I have a 75 1.8 that won't start. It was running and starting fine. I went for a short trip and came back to the car and it wouldn't start. The starter did not run.
Nothing has been changed in the wiring.

Car will start when push-started.
Ground strap is attached.
Test light glows when attached wires are tested at the starter.
Tried a new starter didn't make a difference.
Fuses look good.

Any ideas would be helpful! Thanks.
Paul

Test light will glow on certain terminals on the starter, which means nothing. Locate the yellow wire on the relay board. Is this wire plugged in? If so, remove the wire and test for 12v when the key is in the start position. Do you know if the seatbelt interlock circuit has been defeated?

Thanks for the reply-the seatbelt interlock has not been touched.
I will check the yellow wire at the relay board.

Anything else this could be?

Lets start at the yellow wire and work backwards. If you don't have voltage present there, then we will work backwards till we find the voltage

Bum information. If you pull the yellow wire, it won't have any voltage. You will need to probe either terminal 2 or 4 on the relay board, with the ignition in the start position.

If no voltage is on either terminal, pull the 14 connector on the relay board. Now check pin one on the wired connector for voltage. If still no voltage present, then you need to find the seat belt interlock circuit, which is under the passenger seat. Take a picture of this after you have found it and post it on here.

The Ignition switch on a 914 is notorious for cracking and breaking causing this exact problem. Works one second come out and it does not. Mine got worse if the car was outside in direct sunlight.

Pelicanparts - Replacing the 914 Ignition Switch

Also, sometimes I would have problems with the starter not working after a hot drive. It was the wires at the starter. An add on starter relay at the starter can also help fix that problem. In a pinch I could use a long screwdriver at the starter to jump it (SAFTEY ISSUE: Don't try this unless you know what the heck you are doing. Make sure the car is in neutral and the brakes are on.)

But if you swapped starters and it still would not work, I would check the ignition switch.

I hope this helps,

Seat belt logic circuit was a 74 only thing, but you may have one.
It started early in the year, and ended late from what I have seen.

See if you have what looks like a relay under the passenger seat, if so, remove and jumper the two large yellow wires together.

If not,
Check with a helper to see if you have power at the starter (yellow wire spade bit) when you crank the motor.
If not, start by cleaning the positive terminal at the battery, all the small RED wires.
They get corroded enough to make this happen.

If you still get no power at the starter when the key is turned to start, its the ignition switch most likely.

Its a pretty simple circuit.
Red line feeds the ignition switch from the battery...
Yellow feeds the starter solenoid.



rich

Thanks everyone-I am heading over to work on the car now and diagnose. I really appreciate the time everyone put in to replying-I'll let you know what I find.
The ignition switch was just replaced last year. I'll pick one up just in case.

Thanks again.

Hi there,
I had the exact same problem, ther was nothing wrong with the ignition switch but I lost too much power in the wiring from the ignition switch to the starter.
Installing an extra relais at the starter solved the problem for me and the little teener has been starting perfectly for the last 2 years.
Hope this helps, CU Later, Skip

The seatbelt interlock circuits were in all 1974-76 US 914s, not just a 1974 issue.

My bad, I thought they realized the stupidity of that design before end of production.

Well, given the location of that box, jumper the yellow wire to avoid any question regarding corrosion.

rich