I have a 1973, 1.7 with original FI. Mostly stock car. Recently it was stalling, backfiring and running VERY hot (Smoking) from the exhaust. I have already replaced the fuel pump and relocated it. I looked at it and the condenser was bad, it burned the points and became out of timing. I replaced the parts, re-tuned it. It ran great for about 100 miles. Now the symptoms are back. (Back fire, no power, stall, etc) I assume I am going to find the same issue. Does anyone have an idea what could cause this to happen again? Could it be I put in a bad replacement condenser or is there a cause before it in the system that creates this symptom, and is the actual problem?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Terry

Did the car just start this behaviour? In other words was it running fine for thousands of miles prior?

Did you change or adjust ANYTHING prior to it starting to act up?

What was the temp gauge reading when it was "overheating"? Smoking is not usually a symptom of overheating.

How did you test the condenser to determine it was bad?

The points burning out quickly is usually a sign of not using a coil with an internal resistor or not using one in conjunction with a ballast resistor. Did you change the coil recently?

I did have the coil changed last year and did not do much driving after.

I do not have a temp gauge. The smoke was coming from the exhaust. The engine was actually pretty cold to the touch.

I thought maybe it was running really lean from the symptoms.

Thanks for your info.

It's possible you might need a ballast resistor to go with that coil.

Did you feel the coil when the car was running? If so, was it very hot?

wrong coil

Measure the resistance (ohms) between the + and - terminals, you should read between 2 and 3-ohms . Less than that and you have more current running through the points. This will cause the coil to overheat and the points to burn.

Thank you for your input, I will check.

Thank you for your input, I will check.

There are very few shops today that know points type ignitions, early Bosch fuel injection, flat 4 air cooled engines, etc...let alone all the idiosyncrasies of the 914. These cars are going on 50 years old. They needed LOTS more maintenance compared to current cars when they were new, and lots more repairs now with the ancient parts they are operating with and various bad "fixes" performed by prior owners.

If you don't have the knowledge (or interest or time) to work on it yourself, reach out here for a known good 914 shop in the Chicago area. It will be worth the extra cost to have the car fixed there rather than at a non 914 specialist who will generally break more than they fix.

Another question unasked is : why was the coil changed?