Driving Santa Rosa Creek Road today. I banged a 3-2 downshift. Couple of pops in the exhaust, then no torque. I coast to a stop. Engine cranks fast but doesn't light.

I put a finger on the air flap and hear the fuel pump run. Good.

Voltage to the coil? 10.8V. (Low, but I've been cranking on this damn thing for a bit. So, OK.)

I pull the distribulator cap and look at the points. OK.

I'm out of easy options, so I start walking. Seven miles back to town. No cell service.

I'm thinking I bent some valves on an over-rev. Here's a pic:

I walk back to Cambria. It's dark. Can't extract the car tonight.

I go to the Creekside Inn. The guy behind the counter says they've got a room. I say I'll take it. He offers me some weed. You know, for medicinal purposes. I say thanks, but I'm not sick. Got any mescal?

I wait 30 minutes for the one guy in town who drives a taxi. He doesn't show. Hotel counter guy says for 20 bux I'll drive you. So when we're getting in his Corolla, I see he's got a tracker beacon strapped to his ankle. Great.

We drive back to the 914. It's dark. On the way there, we hit an owl. The 914 is still where I left it. It still won't start. I get my bag.

Now I'm back in the room. Thankfully, they provide wine glasses here. Finest hotel I've ever been in.

Well, damn. But there are worse places to stranded. Elliot isn’t too far off...

Damn! Maybe your coil took a crap. Check for spark. Hard to crank and look for sparking plug wire alone. Don't drink too much vino tonight. You have a busy day ahead. Good luck bro!

Was Mr Anklebracelet's name Norman? Was he complaining about his Mom?

Sorry for your misfortune, but glad to see things are getting better. There a P shop in SLO if you can't get it going...

If I remember correctly, there's a NAPA in Cambria, or at least there used to be, as well as a number of hot rod shops all in a small industrial park on the south part of the town.

Does the car sound the same as it usually does when it cranks? If you smacked/bent valves, you would hear one or more cylinders lacking compression when cranking, as the motor speeds up on the compression stroke of the bad cylinder.

I would check for spark. I know it happened on a rough downshift, but a couple of pops, then nothing, sounds like a bad ignition coil. I've had a couple of coils fail and cough a similar death..

Man, if only this happened to you a week later.. Ill be up there next weekend..

Oh My ! Been on Santa Rosa Creek Road many times, what a terrible place to break down. Been to Creekside inn too, that guy is great. There is a Napa just off Burton Road and IIRC they know a VW mechanic.

Good luck Dave

Also... check to see if coil is loose in bracket. If it rotates around, can sometimes ground itself on engine tin. Same result !
Hope it's something simple.

Sounds like your air flow meter got blown during that back fire. This happened to me while on a road trip.

A very temporary fix would be removing the cover, and positioning the airflow meter flap in a neutral position. A neutral position is where the car runs like shit at idle and runs like shit at 50mph, nonetheless it's running. I drove my car 30 miles in this condition, enough to get me home.

This will only work if the AFM flap is sticking.

The car definitely sounds different during cranking. Spins very fast. I'm thinking I tapped valves in all four.

Breaking down is never easy no matter how beautiful the countryside. At least you could drown your sorrows with a good cab after getting your exercise in. Not many would have such a good attitude (relatively speaking) about such an event.

Wish I could give you an easy solution but what you described sounded expensive as missed shifts usually are. Hope you can get that gorgeous car back on the backroads soon.

Great writing style btw.

Yeah. I did check for AFM movement when I was running the fuel pump. Moves freely.

Sorry about your predicament. Your car LOOKS great, even in a tenuous situation.

That's the same symptom when I grabbed 3rd instead of 5th on the front straight at the LRP Historics. Spins fast, no compression. All four exhaust valves bent.

Click to view attachment

It is never fun to break down while taking a fun drive. Good luck and hope it is an easy fix like the coil.
Keep us posted.

I'm about 45 miles away in Paso Robles. I have a tow bar and hitch that I can unbolt from my car and bolt on to your suspension (if you don't have the same tow bar connection on yours) and I can tow you to a good Porsche shop that has done work for me in the past in San Luis Obispo. Here's the address if you want to use AAA or some other towing service. You can call me at 805 975 6616

Guys Porsche
1144 Higera st
San Luis Obispo 805 545 9323

Elliot to the rescue....D'man of the day

Oscar

Thanks for the kind words. The car was running well, at least until the driver ruined it all. That road suits a 100hp car. It was fun.

Elliott, thanks! What a generous offer. Funny you mention Guys Porsche. I just dropped the car there and spoke with Guy himself. He was in the shop working the weekend. They'll do a compression check and diagnosis tomorrow. Meanwhile, I've got a rental Veloster, the ugliest car on the planet.

Taking the ride of shame. First time in 21 years.

Now at Guys. Should know the diagnosis this week.

Tell him I recommended his shop. (That may or may not help) He has worked on both my cars. He knows his way around the 914 and does good work.

Dave...too bad about that owl, BUT at least it didn't create a scene ( outside the hotel) for you like in "My cousin Vinny "
Safe travels !

Glad everything worked out. Now let’s hope for a easy fix.

J. Lohr was a good choice.

The wine, like the hotel, and the towing service, and the shop, wasn't really a choice.

Watcha got? OK, I'll take it.

Yeah, Guy seemed like good peeps. He was working on a yellow, flared, raced-out 914-6. I'm super lucky he was there on a Sunday.

Sounds like a good time to go to a bit more displacement !

Yes indeed! You got a stroker crank laying around?

Elliot the HERO....................now where's your RED cup? BURP

.......and NICE car

Nice to see the flatbed holding it down by the tires. Good luck with the motor. SLOs a nice town to be stranded in.

I do.

Rebel Racing is in SLO too.....

Stroke it.

Monday afternoon, Guy at SGS called me and said the car was running. No valvetrain damage.

I picked it up yesterday. Guy shows me a fracture in the phenolic rubbing-block on the points. During the over-rev, the block cracked, we lost the gap in the points, and then no more spark.

Guy asks, "You ever consider running Pertronix?" I say, "No way, man, those are unreliable."

Glad it all worked out, even better a honest repair shop. I will be in SLO in a couple weeks, I will make it a point to stop by and let him know that all us 914 World members appreciate what he did for you.

Glad to hear it was nothing serious.

you see that thread on the 123 dizzy??? jus sayin.

Yeah. Guy is a long-time old-school Porsche mechanic, with direct experience with this car. Nice guy, and competent. And he charged me far less than the time he actually put into the diagnosis.

Yeah...

NOW I see it...

This is exactly what happened to me after WCR travelling through Moab, Utah

Good save. Pretty sure everyone in Cambria knows our late Cap’n Crusty. John would throttle you from the grave!

RIP Cap’n!

Awesome! So your still doing the stroker motor right?

Indeed. Back in 2010 (?), the Cap'n did a quick timing adjustment on this same car. I was on a roadtrip from Portland to SoCal. What a great guy.

Pertronix unreliable? That an old wives tale.

I have been running Pertronix in 3 early cars for a total 35 years with zero reliability problems. Every early 911 owner I know, about 50, run Pertronix and never heard an issue. Both Porsche shop owners I have known for 30 years combined recommend Pertronix over condencer and points.

Don’t know where you are getting your info but 1 unit going bad is not representative of the majority.

Rick, that was irony. Just trying to be funny.

Than goodness. with the comment on Petronix reliability. I carry a back up set in the glovebox of the 76 as insurance. Why anyone would recommend carrying a set of points as insurance is beyond me.

Worked on me. I chuckled.

Good to hear the problem was relatively minor, despite some inconvenience.
Got a question: What roadside test could be done to pinpoint the problem you had ?

Jim, a test for spark is pretty straightforward -- pull a plug, put it on the case, crank the engine, and look for a spark. But. This requires either a 2nd person to turn the key, or a jumper lead to trigger the starter motor in the engine bay. I didn't have either.

I did pull the cap and look at the points, but didn't notice the fractured rubbing-block. Next time I go on a road-trip, I'll have a starter jumper lead in my toolbag to help diagnose a failed ignition system.

Or better yet, I'll just get a 123 Ignition. (Or perchance a Pertronix?)

100% ,run enough of them to know,fitted my first to my bus camper....so long ago,used to leave the key on and never had a fail and it was an early unit (#1).
So many units made I think the failure rate is very low compared to what has been sold,my issues have been fitment,the magnetic pick up can be very tight on the top shaft,also found holes that don't line up 100% on the base plate,this is on my current Bosch dizzy I'am converting to fit my motor.