Just timed my car, and adjusted the idle. Timing was set at 27' BTDC at 3500 rpm with engine fully warmed and advance/retard line disconnected. Idle set to about 1000 at idle.

Went for a drive and noticed that the car really lacks power down low (say below 2500 rpm or so). It feels like it wants to die off of the line unless I really rev it up and ride the clutch a bit.

Could this be a TPS adjustment problem? Something else? Any ideas?

QUOTE (BMartin914 @ Sep 30 2005, 09:59 PM)

Could this be a TPS adjustment problem? Something else? Any ideas?

no.

did you re-connect the vacuum lines ?

(hadda ask ...)

It's got a new vacuum line kit on it, but I did not have the airbox connected when driving it. The only hose that is connected to the airbox that had any suction on it was the AAR, which lost suction after the engine warmed a bit more.

Idle pitch changed slightly as I moved the wires at the MPS connector around. I have a spare that I think I will solder on tomorrow and see what I have after that. The current one has wires that have been repaired more than once.

check your trigger point connections and the harness wire.....

it's all resistance based....and when wires corrode, people die.....

actually it breaks continunity and makes resistance shoot through the roof.

Take a peak....my trigger point connectors were all hanging by ONE strand of wire or maybe two....

that would explain my blatent LACK of acceleration from 600-1500RPM with the sudden jolt after that.....whiplash?


b

Just soldered on a new trigger point connector. I think it may be MPS coonector/wires related. I have a spare I will solder on tomorrow.

I will also check over the other wires in the harness.

I also noticed that when I would move the harness around in the engine comaprtment that the idle pitch would change slightly. The best I could isolate it was at the MPS.

yes! you're fixing it....

your technique is good.

make sure you find clean wire to attach new ends to.......


b


ps, ya still need the stuff i talked to you about?

Not at this moment. I am 99% sure I will stay with the D-Jet. I will see if I can improve on the current running condition. Hopefully I can.

If not, I may go with one of Jeff Bowlsby's harnesses. Considering how much I have invested in the various components.

Ben,

I think Rich was referring to vacuum lines for advance/retard on the distributor.
lack of power at low rpms seems like a timing (or advance/retard) issue.

brant

I'm pretty sure the timing is spot on. I can double (triple) check tomorrow. Once I retimed it, a lot of the previous issues went away.

If the point gap is too small you will get these symptoms. You could get technical with dwell, but at least make sure the gap is correct with a feeler gauge. Sounds like you've already done this, but just in case... And hoping for an easy fix!

No dwell. Pertronix.

Replaced quite a few bits of the engine harness today and car starts and purrs like it hasn't in a long time.

Hope to go for a drive tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

carry a point set with you, just in case.....


RUN man!!! run like the wind......I hope and pray everybody gets thier 914 up!! Driving a 914 is unlike any car i've ever driven/rode in.....


b

It drives, and runs pretty well might I add. Issues are in the wiring harness because it runs dirrerently when that thing is in different positions.

Probably need to get in contact w/ Mr. Bowlsby, but for now...it runs...and I can drive it!

I assume you're making the drive today then?

So the car runs, idles fine, drives well (like it did in the past) above 3000 RPM. Anything less than that and it is a dog. Wants to die from a dead stop unless I really rev it up and let the clutch out at about 2500-3000 RPM.

I don't think this is wiring harness or component related.

I think it might be a leak between the head and the intake runner on one side of the motor.

Can anyone add anything to support or dispell this theory?

The engine had not run for a little while during the time I was doing some work on the car in general. I had pulled one of the intake runners off during this time period. It is not the kind of problem that shows up at idle, only under load and on the road.

Kind of strange.

When I see the car tomorrow, I am going to test this theory with a can of starting fluid.

Ben,

sorry for harping on this issue.
but I have had similar experiences related to advance.

make sure the vacuum pot on the distributor is not failed and (bad diaphram)

also, I had a distributor cause this before also... It wasn't rusty, but for some reason the mechanical advance weights were not doing their job. So it was like a locked distributor. Perfect timing for a particular rpm but no ability to vary for low rpm.

Which distributor part # do you run.
how about borrowing a matching one from someone and installing that for a test drive?

brant

Brant,

On the timing note...

I also noticed that the car runs out of power up around 5000. It won't pull any more after 5000 RPM, it just feels flat.

I first noticed this about 3 weeks ago. I was getting on 6th Avenue and punched it in 3rd to get around some SUV and as soon as I hit 5000 it stopped pulling - like the advance stuck or something. I shifted it to 4th and punched the gas a couple of times and it felt like the advance became un-stuck and it was fine again.

I haven't had an opportunity to get it up to 5K RPM since then, but yesterday I did and it did the same thing.

And Brant...I ALWAYS appreciate any sdvice you can give me.

sounds like a centrifugal advance issue......


b

Ben,

Bring that thing over to my house. We can swap dizzies and find out for sure. I'm guessing the problem is advance too. Vacuum or manual, we can test the vacuum, and the swap will test us the rest. 10 minute job.

My car isn't running anyway...