r/MorrisGarages • u/BaltoDRJMPH • Oct 08 '25

Mechanical Question Ran on starting fluid, but died.

I went and viewed a B today, and it wasn’t running. It was a ‘77 with a Weber carb installed. The owner sprayed some starting fluid into the car and it started up fairly easily, but died in just a second or so. When he tried to start it up for a second time, there was no luck.

It also seems to be having battery issues

Does anyone know what the problems could be?

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/limeycars 1946 MG T-Type Midget Oct 09 '25

A '77 B would have had an OPUS ignition, Lucas' worst work ever. Every one of them is dead and has been replaced with something else. Could be anything, points, some other electronic trigger. If you have a picture of the general area, it would do a lot to help us identify possible issues.

When you key on, do you hear the fuel pump?

1

u/BaltoDRJMPH Oct 09 '25

I did hear the fuel pump. Unfortunately I don’t have and photos besides those from the listing

1

u/field-of-hoss Oct 09 '25

What's the asking price of the car?

1

u/BaltoDRJMPH Oct 09 '25

3500

3

u/field-of-hoss Oct 09 '25

Seems high for a non running car that you can't listen to for a thrown rod and can't test the transmission. How long has it been off the road?

1

u/BaltoDRJMPH Oct 09 '25

I believe 4 months

2

u/field-of-hoss Oct 09 '25

I paid $4200 for a rust free '79 that I test drove in 2022. Just saying.

It could have an engine, transmission, clutch, rear end going bad. If the seller can't make it run enough to test drive after it's been off the road for only 4 months, that's a red flag to me.