So I'm driving home on the twisty roads of West Marin, and my radio cuts out. Then comes back on. Then cuts out. It is wired to the interior light/turn signal circuit if I recall correctly. Turn signals work. NO problems. I get to the Post Office, get my mail, then the car won't start!

Turn key
1) Fuel pump comes on
2) "sound" of something trying to work, possibly starter insides

But, no cranking. Nothing. When I release key from start position, I hear a CLICK.

I got some help, and push started it. It worked! BUT, it ran like CRAP. On acceleration, it popped and even backfired. Whoa. Hardly any power. Limped it home and now it is parked safely in the driveway.

I am so bummed. I have been commuting in the 914, and improving stuff almost every weekend. Just installed a new TPS circuit board, new Optima battery, and cleaned + tightened the battery cables and connections. Ran great this morning!!

D-jet, 1.7 TIV. All fuses OK. Checked rear engine fuses too. 13V across battery terminals.

Been reading and searching the site for help. Found info on bad ignition switches and places to check for voltage drops. I went through the bad ignition switch last year. Maybe it happened again!! Similar symptoms, but why would it run like crap after I push started it if it was only the switch? That has me baffled. What made it run like crap?!?! AND WHY was my radio acting up? I hate electrical gremlins!

D-jet grounds? D-jet "tigger plate" (what't that? TPS?)? Bad CHT?

I can dig into this over the weekend. Gots to fix it by Monday! Maybe I should order a new ignition switch now? What else

Oh yeah, I have the small "eBay" starter. It's now about 8 years old. How do I "jumper" this starter? Just connect the two terminals?

Thanks in advance for any and all help

Not cranking and running like crap are probably not related. You may have two separate problems. Have you tried to crank it after it cooled off? If it does start when cold, unplug the tps. If it runs better the tps might need to adjusted again. Also check all vacuum hoses and wiring connectors. Make sure the plug with 3 wires on the distributor are plugged in properly. Check dwell and timing

12v at the fuse panel? Maybe the red feed wires between the battery and fuse panel are dropping voltage.

My first thought was that the battery was flat. 13V is not flat, though! But it does make me suspect all of the connections in the power and ground paths of those circuits. So the red wires, like McMark suggested, plus the grounds.

--DD

Lotta bad batteries will still read 12-13v across unloaded terminals ...

The Cap'n

if you search under my name rosenfe -starter motor wont engage march15,2014.you will see apost as to how to jump starter motor.

Cap'n might be right
There was 13v across the relay board with the key ON, and jumpering the starter resulted in the sorry noise and effort from the starter that I usually hear when the battery is basically almost dead. I'll connect the battery to a charger and test it again tomorrow.

The eBay mini starter was harder to "jumper" than the OEM. The spade connector is inside a plastic chamber, so I needed to connect my trusty tester wire w female connector to it then bend that wire around the hot post.

Just a thought, possibly your alternator has crapped out and your system is now running solely on battery power?

Might tie the two symptoms together...

It sounds as if the electrical current is unable to perform the full cycle. (I don't know how to explain this better in English, sorry). Did you check all earth straps etc. Intermittent electrical problems (here: all sorts of different electrical components) are often traceable to earthing problems. Ask yourself: what are the various components sharing?

Another possible problem: dirty fuse contacts. The fuse looks okay, but the tips are often clogged up with some sort of dirt/corrosion. Emery paper is your friend here. And, check the 12 volt side of the coil for the same dirt problems. Again, emery paper is your friend.

Menno

It sounds as if the electrical current is unable to perform the full cycle. (I don't know how to explain this better in English, sorry). Did you check all earth straps etc. Intermittent electrical problems (here: all sorts of different electrical components) are often traceable to earthing problems. Ask yourself: what are the various components sharing?

Another possible problem: dirty fuse contacts. The fuse looks okay, but the tips are often clogged up with some sort of dirt/corrosion. Emery paper is your friend here. And, check the 12 volt side of the coil for the same dirt problems. Again, emery paper is your friend.

Menno

Check the red wires at the battery positive, especially their connectors. If you have broken strands and or corrosion, cut them back an inch or so and install new connections.
Tom

Pull the battery and bring it to Sears.
Have them load test it to remove that doubt.

Rich

OK, after trickle charging the battery, the engine starts and runs fine
BUT I am not getting more than 12.5V now when the engine is running.
I replaced the voltage regulator with a new one that fits (NAPA Auto Parts, ECH VR503). Still not getting >12.5V while the engine is running.
ALSO, weird, the with multiple ON/OFF cycles, watching the "G" alternator light on my stock combo gauge, it did not always illuminate?!?! Seems like this must always turn on for the alternator to start charging. It did MOST of the time. Weird.

I think I have a bad alternator.

I'll probably also take the battery in for a load test soon too. I just bought it, may be killing it, and it might be replaceable under warranty if I act quickly.

AM I missing something

Thanks for all the help so far

How are you checking the voltage while running?

Correctly, I hope

With the engine having just started, I rev it up for 20 seconds or so. Then, it drops to idle, and I go back to the battery and put my volt meter on both posts. I've also tried touching the volt meter to the input wires only, not the battery terminals. Reading 12.5V

Multiple ON/OFF cycles caused it to drop to about 12.3V

I have not driven the car around because I don't want it to die on the road near my house, which are twisty, narrow roads on hills.

Any advice?

The alternator belt is on, and seemingly correct tension.
Tomorrow I plan to get under the car and check the alternator more closely: belt tension, mounting position, wiring etc..
AND trickle charge the battery back up to 13V

youre battery sounds ok but youre alternator certainly isnt putting a charge to it. It should be atleast 13.5 when running weather the battery is charged or not.

You can do a quick test of the alternator's ability to charge by removing the voltage regulator and shorting the D+ and DF connections on the relay board. This is equivalent to the VR signaling the alternator to produce maximum voltage. You should see about 16V on the battery.

Explain more about the alternator light and it's odd behavior.

It should turn ON when you turn the key to on, then turn OFF when the engine starts running.

Any behavior other than that will tell us where the problem is.
I forget who our resident expert on Alternators is.

Have you cleaned the alt bulb and the socket? Sorry if already posted.

Clean ALL your grounds.
Weird electrical issues are almost always the grounds.

I mean ALL grounds! Battery terminals, ground body connector, trans strap, even take a pen knife and scrape all the spades the down to bare metal, etc.

Good catch. I didn't recognize the importance of this when I first read it.

If the GEN light doesn't come on when you first turn the key to ON, the alternator is not going to work.

The GEN light provides just enough current to the armature to get the alternator to boot-strap itself to work. In other words, the GEN light current is the "starter" for the alternator. Spinning the alternator is not enough; the 914 alternator must be started up and that's what the GEN light does.

As mentioned before, clean up the connections to the GEN light and all grounds including the transmission strap.

Since a new voltage regulator didn't fix it, and it still won't charge, I pulled the alternator. It's had the same one for 10 years I've had it. Took it to Napa Auto Parts for a test. It FAILED. My battery tested good

I replaced all my gauge lights 2 years ago, and it does come on. When the "G" light was not coming on, it may have been I was turning the key all the way to START quickly...

Tomorrow I order a new alternator, or have this one rebuilt. It's a Bosch. I'll do some research, as I am considering more amps. But, need it going ASAP. It won't be ready for Monday's drive to work, but the bike is!

Anybody know who sells the alternator gasket? One came out, and fell apart. Pelican doesn't seem to have it. They have rebuilt Bosch 55amp alternators for $108

Oh yeah, I've removed the trans ground strap and will clean/sand it. Need to do this up front under the dash and near the headlights.

FWIW don't forget to put star washers on the alternator, this will provide a good
ground for the alternator. Had a problem like yours and turn out to be the alternator
wasn't get ground to the engine case.

Is this the gasket that goes on the back of the alternator to protect the wires? I made one from stock gasket material. In PowerPoint I drew circles of the right diameter; printed it out and traced it on the gasket material.

Yup. No gasket available afaik. Also some of the result units have a longer stud that hits the cover plate then you install it. Make sure nothing inside touches that back plate.

Here's the template that I made in PowerPoint. Quite simple. I printed it and traced the outline by poking holes with a razor knife. Bulged out the outline around the 3 holes and cut it out.

Just to be 100% clear: is the gasket necessary? What happens if I install the alternator without it? (Can't recall if the gasket was in between cover plate or ??)

Here in the East SF Bay, the shop that was open and had a NEW Bosch alternator on the shelf (part #AL75X) was Bus Lab in Berkeley!
They do old VW bus stuff, new VW bus stuff, Vanagon Suby conversions, and apparently the owner has been fixing and selling 914s to Germany with regularity. There was a 914 parked out front among the buses

So, if your alternator is bad, why wasn't the warning light coming on while you were driving? Sounds like you have a ground problem - breaking connection to ground while charging will burn up the alternator. I'd check battery ground before the same happens to your new alt.

New alternator in, "G" light illuminated at start-up, not during driving, and 13.5V going to battery when running. Back in action

Still dealing w some funky electrical gremlins
Wipers wouldn't work, headlights stuck on high beams w one out'flickering.
Didn't even try to turn on radio.

After 20 miles driving with headlights on, parked it, and battery was at 12.9V
Tonight: check fuses, check more grounds, replace/redo headlight relay

There was corrosion under the transaxle grounding strap. I'm sure there's more elsewhere.

1. well when i first got my 914 bought hot start kit $24 then my car would do the same thing left me stranded or push started. cleaned all grounds etc. still happened, i guess i didn't do very good job, it continued to happen after a lot of driving. Aquired an aviation grade ground strap. the one on your tranie. Die grinded an area till bare metal installed new one and did the same on the starter ground wire. Since the rework it has not been an issue.
TELLING YOU GROUND IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. All this air cooling.

2.The crapping running after starts. If you have points still ...Which i still do. I found this caused a stranded no firing or spark condition. It could be the heat from driving. Installed New points ran great. But i want electronic and can't find one that i feel comfortable with that will fit that rare distributor i have. So anyone feel free to advise. i am looking at Hot Spark.

ive been running a hot spark module for 5 years not problem- fits fine in my stock D-jet distributor.

Phil.
btw where in charleston are you? S.C? if so come down next saturday on the 21st for Cars-n-Coffee- Bluffton(beaufort hilton head savannah and sun city collaberation) we had almost 200 car last month! - (at the USCB campus next to Sun City )

I had some intermittent, weird electrical gremlins on two different 914 s recently. Found the wiring into the reverse light switch were crispy and the connectors going into the switch looked slightly burned.
Pulled the switches and replaced with new ones. Voila, problem solved. I never would have thought to go there until I crawled under and looked to see the wires looked burned.
I couldn't beleive that this would cause the issues that it did.
I'm not saying that this is the thing that is going to solve your problem, but it's always
worth a try, at least take a look at the wiring.
Any way good luck I hope you get it fixed.
Craig at CAMP

I'm having similar non-charging issues. I've done the +D to DF shorting, and the alternator ramps up nicely. No dice with the regulator in place though, plus it's getting REALLY hot...even just idling/reving in the garage for a few minutes. Voltage comes up marginally at the battery (+.2V) when I rev, but not enough. Off to try and find a regulator tomorrow.