbs, not knowing how to get her running, I also swapped the spark plugs out. She REALLY tries to turn over, but it's not going.
Here's a video of her trying to start. We're trying my friend's trick of spraying a little WD-40 directly in the carburetor. That didn't work...
Any advice is really appreciated!
Thanks,
Ryan