1974 2.0 Won’t start Help! Options

[gtsilver16]

Hi, I’m a newbie 914 owner and inept at mechanical repair. My 74 2.0 won’t start. I’ve had it several months and it always starts fine, albeit it cranks 4-5 time before catching normally. This evening I was cleaning the engine bay with Simple Green and a tooth brush and afterwards it wouldn’t start. It turns over strong but doesn’t catch. I could’ve disconnected something while thrashing around in the cramped engine bay while cleaning? The vacuum hoses are intact, I know that because I just replaced all of them. When I turn the key to position 1, I don’t hear anything (I think you’re supposed to hear the fuel pump). There is gas in the car.

Any thoughts on trouble shooting? I don’t think I could’ve sprayed enough Simple Green to have flooded the plugs, distributor etc. I was cleaning around the hole in the cyl 3/4 head (where the anti flashback hose connects) so some amount of cleaner did go into the head but I’m talking like a teaspoon.

Thanks for helping, I’m really clueless. I’m in San Francisco if anyone can refer and honest 914 mechanic.

[tmc914]

quote "To close the loop on this, I successfully got the car to start. The culprit was the fuel pump relay. I relied on George Hussey’s non starting flowchart in his book. Following these steps and also relying on forum member’s input and experiences helped me Fix the problem! Thanks again!" end quote

It is nice to see the loop closed on some of these threads (and this was a quick one). It seems I read or start a thread and then lose track until maybe days later it pops up again with ongoing issues. Wish I had a photographic memory. Will probably need this info at some time.