Hi My 914 is running very badly. I just drove it from LA to Corpus Christi.
By the end of the trip it would not idle at all, and was still missing sometimes.

I pulled one plug, and it looks okay to me.

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I also found a hose "missing" I don't know what it connects to. It looks like some sort of regulator or something.


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The final thing is a wire that isn't connected at one end. It's light brown and goes
under the throttle body. Any ideas? In this picture, it looks like it is connected
to the coil, but it isn't. It runs from top center by the oil filler and down under
the throttle body?


Click to view attachment

This is a 1.8 l l-jet

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Jeff

Not sure what that hose is, but it's my understanding that the 1.8s are very sensitive to vacuum changes.

warm up regulator? if it was D-jet thats where it would be.
un connected brown wires always cause problems. ALL BROWN wires are grounds for something. Brown with white stripe is switched ground

does your car still have points?
I'd say a tune up is in order

all vacuum leaks are bad.
that does look to be an AAR
I'd have to find a hose diagram for a 1.8, and just don't know.
probably that is supposed to connect to the air filter I'm guessing, but like I said I don't know for certain.

do some L-jet searches on this board for info.
brant

don't know l-jets, but that looks like a big part of your problem.

looks like the AAR to me. Is that hose in the picture (short one) the one it connects to?

check out l-jet diagram here:

Pelican 1.8 L-Jet Diagram

...nice info...amazing the information you could come up with by posting on this site. That took all of 20 minutes from the original question.

Put the hose back on the valve. The one from the plastic "y" connector. that is your major problem.

Okay, got it running again. There was a line not connected! Boy is this thing
fussy! Also, I think the PCV(?) valve was disconnected. It backfired badly then.
So, now I'm back to the original isle problem. I think I will take a break now!
I work better in small bunches, I have to think a lot harder these days.

Thanks for everyone's help!

Jeff

Also check the "0" ring on the oil filler cap. It will also cause some problems and its an easy fix.

The LARGE O-ring is NLA too....Or seems to be real hard to find.

b

I think most V Dub places will have them.

If you find them, let me know.

I ended up having to plumb the head vents and the oil vent to the airbox.


b

"Interesting" find, I think....

I am still chasing vacuum leaks. The car now starts, but dies
quickly. So I started to check some of the smaller
vacuum lines. There is a small line that runs from the output
side of the airbox, downstream from the throttle valve.
This line tees to the pressureregulator and the Decel valve.
In the line to the deecel valve there was a small "pill" exactly
size of the ID of the tubing. It totally blocked the line!

Click to view attachment

It is just smaller than the fitting on the decel valve, but is too big
to have come out of it.

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Could this be a problem? Any idea what effect it might have?
It apparently has been there all the time, even when the car
was running right.

Not tyring to bump the thread, but....

In looking at the manual, I can't see the decel valve in the L-Jet
FI system. It is mentioned later in the manual, but not in the main
description.

By the way, it didn't help at all fixing the problem. I'm going to get more
1/2 tubing to replace the rest of those lines tomorrow.

I'm getting tired of this....Any L-Jet guys want a vacation at the beach, boating,
fishing, etc?? Just help me fix the car!!

Jeff

Well, I guess I am the one to answer my questions!
I removed the "L" coupling from the AAR and it was
cracked. This is on the input side. Problem?
Obviously, but could this be my false air problem?
I'll get a replacement tomorrow.

I am running out of things to fix on the air system.
But, I drove it home ok, so it MUST be something
small? The only thing that got bad on the 1600
mile ride home was the idle problem that got worse
as I drove.


A couple of other question - The air for this regulator
comes from before the throttle plate. Doesn't seem
that it would add "bad" air into the system? Maybe I
don't understand the pressures/vacuums in the air box
and after the throttle body. Can anyone enlighten me?
My mind is not as good as it used to be!

Thanks,

Jeff

"Bad" air comes from upstream of the air flow meter--that's the thing on the side of the air filter housing. So if the hose connects to the rubber boot between the AFM and the throttle body, it gets "metered" air. (And that is where it should be hooked up!)

The wire in your picture looks like a dirty or faded white wire, not a brown ground wire. I would guess (just a guess) that it is the wire that plugs into the AAR. Can you locate one or both ends of the wire? If not, can you tell which wiring harness(es) it runs into?

--DD

OK

lets simplify here.

Lets make your life easier.

First take OFF and CAP the connections comign FROM and going TO the decel valve. Now, take off and CAP those head vent connections. And finally that HUGE line to the oil filler. Now one by one, uncap those lines and connect them. I bought a huge assorted pack of caps for 5.99 or something. Well worth it for diagnosing problems.


b

The wire goes nowhere! It just runs into the engine compartment from the rear
wall of the engine. I have almost decided that it is not used. Maybe it is a an
old sensor for something. The wire is too heavy to be a "normal" computer
wire. The "sensor" it is connected to is on the vertical aluminum plate at the rear
of the engine, directly under the throttle body. I think that is the bell housing
plate?

You did just explain one thing for me that I forgot. All the air going into the
engine should come from after the air flow sensor. The cracked L connector
will receive air from the atmosphere and is not metered at all. Man, I hope that
is it!! I'm tired of this problem, but it has been educational! I just want it to
idle so I can work on it myself. It is a pain to have to bother a neighbor to
come over and help me crank the car! I work too slowly to make it worthwhile.
they all want me to get it to run, but no one is as interested as me, so I hate to
bother them.

Thanks Dave, I'll know tomorrow morning!!

Jeff

Ok Britt, if I cap those lines, the car should run, all things being equal? What are
the head vents? Maybe it's just terminology. This is the first time anyone has
offered simplifying instructions!!! My kinda guy!!!!

I am SO tired of this problem. I have plenty of other ones to solve!

Thanks,

Jeff

A couple of things. Decel does belong but is not required. Took mine out three weeks ago and worked just as well as with it in. Does help in smooth transition from high rpm to idle. I also had the cracked elbo on the AAR. This creates vacuum leak and on L Jet I found any leak is bad leak. That particular leak allowed the car to start and it ran for a minute or so and then promptly died with no struggle, just off. A backfire is supposed to be really really bad for the air flow meter. Warps the vane, lets the fuel pump run all the time and evil little things like too rich too lean depending on how it feels. No vacuum leaks is the key. I would get a vacuum gage when you get her running and verify that you have 15 or so inches of Hg at Idle.

Just so I cover everything that I can. That brownish wire should have a white wire running through the middle and mine attaches to the negative terminal of the coil.

Do youthink that is the same whire wire that I have been asking about? The one
that comes from behind the throttle body? Isn't the negative side of the coil
ground? Ihave never measured any resistance on my white wire, but I will
check the negative of the coil for missing wires. I don't think there are.

Didja ever figure this thing out? I'm curious about the relay looking thing in the third picture- over near the battery attached with wire nuts. Thats what got my attention. Wire nuts are not an OEM technique. That and the blocking of the vacum line intentionally. Whoever haad this car before you messed with the FI in weird ways (I think). I don't have a 1.8 (or FI at all actually), but I am intregued by this challenge...

Just to answer your question, that spark plug color looks good.