what do you do?
 

to help prepare me for the next time.....

what do you do when your 914 engine just quits.... (while driving it on the road.) i had a trunk load of tools, a VOM, a Haynes but as one person, i couldn't turn the key to check for spark, or watch the fuel flow in the clearish plastic fuel line,....

i now have an "unreliable" (perhaps, aren't they all) 914. as i drove home the other day, it just quit... would turn over. the only thing i could think of trying was to change the fuel pump relay so i switched the 2 head light relays onto the relay board. the car didn't immediately start up after trying, but eventually, it did start and i did make it home although it did stall and then catch a couple of time. of course, the worst problem to find in an intermittent one.....

the fuel level was low, ~1/4 tank, little less. put in some more gas at a station thinking maybe rust/dirt in fuel line but looked into tank with flashlight (not a match ;) ) and didn't see anything that stuck out. new fuel filter within 500 mi, new fuel pump within 500 mi.... when reassembling engine, i checked continuity of the harness and, to tell the truth, it was running pretty decently... now, for a while, i'll have to carry the cell phone and my AAA card :(

it sounds like a electrical problem to me. when was the last time you had it timed or your points adjusted? My car was like theat but i was running duel carbs and it was only that they were waaay outta sync.

I agree, operating the ignition key while checking for spark is quiet difficult...
... something that allows you to remote crank the engine ...
...by putting a wire on the rear left connector of the t4 connector on the reg board you could tie it to the battery (or put a switch in line) to crank the motor.

I am with eat-em-up - check rotor, cap, and timing

Also... where is your fuel pump located???

Patrick Koch

Check all grounds
 

Check all grounds.

Virtually every electrical problem I have ever had was a grounding or connection problem. Most car electrical components are incredibly resiliant, but oil, crud, vibration and water have an amazing capacity for undermining contact surfaces.

Check all grounds. ~8>)

I had the same problem on my old 2.0. Turned out to be the ground strap from the tranny to the chassis.

i installed a $49 remote starter it is great for trouble shooting, just stand there and hit a button in your pocket

Hey Jim,

Three things needed when a 914 quits..

one thirty foot nylon tow strap
one cell phone
one friend not scared to pull you home.

;)

I carry a AAA card as well ;-) As long as I'm w/in 100 miles of home I'm golden :D

Jim: I had a problem kind of like that, but it was a fuel pump that went bad on me, leaving my stranded in Harrisonbug, VA. Check that along w/ the grounds. If you are doing some serious work on the car let me know, I'd love to watch/help (maybe Justin Fischer would come too)

Nathan

i did all the cleaning of the grounds when i assembled the car about 1 yr ago. i realize that all those things could go bad but i really felt helpless as one alone person in a broken down car. i had the cell phone and the AAA card (not the AA card ;) ) fortunately, the car eventually restarted. i appreciate the idea of the remote starter or the jumper wire idea, will print the reply and carry in car. it is stuff like those ideas that i was requesting. it could also be a fluke/one time fault (hopefully but not counting on it!!!!)

jmuriz, rain forecasted this weekend so the cover will probably stay on. drop by sometime to shoot the breeze.

p.s., the fuel pump is new and in the stock location. i doubt vapor lock as the weather was 65ish and i was driving the car when it cut off, not trying to restart after stopping. i didn't think vapor lock would be a probablility in this case, do you think?

Jim,
That's right I forgot about you telling my about the fuel pump at the swap meet. I don't think vapor lock would happen in this weather either. If the weather is nice on a weekend again I can come over the shoot the breeze...send me an e-mail w/ your address, thanks

Nathan

This has happened several times to our stock 914 and each time it was an electrical connector somewhere on the engine. Once it was the connector to the temp resistor on the manifold comming off and grounding. Another time it was one of the wires on the coil connections coming off the spade lug. So now about yearly I check all the connectors to make sure they are tight and the wires are crimped or soldered securely. Good luck.

Had a similar problem when I bought mine.

Driving along, hit a bump, engine quits, won't start.

Traced it to the darned seat belt relay box under the passenger seat. Hit a bump, the relay would drop slightly relative to the conector and..... the engine wouldn't start!


Hope that's it! This problem is year dependent. Both my 74's have ths relay.

Ken :)

Yup. Bypass the relay by splicing the two thick yellow wires that run to it to each other. Then you can throw it away. Which is a Good Thing, IMHO.

Uhhh, actually I haven't done that yet on my car! :blush:

--DD

Dave,

What other things have you found ok to toss out?

I was chatting with someone who swears they have a broken valve, and the egr is plugged, and their car runs fine.. 2 more for the pile?

;)


M

If EGR is not needed for passing smog, then the EGR parts are evil-bay candidates.

Broken valves are either performance robbers (not sealing), time bombs waiting to go off (pieces falling off and getting jammed into piston tops), or more usually both.

--DD

For example,, I was almost home one day and the car started acting strange, didn't want to keep running. It would start and wouldn't stay running. I wound up pushing the car home since it was only a half block from making it. It turned out to be a relay,, I now have a couple of them in the glove box just in case.