Got my '73 2 litre last week and I have been working on rust on the firewall,covered everything up but still got overspray everywhere.
It used to idle slowly, but now it revs fine and dies when I take the foot off the pedal. The gas pedal action is stiff and it is sticking at higher revs, I have to get my foot behind the pedal to flip it back/down.WTF.
I replaced the coil , plug wires,dizzy cao and rotor with some improvement.When the car was ppi'd months ago the low idle speed was noted.Is there an idle adjustment on these cars? What else could it be? Thanks.
Geoff

Hi Geoff, do you have Fi or carbs on the car?

Concerning you cable problem, it is probably wrapped around something or just too old and dirty. Buy a new one if you can an re-route it as cleanly as possible through the center tunnel.

the cable is wrapped around the clutch cable probably in the center tunnel up front. Makes it hard for the petal to work..


FI or Carbs?

Sorry Fellas,
D jet FI.I also replaced the old Bosch plugs with NGK BP6ES at a gap of .8mm,I have since changed gap to .7mm yet to check idle etc.
Thanks, Geoff

Have a look HERE to trouble shoot your idle problem.

How long did you let the car non running?

Is your idle low even when the engine is warm?

Did you knock anything loose during the repairs?

wait, you have stock IGN?

.027in is what I set my plugs to per the box on the bosch super plugs

.7mm = .0275 inch, there's a nice conversion tool called convert available on the net

Thanks so far,I have just started the car after adjusting gap on NGK BP6ES to .027". Car now idles at 600rpm with a dwell angle of 50 degrees!(air filter removed) Is the pot. on the ECU the place to adjust or should I wait to get a new acc.cable?

Bump up the idle speed to 900rpms and then adjust the idle mix via the ECU pot to the best idle, readjust the rpms to 900. Use a CO meter if you have access to one to set the idle mix.

Excuse my ignorance Geoff but how do I bump up the idle speed?The cable wire to the throttle body actuator is slack,can I place some tension on wire to increase idle speed.
Mihai914,the car has been on a ship from July 27 to Sept. 22 and I picked it up last Thursday(out of action 3 months). The handbrake cable is broken as well so taking it for a blast is out of the picture as yet.

On the side of the throttle body is the air bleed screw, unscrew it some. Righty tighty. lefty loosey.......
Take the air cleaner off to see it...

Here's a picture with the bleed screw circled in yellow, you see also where some other components of the FI are located like the AAR. And if you don't have a CO meter (neither do I) when you will be playing with the pot on the ECU, you'll see a marking on the knob and one the outer ridge, rule of thumb is that you have to be within 3-4 clicks either side from that marking since that was the factory adjustment.

Bloody hell,I have been off the radar for days because I have been resetting the timing(BTDC was about 1.5" away from the factory mark),adjusting the valves,cleaning the points etc.Armed with the info from all and sundry I was confident that I would get some improvement,so I lowered it off the jackstands and started it up. Dwell was perfect at 50 deg. but idle was low again,600rpm, so I fiddled with the bleed screw and the ECU click control and had it idling at 800rpm so I put the air cleaner back on and it died.For the next 1/2 hour I could not get the same response,it was low idling and stalling even though initially I had not changed the settings from when I was getting 800rpm.I think when the motor heats up the car dies, whether its fuel supply or air supply I am buggered if I know!!! They say these cars are a good drive,ah well.....

Make sure you don't have any leaks where the intake connects with the heads.

ed aka W9R1

Hopefully you have been setting the timing with a timing lite and have located the proper 27 degree mark. Its a red line mark near a fan brace not the "0" mark.
sounds like you need to set the timing correctly first. See the pic

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9.../914_timing.htm

I located the 27 deg. timing mark from the Pelican article using the paper gauge,but I will check it again.I have been using a timing light.
I am going to check the decel valve(remove it) reset the throttle switch and get a new fuel pressure regulator.Auxiliary air regulator is next in line!

You're saying that when the engine is getting warm now it is stalling?

How do your spark plugs look, is your car running rich?

Also before you go by a new fuel pressure regulator, get a gauge and test the fuel pressure on the car to see if it is within specs (28-29 PSI). I have never heard of one failing and it would be ashame to spend 100$ for nothing.

THe latest is: once again lousy idle so I tried removing the decel valve from circuit but it was worse. I then checked the AAR for suction from the air cleaner end and it was slight I then removed the hose from the other end and the rpm jumped to 1200!!!I had to screw the air bleed almost fully in. The cold start valve has been disconnected from the fuel line but the AAR is still connected to the CSV is that right?I wonder if the AAR has been accidentally reversed??? Thanks to all.

I don't think that it really matters if the AAR is reversed except maybe for lousy vacuum hose routing. The AAR has to be connected to the plenum via the cold start injector in order to provide the bypassed air, the FI will compensate for the extra air.

The decel valve is supposed to let air pass at really high vacuum, from what you are saying, it's faulty. I would leave it off for the rest of the idle fixing.

Did you do a compression check on this engine?

Continue testing components but play with one at a time...

The cold start valve has nothing to do with the AAR valve. A hose goes from the plenum to the AAR valve and then to the aircleaner. If you pull off the hose from the plenum side you should get more than 1200rp idle! Should be up around 2000+.

My gut feeling is something is wrong in the dizzy. Pull it and clean and lube the advance plate to make sure its working properly. A sticking advance plate causes all kinds of problems.

If the timing/ignition system is working/set right with all the other hoses plugged, you should be able to set the idle nicely. Then hook up the AAR valve hoses and see what happens.

Ok folks here is the latest,with both hoses off the AAR I wound out the air bleed screw on the throttle body and got about 1800rpm.I then
re connected the hose between the cold start and AAR.(Thats how it is on my car Geoff)The idle dropped to around 700rpm.I then replaced the air cleaner without connecting the hoses and it stayed the same.One by one I then connected all four hoses to air cleaner.Voila,it did not die,I must have done something right.Feeling pretty cocky, I hopped in and tried driving it back and forward in the garage and thats what it did.(I dont have a handbrake as yet)I would like to improve on that so stay tuned.
I have carried out the following before achieving this outcome.Valve adjustment I found the clearance to be about .002" out all around,compression was even, around 100 for the 3 cyls that I could reach(#2?).I cleaned the PCV valve,blew the crap out of the AAR,adjusted the throttle switch and discovered that the cold start fuel line which was disconnected was also unplugged!
I think the CSV and throttle switch areas were culprits but the idle is still low so hang in there for the next exciting episode of........

The Cold start valve has fuel lines running to it.

The AAR valve has vacuum hoses running to it of a different size.

Take a pic of this set up Please. As it makes no sense unless its something a PO cludged together from random parts.

It doesnt matter if its a 1.7,1.8 or 2.0.

here is a pic

Sorry I cant take pics,dont have a digi camera yet.The hose setup is the same as provided by Mihai914 for a '73 2L.
The CSV connects to the AAR and there is a short length of fuel line hose(which was unplugged) from the other CSV connection.The vertical tube of the LH fuel rail has been plugged.
The intake boot on your diagram is the CSV in my setup.
As you say,a PO may have done some "cludging"?
Dave Darlings '73 hose layout for vacuum shows a 12mm line from AAR to CSV(the AAR other end a 12mm to air cleaner)and a 7mm hi pressure fuel hose from the vertical tube of the left hand fuel rail to the CSV.
I wonder if I reconnected the fuel line to the CSV what would happen?

Geoff,using your suggested method I now have nearly 800rpm and fairly smooth, with 6 clicks on the ECU.

You mean this 2.0L pic?

I did this one.

I was getting confused thinking maybe you had a 1.7L not a 2.0L. You are correct that there is a vacuum hose from the CSV to the AAR valve then running to the air cleaner.

The CSV has a fuel line from the center port of the fuel rail. If its sticking open then having it unplugged is a good idea as its not really needed to start the car unless its really cold.

Your valve clearance at .002" is too tight. Adjust it to .006" and see if you compression numbers don't come up some as 100lbs is low.

Sorry,I meant that my valve settings are .006" and .008".Previously they were .008"and .010"
I am chasing up a better comp. tester,mine could not reach #2 piston/cyl.
I have been getting some "bucking", what causes that?
The idle with everything connected is near 800rpm and consistent.
What does "hash"mark mean in electronic terms?My throttle switch adjustment could be adjusted further I think! Thanks.

I have been getting some "bucking", what causes that?
The idle with everything connected is near 800rpm and consistent.
What does "hash"mark mean in electronic terms?My throttle switch adjustment could be adjusted further I think! Thanks.
[/quote]


bucking is usually caused by the TPS being out of adjustmnet-check up and clean the traces. Or a simple test is to unplug it and see if the bucking goes away. Yes it will still run.

See the Pelican Parts article on the TPS adjustment.

In addition to the TPS, another source of bucking is the trigger contact points in the base of the distributor. If they haven't been changed in 100K miles, they're probably shot.

yes, check those after you do the TPS unplugging test.

Will do folks!

A loose plug wire connection may have been the cause.Geoff,the Pelican artcle on TPS adjustmenr refers to "hash mark", do you know what that means?

They are talking about those markings around the screw holes, each mark is supposed to be 2 degrees or something similar. Once the multimeter reads zero, just rotate the TPS one more marking compared to the center of the screw.

Will do Mihai;something is dawning on me,when my Alfas have a hole in the muffler the idle is poor.The heater hose on the LH side was disconnected and I got 600rpm.Reconnected 800 rpm!The RH heater tube is open hmmmm?

Are you talking about the 914 heater hoses? If so they have nothing to do wih the engine idle. I also never heard about anyone having issues with the idle because of holes in the muffler although there has been plenty of people with rusted out mufflers.

When you are getting 800 rpms, are you moving around the FI harness, could be a short in it and while you are doing something in the engine bay you're making good contact on a injector wire... Did you try to remove every injector connector and see if they all affect idle, same thing for the spark plug wires?

Trust me,the car was idling at 600 rpm with the l.h. heater hose from the vertical elbow disconnected and went to 800 rpm when I connected it up.Exhaust leaks in 105 series Alfas causes rough idle.I have disconnected the plug wire with the same result on all four.Today I will reconnect the elbow on the rh side and report back.

Still idling at 800/850rpm after plugging the RH outlet.Fair amount of black smoke on acceleration though.Its on ramps now I have been driving it to and fro in the garage.Does a vacuum leak cause it to run rich.I will be replacing all the vacuum hoses soon.

A vacuum leak on the MPS hose will cause the car to run rich, leaks on other hoses generally will lean out the mixture.

Something is just not right with your situation, if you are plugging any heat related tube and that fixes your idle by correcting backpressure on the exhaust system, that's just not right in my opinion. The heating system is made to pass hot air sourced from the engine fan and that electric fan in the engine compartment. From what you describe, your heating system is passing exhaust fumes also and those will end up in the passenger compartment.

Not good for my short/long term future!!!
Thanks for your concern.I disconnected and removed the heater blower and hose for rust repairs.Could the change in idle be related to the electrical connection to the blower.I will check.

Mihai,your reply re the MPS hose got me thinking so I checked and that hose was not even connected.I am now getting 980 rpm(tba),no black smoke and a totally different sound to the motor.Loookin'good Thank You!!!

How old is your gas?

I had a 914 that I bought, and it ran fine. Parked it in my garage and worked on it for 4 months or so, and it started running awful. It would die, and I couldn't time it. Turns out that I just had really old gas.

Pour another 5 gallons of premium in there and see if it helps.

Never ending story huh!

I'm glad your car runs much better, I would compare the way you tried to fix your problem to a chicken running without a head. You were tackling too many things at once. Maybe it was due to the exhaust leak you have! But don't worry I did the same thing when I was learning and I am sure that most knowledgeable D-Jet people went through it too. You should thank Geoff also...

Now what I think you would have to do is re-read Brad Anders d-jet website and see if you have every d-jet part (that you can test) within specs and everything hooked up fine and then you will have a great running motor. I would emphasize on re-verifying your vacuum hoses connections. This is my favorite diagram and it applies to your car (I should of posted it earlier!). There are other good diagrams out there.

The latest news is that after resetting the dwell and TPS, cleaning MPS,DECEL,PCV and renewing vacuum lines,I have the engine idling at 950rpm with 48 deg. dwell and no smoke from the exhaust even when I open the throttle. Bleed screw turned in to 1/2 turn from stop.(ECU control in original position.)Even chooks get lucky Mihai,thanks to all especially Mihai and Geoff Bleyseng.What I noticed today was that when I started the car up again later on it delivered the same figures.Consistent but still to be driven,its on ramps but soon.... The only flaw is a slight rev variation when the air cleaner is on the car,maybe 30 pm?Nil variation with air cleaner off.Car has a new air filter.I will wait and see.

Check the timing again and set it to 27degrees BTDC at 3500rpms as this is important for it sets the timing for ignition AND injectors.

The idle will vary until about 10-15 mins and the engine is hot.

Remember to set the idle with the engine fully warmed up and hot (15minutes of driving).

When starting up the idle should be at 1200-1500 rpms, is that happening?

This is the famous "Chris Campbell" car if I'm not mistaken.

Geoff,I intend to reset the timing as after I had cleaned the PCV,MPS and DECEL valve the dwell angle changed from 50 to 56.(Which I reset to 48.)
The car is starting first go and is at 800rpm and then settles at 950 with slight variation soon after.
ATM I am enjoying listening to a sweet sounding motor with some nice whirring sounds.

Yes it is mate,and its looking good too.My curiousity is aroused,why is this car so "famous"??? I would really like to know.
Thanks, Geoff.

I'm sure at least 30%, maybe more, of the people who own or owned a 914 (in recent history) it's because of seeing pictures of that car. For me it's probably what pushed me over the edge to finally buy one. When that car came back up for sale, before you bought it, I toyed with the idea of grabbing it.

I still have a bunch of photos in my collection of it. haha

Obviously you have good taste mate.
All the best Geoff.