OK, I just picked up a '70 1.7L and it didn't run. I narrowed it down to electrical problems, and I just replaced the distributer cap and rotor, charged the battery and got it tested, replaced the spark plug wires and coil, and made sure everything looked good. However it still doesn't work.

I tried sparking the starter motor to make it run, and even that didn't get it to turn over.

Now the really weird thing is that yesterday, I got it to turn over first try by just turning the key but now it won't do that. Does anyone have suggestions or pointers of things I can look at? Help a n00b out, please.

Thanks,
Mark

maybe a bad ground? Check the ground strap on the transmission.

when you turn the key do you get power to any other components like the headlights, horn, etc.?

IMHO,

i'd start with:
clean battery terminals and battery posts.
ensure ground strap is shiny clean and conected to body and transaxle.
ensure clean and secure cable to starter
starter switch at steerign column are notorious for going bad. mine was....
so are solenoids.

at this point you should be able to jump the solenoid.

do you get a "click" at the solenoid?

if you get a click, a light smack with a hammer sometimes frees a stuck solenoid.

if you don't get a click, the solenoid is toast.

also check and clean all fuses...
that's a start.

Replece the switch in the steering column.


Its happened to me.... and to a bunch of other folks here as well.... seems like they go bad ALL THE TIME.

And "can" be intermittent as well..... itr's 12 bucks at mid-America, and they keep a lot of them in stck because they go bad so often.

You just bought someone elses car. You need to do a once over on the wiring and find any modifications. See if you can see anything that has been spliced or tape together.
I had a 914 that had a wire spliced into the ignition switch. Everything would come on but as soon as I went to crank it over everything went dead.

I'll back the other suggestions about the steering column switch. It's a little white plug thing, mine was cracked badly.

Mine was ignition switch too, when my ignition switch went bad, my key sorta hung at the full start position. Pelican parts has a good tech article on removing the steering wheel, mine came off easy, did not need the club that the article mentions. Good luck
steve

This is easy for me to say since I'm an EE, get yourself a multimeter (ohm-volt-amp) and a schematic for your car, and maybe a friend familiar with the 914 or with electronics/schematics. Debugging electrical issues without a multimeter and schematic is impossible. A schematic is nothing more than a map of your car's electrical system. Just like you would find your way with a driving map, use the schematic to follow the path of electricity from the battery to the components in your car. A good schematic will also include wire colors which help.

Use the multimeter to test for electricity and don't assume that wires are perfect connections. I recently debugged the heater motor in my 74 just to find that a wire that was visibly grounded wire wasn't grounded. The connector had oxidized and was not making electrical contact.

With the multimeter on the ohms setting and key off, check resistance between the chassis metal (not paint) and the engine/tranny. Should see 0 ohms. If not, check the grounding straps. Same thing with the battery ground cable to chassis. A wire may look physically connected and can be electrically disconnected because of oxidation and corrosion.

Good luck,
Spoke

OK, I get a click from the solenoid. Also, when I try to jump start it it still doesn't work. Could it be the starter motor? I guess I'll pick up a multimeter like Spoke said to and start trying to narrow down the problem.

Thanks for your help.

yes, that's all good and fine.. but,

did you clean the Pos+ battery terminals? both ends?

this single thing will get you the same symptoms.....

and the fix will save you a bunch of money and time.

FYI.. if i wire my solenoid to my ignition switch and detach the main power to the starter i get the same results as your experiencing.