Return of the Solenoid
 

Egad!! ok, that was THAT problem(the corroded spade connector). All was working wonderfully, starter engaging instantly and turning over rapidly, I was happy. Until today, I turn the key and nothing but a whirring fuel pump, I believe it is the ignition switch as others have said. When I get time tomorrow, I'll remove it(what a pain) and see if thats the problem. Unless there is something really simple I haven't checked?

Boy, are you gonna be pissed if, after swapping out the ignition switch, you still have to install a hot-start relay.

Hope the switch clears up the problem.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...WavingFlag.gif

How about the tranny groundstrap? Always caused my hot start problems!

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CWP/VIR
72 914 L20E in rusto.
73 914 L20E 2.0L in resto.
a914lover73@hotmail.com

Before you remove the switch or the starter, I recommend a couple of test.

When the car will not start, remove the T12 connector on the relay board (the one that goes to the starter, backup lights etc). Then carefully pry the top black piece that covers the wires. The wires are likely to pop out of the connector, so just take your time and go slow. Place the connector back onto the relay board and push the wires in.
Since the cover of the connector is off, you should be able to see a large yellow wire, this should go to the starter. There is a red wire next to the yellow wire. Run a jumper wire from the red to the yellow. The starter should engage. This should help identify if the problem is upstream or down stream of the connector.

Jim,

That's a good idea! I just finished pulling off my Hot Start Relay - that didn't start, and things were working fine (for a day or so). This evening when I pulled in I shut off the car, then decided I'd put it in the garage. Whoops - won't turn over.

So tomorrow after work, I'm pulling off the relay cover and cleaning house.

Good luck dbeardsl. Let us know how it goes.

Regards,


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Gerard
74-914 2.0L
3D914
rodrigos6@juno.com

Is there any way to jump the seatbelt relay thing? permanently perhaps? I just want to make sure its not that before I tear into my steering column.

In the first post on this topic by dbeardsl I posted that I had a hot start problem and traced it back to my ignition switch. I replaced the switch today and took the old one apart. It's amazing that it worked at all. The top photo shows the lower part on the switch on the left and the upper section to the right. The red arrow on the left is the fixed contact where all power comes into the switch. The red arrow to the right is the matching spring loaded contact on the part that rotates with the key. The green arrows are the rotating wipers that make contact with the fixed terminals ( 15, 50 & X ) in the lower half. A lot of the original grease remained but had turned black from arcing inside the switch. None of the contacts were clean and shiny, I had to clean the grease from the lower part before I could see them at all. The lower photo shows a cleaned up bottom section, the center contact is visibly burned, the pen points to the starter contact with the 15 and X contacts to the right and above it. Considering the power that goes through this switch, the terminals and contact area seems awfully small. Makes a good argument for relays to the handle high current things.

dbeardsl: on the seat belt relay there are two real heavy yellow (sometimes yellow w/ red) wires. These can be cut and spliced to bypass the relay.

Original solenoid post started by dbeardsl:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/Forum2/HTML/004127.html

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...ds/Photo1a.jpg

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Ed Morrow
'72 914 1.7 w/single carb
'74 914 1.8 turbocharged CIS

Problems are hard to find and fix when they don't happen all the time. My car started today, but I took out the ignition switch anyway. Mine was nearly band new looking, a little grease and dirt on the contacts, not nearly as much as pictured(maybe the PO replaced mine). I cleaned the contacts off really good and reassembled everything, So for now, it stil starts, and hopefully the trend will continue.