So my 76 Targa crapped out!

[PorscheNerd]

I know there are millions of posts to trouble shoot why your car won't start. I just I I I
I need a little insight and possible consoling as my Targa is stuck in the shop waiting to be looked at since last week.

I've only had the car for a couple months and its been running strong. Starts up fast. A little rough when cold outside, but car always started. Car runs strong no hesitation, etc. So I go out for a little jaunt and three minutes in, it just shuts down and won't restart. No burping or stuttering, just shuts down. It's three blocks from my house and four blocks from my foreign garage that doesn't really know 911s. Didn't want to tow it immediately to the Porsche shop way across town.

I'm hoping my shop can figure it out, but I don't have a ton of faith. I've been obsessing over all of the my car won't start posts. Just wondering if a fuel problem would immediately stop a car since the car never lost power. It just turned off. It tries to turn over, but won't go all the way.

I've got a 2.7 with Carreras tensioners, fabspeed intake, fabspeed header and muffler. Thoughts appreciated!

[timmy2]

CDI making noise when you turn the key to run before starting? Same question for the fuel pump. You need fuel and spark to run. Either one of these items failing will shut you down.
There have been a number of these posts on no start lately, do a little reading as the troubleshooting suggestions are all out there.

[Walter_Middie]

POrscheNerd,

You just bought a 35 year old car. Now's the perfect time to learn more about it. It can be a little intimidating at first, but the people on this site are very knowledgeable and very helpful. They can talk you through most repairs - this sounds like an easy one. Unless you like the idea of buying your mechanic a new boat every year, you should go get your car and put in your garage.

If you don't have them, you should own a volt meter, timing light, and a set of fuel injection pressure testing gauges - plus a couple of good books - like 101 projects and for a mid-year, I suggest the Haynes manual.

If you're up to it, we can have you up and running again in no time - and you'll learn something about how your car works.

[Eagledriver]

Igntion box bad or points worn out would be my first guess.

-Andy

[Dave Colangelo]

+1 for every thing said here. The place I would start is electrical, check all your fuses and relays as well as grounding points. my 924S crapped out on me once and it ended up being a bad fuel pump fuse. Dont get worried just yet, from what I have found over the years when cars go bad and its some thing serious you will hear a plethora of noises and you will know its some thing mechanical. I would change out the distro cap and rotor, plug wires and plugs as well as all fuses and relays. This wont cost you much but you may find it fixes your mystery issue. While changing out the fuses sand all the tabs to clean copper. Also find the grounding points and sand them to clean copper.

Listen to your CDI box and fuel pump as stated above they are key. Check your coil and all the connections to it. look around for wires that may have fallen out or become dislodged.

Most importantly if your garage does not know Porsche's, take it to your trusted Porsche shop. These cars are not like most and people can damage them by assuming they are. I have spent the last year reading every thing I can on my SC as well as taking things apart one system at a time. I have a good knowledge of the car now but still no where near what a seasoned Porsche mechanic has. A mechanic knowledgeable on these cars will know the problem faster and be able to tend to it as need be this will save him time and you money.

Regards
Dave

[porwolf]

Looked into your garage! Nice car you have, PorscheNerd! Your problem does not sound very serious though. A sudden refusal to start really probabely comes down to no spark or no fuel. Any decent mechanic who has been around for a while should be able to figure that out. I would check with him often and do research on this forum at the same time and keep asking questions. There are a lot of P-car fans listening here and willing to help. In a week or two you will be driving the car again!

[timmy2]

CIS no start issue -'77 911S
Lots to read in this one.

[PorscheNerd]

Appreciate the insight and encouragement. I do plan to get more involved with the mechanics of my old targa. I was a decent wrench on my dozens od air cooled VWs. The 911 is a bit more complex and Ive been slammed with work. Shop still hasn't gotten to it yet. I've been arming them with lots of info from this awesome bbs and told them to search it as well. I know it's gotta something simple. It's killing me that I can't look into it myself! I'll post what happens. So glad this bbs does what it does.