I have a new to me fairly rust free 1971 914 w/ 1.7L that was finicky to start with and now impossible to get started. Ive replaced vacuum hoses, engine temp sensor, spark plugs, points, rotor , fuel pump and I'm fed up now and thinking of converting to carburators. I have no experience here and am seeking opinions on what to do, where to get parts and mostly, how to do the job without costing more than the car is worth. OK gurus, please weigh in. Thanks.
-Richard

getting any spark at all 4 plugs?

If it is a stock 1.7 with FI then just pick up one of those single progressive carb setups and drive it till you need to rebuild. It will get you on the road and have about the same power without changing the cam.

I would try to troubleshoot the djet first, spark is a good start as mentioned above. Then pull the injectors one at a time and place them in a glass jar or something similar, remove wire from coil to dist. and make sure they are shooting fuel.

check spark at plugs. check power to fuel pump. check crap in gas tank blocking lines. check fi relays. check fuses. check compression. check all fi connections. check battery. check old fuel filter. oh fuck it, just buy a toyota.

Ok, Well, if you want to troubleshoot the FI, dont foget to check the FI points in the distributor. They are underneath the ingition points. They come out the side of the dizzy.

what happens when you turn the key? any noises? no noise? does anything happen at all?

Keep the Djet. There is enough good help on this board to figure it out. Check the grounds on the block under the intake. Pull dist lube and clean the FI points then ohm them with meter. Check fuel pressure. Pull all wires off distrubitor (safty) pull injectors leaving line's and wire's on place shot glass juice glass pill botel under each injector ask someone to crank it over look for even spray patern apx same ammount of fuel in ea jar crack's and last dribbles when not turning over but turning on and off key to activate pump only. If you determine you have fuel injecting and have fire to the plug its going to run. Do vaccume check on the MPS (manifold pressure sensor). With ign on but not running opening the throdle you should hear the injectors ticking sound (shows ECU and TPS are talking to each other) Make sure valves are in adjustment, point dwell first then timing light, check for vacume leaks loose hoses etc...
Djet on a stock 1.7 is great. Carb on that 1.7 no real performance boost with out a carb orientated camshaft and head work.
Main troubles of the Djet a. Trigger points b. MPS wont hold vacuume c. FI harness, terminals on harness and ground's on the harness. The ECU (brain box) rarely gives trouble. Most of the time the trouble can be fixed with good ohm meter (digital volt meter) Save the $$ save the Djet.

that does not sound like a FI problem and i'm afraid that you'll have the same/similar problem after converting ...

check the relays and fuses on the relay board.
they trigger the fuel pump and the FI brain.

Andy

after replacing a few questionable parts on my djet, i found out that it runs great and runs consistently.
still have to flow test my injectors, though. but i think everything else is squared away. my first suggestion would be to replace all vacuum hoses with new german ones, and all fi related gaskets with new ones. you can't really trouble shoot alot of fi problems if you have vacuum leaks.

ive also got a toyota...helps to relieve the stress when the 14 is being a bit tempermental...BUT i still LOVE the 14

THANK YOU JEBUS or BUDDAH that im not alone!!!

Andy wrote:

I bought my '76 not running and with the same problem according to the PO's widow. He had replaced everything in the igniton and FI including new ECU, MPS and fuel pump. The car had a bad ignition switch, no power to the coil when cranking.
Your problem is most likely just as simple....keep the FI

Is this the car I talked to Gary about at the MWC?

fix the djet. You'll be miles and smiles ahead.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I hate carbs?

I agree with Ed, first check to see if you have good spark while cranking. Pull a spark plug wire and insert a spare plug and ground it good against the engine. Have a friend crank over the engine while looking at the plug. Does it have a nice brite blue spark? If not, check all grounds, tranny ground strap, power to the coil when cranking.
If this checks out then check to see if you have fuel by putting the injectors in the glasses.


Car should idle atleast if you have fuel and spark.

Geoff

Busy weekend, sorry about getting back to you for the throughtful replies. OK, the FI stays (for now).
BS chairman and I have done much of what you suggested over the previous 3 months (yes, Ed its the same car we spoke of at the MWC over breakfast) but we will re-do and double check steps in a more disciplined fashion. Must have overlooked something. Will even redo the blasted head temp sensor in case we broke that line putting it in.
Will keep you posted. Have a great week.