914 1.7 Won't crank

[Craigred914]

I got my 72 1.7 a month ago. No gears and barely ran. Read your tips on linkage adjustment and got all gears. Thanks. Pulled plugs and they were mismatched and nasty so changed to NGK to specs. Better but not right. Pulled plugs and found no.4 not firing. Opened distrib and found pointless gizmo. Pulled distrib and restored to original. It ran well. SomI drove it to my office next day and gave rides. Funnnnn.
Time to go home and not tuning over.

It had been hard to turn key far enough to crank so after reading forums guessed ignit switch. Pulled it out but not the problem. Installed new one anyway, no crank. The gauges lite, fuel pump clicks, no crank. Battery checks out. Pulled ground strap from tranny to chassis and cleaned and installed. No luck.

When I turn key, the top section of gauge blinks, (like a 4-way flashed hazard lite) the dot with the "g" is lit. Fuel pump clicks. Wen I turn key to start position it all goes dark (like a major short or something). I don't know what to check next.

Started and solenoid are new. Please help a rookie figure this out. Thanks.

[Nostril Cheese]

Did you check that you're getting 12v to the solenoid? Not the battery cable, but the yellow wire.

Check continuity of the yellow wire from the ignition switch to the relay board. Then check continuity from the relay board to the solenoid.

[frank]

Not cranking is normal for a 914. ;-)

I have probably had every non-cranking issue for a 914.

Consider the following:

1. Identify and clean up all your grounding wires and mounting points with steel wool and / or a wire brush; The Neg cable from battery to side wall, the bunched ground wires to the side wall above the relay board, and the ground strap from the transaxle to the underside of the trunk are likely and common culprits.

2. With someone turning the ignition, wiggle the wiring harness connections to the relay board. If it starts or try's to start, pull the relay board and clean it up. I wrapped a tiny drill bit with steel wool to clean the female connections then used electrical grease to help protect all my clean up work.

3. If you have a hot start relay wired to your starter, try removing it from the circuit... This was my most recent issue. I had been meaning to remove it for years because it really is a bandaid not a solution that the PO had installed.

4. The wires to my starter would very often wiggle loose on my car. I finally fixed that when the hot start relay went out.

Extras to carry with you at all times:

Relays; the round ones. I had one fail only a month ago while out of town... Thank God I had a spare... You can pull other relays to get you home... And I think you can store the spare in the relay board where the window defrost relay goes, presuming you don't have a defroster.

Accelerator cable.

Clutch cable.

Ignition switch (optional but I did have this fail on me about two months ago and it was no big deal since I had a brand new spare)

Good luck!

[Craigred914]

Thanks for the excellent replies. I've got a lot of wires and relays to check.
I'm pretty much color blind so wires are a challenge.
That's why I gave my MGB away, couldn't do all the crazy wires.

I actually worked in a Porsche garage while a college student.
The current '72 914 is similar to the signal orange 2 litre I proposed to my wife in.
When I found this car I went with the trailer and brought it home.

Body and underside are rust free. "Hell=hole has only minor damage.

Thanks again.

[Craigred914]

Would the Bosch hot start kit help my no crank problem?

[frank]

I doubt it and would highly suggest you not turn to the hot start relay as a solution down the road.

You will find no shortage however of testimonies praising decades of successful bandaiding of multiple vehicles.

Adding the relay will inteoduce another point of potential failure and another thing to check when things go wrong.

I had been wanting to remove the one installed by the PO and finally had an "opportunity" when the relay left me stranded. Fortunately it took me only about 10 minutes to figure out it was the relay and I was able to get my ride started and back home.

Have you checked all your wiring / relays / ignition switch?

Get a multimeter and start checking voltage at the starter and through the chain as suggested earlier.

[GregAmy]

Originally Posted by frank

Not cranking is normal for a 914. ;-)

Ugh. Timely thread, as I started having a "no crank" problem yesterday. The voltmeter in center console drops hard when I hit the start position, so I'm guessing I need a starter*... - GA

* Implies to me that battery voltage is going somewhere at that key position, and that "somewhere" is the starter solenoid, which isn't engaging the starter...if it were a bad ground or bad switch, it follows logically that the battery load would not be affected...

[Craigred914]

I have been cleaning and tightening connections.
The car turned over and fired one time! But not again.
Where is the relay panel mentioned. It it in the engine bay?
Should I remove it to clean and check?
I bought a replacement relay but don't know which slot to try?
Any added suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

FYI I have a nice nearly new exhauste system free, just pay shipping
For anyone who needs it. Urguy sold it to me at cost and I don't meet it.
I'd like to share his kindness to another 914 owner, it's a GermanBursch.

[frank]

Is the "exhaust system" the muffler?

I definitely need a 2.0 muffler and probably some of the tubing.

[frank]

Sounds like you have a wiring issue and the disturbance you made when cleaning made a connection somehow but you still need to chase it down.

The relay board is in the engine bay behind the driver. It's actually very simple to remove and replace. Thw connections are keyed so you don't need to worry much about forgetting where everything goes. That stated you may still want to label things.

There are also relays attached to the back of the fuse panel under the dash.

If you did not know where the relay board was located, chances are you did not clean up the gang of ground wires attached just above it.

I cleaned my female connectors by wrapping some steel wool around a small drill bit and spun it inside each hole. Doesn't take much to clean it.

The tar under the relay board was cracked and falling out on mine. It protects the circuits in the board. I used a heat gun to soften the tar and pushed it over exposed areas. I also sprayed a thick coat of Plastidip over the tar. It looks like new again.

[Craigred914]

Great advice. I will dp as uou suggest. Thanks

[aclopez]

I had a similar issue with my '73 1.7. Summary is found here:
No-Start Issue - Part 2