Just cut out on the Fwy, fuel issue Options

[johnpierre]

hello 914 community

so I was driving the other Sunday - nice drive with no traffic due to covid, doing 80 on the 405 heading south, for those of you that don't live in LA, that is in LA ;-) and then all of a sudden I just lost power.

it sounded like I ran out of gas but that of course is impossible as the tank was 1/2 full. I have a 73, 1.7 fuel injected engine and I have never had this issue.

I suppose I can tow the car to a garage but I thought I might put this out there in case this sounds familiar to anyone and I could try to troubleshoot the issue first. is there anything I can check rather easily to solve this? has this happened to anyone else under these conditions?

I looked all around the top of the engine as best I could when it happened and I didn't see anything disconcerted or otherwise out of place - but then again I don't really know what I was looking for and it was hot so I really could feel around that much.

-jp-

[GregAmy]

I'm still not clear if your pump is consistently running and you have fuel pressure? Have you tried jumping the fuel pump relay?

I'll reiterate that sudden stoppage on the highway is commonly related to electrical/wiring issues with the relay plate, its connectors, and terminals.

[JamesM]

I'm still not clear if your pump is consistently running and you have fuel pressure? Have you tried jumping the fuel pump relay?

I'll reiterate that sudden stoppage on the highway is commonly related to electrical/wiring issues with the relay plate, its connectors, and terminals.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) on all counts.

Rather than guessing and replacing random parts in the hopes that the problem goes away though you need to actually diagnose what isnt working and then address that system.

Absolutely would look at the fuel system. As previously stated issues with the relay/relay board are super common (I have had them with every 914 I have ever owned and that is a pretty large number at this point) however because its usually easier to check for spark do that first just to rule it out.

So
Step 1: hook up a timing light, crank the engine. Is it lighting up?
No = Figure out why you dont have spark.
Yes = Look at the fuel system next.


Step 2: Do you have fuel pressure? Not hearing the pump at all is usually a give away that you dont, but hearing the pump run is not always an indicator that you do.
Get a fuel pressure gauge and throw it on the fuel rail!

No pressure + pump not running = something wrong with the pump or the electrical circuit/relay/relay board.

No pressure + pump running = bad pump or obstruction in the fuel line

Proper 29 PSI at the fuel rail when key is cycled/cranking = something other than the fuel pump system itself, start looking at d-jet Head temp sensor, MPS, etc (this is a d-jet car right?)

Whatever you do stop guessing though. Its pretty easy to test what is and is not actually working on these cars. Once you have isolated where the failure is you can stop randomly replacing parts.