What's wrong with the fuel system?, 914-6 w/ 40 PMO's won't start or idle (without assistance) Options

[david63]

It will become obvious that I am not the best mechanic in the world so keep that in mind when you hear my questions.

My 1970 914-6 (GT replica w/ twin plug 2.5) is not feeling too well. A job change kept me away from the car for several months and now you guessed it - it will not run.

What have I done so far... I suspect that the gas is bad so I drained the gas from the tank, replaced it with new gas (even put in a couple of gallons of high octane racing fuel (I know the fuel is OK now).

What the car is doing... It will start if I put a little gas in each carb (has 40 MM PMO's) it starts right up and NOW if I keep my foot in it I can keep it running. It will not idle and it does not hold a constant RPM with no change in throttle position?

I think the fuel psi could be the issue or there is something wrong with the carbs(different settings on the regulator between 3 psi and 9 psi do not seem to help or hurt)? Could the PMO's be plugged with crap (when I left the car sitting I ran it out of fuel prior to storing the car). Maybe the factory fuel pump is going bad. The car was set up like the GT with the factory fuel pump moved up front. Car ran fine before storage (actually would flood really easily prior to the storage period). Does someone rebuild the factory pumps as I have an extra that is leaking badly and thought I might re-build it and try that but would rather not just "swap parts".

Any thoughts, Thanks.

[J P Stein]

Starting a carbed car, after it has sat for a month or 2, can be a bit of bother.
It does sound if if there is a delivery problem.
Pop off an air cleaner. Run the fuel pump for 30 seconds or so....if you don't have a separate switch for that just turn on the ignition switch. The carb bowls should be full in 30 seconds or so. Hand operating the linkage while looking down the throats should provide a healthy stream of gas from each accelerator pump nozzle.

No gas, look up stream for the problem. If gas is good, downstream. That will give you a place to start.

A cold motor is a stinker to keep running. Mine required constant goosing the throttle for the first minute or so....then ran just decent till warmed up a bit.

A side note. If the car has sat for a week or more crank the motor over (making no attempt to start it) for 30-45 seconds to get the oil out of the sump and into the oil tank. 9eleben motors have a nasty habit of draining back ALL of the oil into the sump. Yours may not....but do you know?

[naro914]

Hand operating the linkage while looking down the throats should provide a healthy stream of gas from each accelerator pump nozzle.

duh....not sure why I was thinking you needed someone on the pedal - yep, just hand operate the linkage...

I hadn't had my coffee for the day yet when I posted what's above...so take it all with a healthy dose of skepticism... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)