I am re cleaning up the trunk on my '70 914 with a 3.2 liter. The brain box is bolted to the floor of the trunk. I unbolted it and put it in a plastic bag still hooked up, but out of the way so I could prep and paint the trunk. When I got ready to paint I thought I should move the car to avoid overspray on my wife's SUV, but the engine turned over but would not start. Does the box need to be grounded to work? Any other thoughts on why my engine won't start when all I did was bag the box? Any secret fuses that I might have blown and that need to now be replaced?

Check the DME relay. Pull it out, clean any corrosion in the connectors and try it again.

I keep a spare one in my glovebox for the last 14 years. Never had to use it, but it's there. The 3.2L relay is the same as the 3.6L relay electrically, but the 3.2 relay has round instead of spade pins. Oh,

I'd at least ground the DME box while starting, just in case. It's internally grounded but grounded while mounted so... duplicate that environment.

Is the DME relay inside the box?

Nope, It's separate, has a fastener tang on it and six round pins. I have a couple of part numbers since the 964 and 944 use the same relay.

911.618.154.00 or 89 8247 000

The base is ~1in. square and it's about 2 inches tall.

Click to view attachment

Good luck

Thanks. I will follow the wiring backwards from the box and see where they put it.

So I have now checked the fuel pump and it works with direct power, I replaced the DME relay and I have checked and there is power in some of the DME relay and in some of the pins on the plug that goes into the box. Does this mean that the box needs to be repaired or is there another diagnostic step before I ship the box off?