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Hi , i am a new member , my car needs lot of work especialy the inetrior.I drove this car about 80 miles to get it home with a freind of mine ,i did not stop at all the entire trip home.The car did not run right it had no power ,what i mean is when i push the accelerator it would hardly increase the speed at all . te trip home i was only able to get the car up to 65 and about 75 on the down hills.The following day i went to start the car to take it for an oil change,it would not start ,just a click noise i was told to check the starter. looked under the car for the starter and noticed a yellow wire was not connected,reconected the wire and tried to start the car now the engine cranks but still wont start. car has other problems but i would like to get it running so i can enjoy it a while before winter sets in.thx for any help .

And welcome!!

Your starter problem, could be numerous things,

Does the engine crank slow?
Try putting the battery on a charger,
Then take a long ground cable (7ft or so) and connect it directly from the battery ground on the body (where the battery connects to the body on the negative side) to a starter mounting bolt (this gives the starter the best possible ground, and eliminates common ground issues)

Does it crank nicely but not give any signs of starting?
Next question is, do you have carbs or fuel injection? Get some clear pictures of the engine bay so that we can try and see if there are any obvious problems.

It could be a number of problems.

How mechanically inclined are you? Do you have a wide array of tools?


Now your power issue might be related to this current no start issue, your carbs (if you have them) could be not adjusted propperly, your fuel injection could be in need of a refreshment/new parts. You could have the timing off by a lot. Your valves could be adjusted improperly.
You could be only getting partial throttle (likely with carbs). Heck it could even be your brakes dragging.

And to recap.
We need pictures and more details about the car and the problems. Get very detailed in your description.

BTW,

Welcome again!

don't ship it with National Auto Transport!

I have the exact same problem as you although i only have a little bit of gas and a dead battery

curious to see the fix recommendations!

andrew has got it right. Make sure the starter is getting enough power. Don't be surprised if you end up needing a new starter. I like the high torque version that is available on eBay. Search here for more info.

The lack of acceleration is probably due to incorrect timing or a failed throttle position switch.

thx for the quick reply,the starter cranks fine after i reconected the yellow wire that must of came off during the trip home,but the car will not start.I am not mechanically inclined but if simlple enough i will give it a try.The car is fuel injected and it is a 1976 2.0 .This pic is from the ebay ad i wll post a better 1 whan i get a chance to take some pics tommorow.

First thing you need to do is check and see if you have spark, it is possible that your coil went bad.

You will need help with this one. Pull the center coil wire on the distributor, that is the feed from the coil (ie the hot wire). then any one of the other plugs. Hold them about 1/4 in to 1/8 inch apart or as close as you can get this while still seeing a spark, Then get someone to crank the car in neutral.

If you get spark there then its not your coil but it could be your points inside the dizzy. Take the spark plugs out one by one, check for anything wrong there, might be a good time for new one's. 15 bucks is good insurance. Anyways, take a spark plug out and connect it to the associated coil wire and see if its getting spark.

Yes spark?

Try moving the distributor, moves freely? bad.. need to tighten it down, try moving it 1/2 inch either direction marking your star position (on both the dizzy and the engine) and try starting it then.

Next is fuel.. and someone else is going to have to do that one... cus that D jet fuel injection is a bitch..

Don't know much about fi ether but a lot of people say to check all the hoses to make
sure there all hook up and in good shape because they don't like vacuum leaks.
There are a lot of knowledgeable people here that know more about it so just stick
around they're be chiming in.

And

Nice car mister.

Welcome aboard Yellow1!

I've spent the last month sorting out a 73 yellow djet bought off e-bay so we are sort of kindred spirits

The big question is how much you feel comfortable doing yourself. With an E-Bay car you have no idea what the maintenance history so if you are willing, and have the tools there is a whole series of stuff you should do. Sending it out to a mechanic for that sort of stuff could get real expensive real fast.

You have your basics of fuel, and spark. Then timing gets into the picture.

pull out your plugs and describe them to us. Wet, black fluffy stuff, grey stuff ...

on your attempts to start - keep your foot off the gas. Make sure your battery is fully charged.

Try the Cylinder Head Temp Sensor check... it is thru a hole in the engine sheetmetal, between the passenger side spark plug holes; there will be a wire coming out of the hole. You need to modify a 13mm socket to get the wire off to the side and the socket over the CHT sensor. Then gently loosen the Sensor, and hold the wire as you back it out of the hole.

Best just order a new Sensor from Pelican Parts or one of the other suppliers of 914 stuff.

There is a D Jetronic Service Manual that is sold on eBay and is pretty good at explaining and trouble shooting your FI system. Buy a copy and get to studying! and have fun... how's the body???

Bad relay boad could be a culprit too- at least it was for me when I first got my car. See if you can find another one- it's never a bad idea to have a spare anyway.

I like how you call it "WINNING" a 914 -

Good luck and have fun

Umm yes you won all right! Where is Pat Garvey??? He is our originality guru. Your car is so original that it still has its smog pump! That is pretty darn rare these days. Most have pulled the pump and plugged the heads.

You have gotten solid advice so far. Follow it and your car should straighten out. Welcome to the club and congratulations. It could be worse. Many of us have "flying 914s". They have been semi-permanently levitating on jackstands for years!

Thanks for the welcome everybody and all youre advice ,i removd the air box today and used starter fluid,the car cranked but still no start.I will check for spark later on when a freind comes by.I never met the actual owner of the car he had it put on ebay by some used car place.what i was told is the car was stored for the last 2 years,it had a frozen rear caliper that they replaced.The car from what i have seen does not have any rust on the exterior,but the paint is faided.there is some light surface rust in the trunk.also i did a lot of reading last night on this car and there is rust where u guys call the hell hole the battery tray area, it seems to move a little.my blikers and hazzard lights dont work gas gauge only goes to 1/2 tank even though i filled it up for the drive home.The tach did not work at first ,after about 15 min into the drive home it started working.the seats are in bad shape and the interior needs some work also the heater does not seem to work, or i do not know how to use it.also i order a haynes manual no local places had 1 in stock. The gauge that says temp on it was a 3/4 the entire ride home is where it shoud be or is this to hot.thx

That bit about the tach cutting in is suggesting spark is the place to start. The tach takes it's feed from the - side of the coil. Sort of counts the pulses as the points open and close. Really spark is the best place to start regardless.

Generally accepted practice with a new-to-you car is new points/condensor/plugs (and for some, cap/rotor/wires). Before you get involved in that though just check to see that you are getting a reliable 12v at the + terminal of the coil. As mentioned above there is a relay board that gets involved and the ignition switches themselves have a habit of failing. They are both involved in delivering that 12 volts to the ignition so it's a good place to start.

Thx for all the advice i checked for spark as was suggested here from the coil ,and no spark so i will be trying that first.I just picked a haynes manual today it says to look where the oil filler area for engine code,i dont see any # there.the pelican site says if there is no # it could be a factory replacement case.Is there any other way to make sure i have a 2.0 engine ,can some 1 tell by looking at the engine bay pic in this post.I want to order the ignition kit from pelican and want to make sure i order the right 1 for my car.thx for any help.

I've only played with the 1.7 liter. But you should be able to tell by the color of the fuel injectors. Green is 2.0 I think brown is the 1.8 (not sure if the 76 had an option for 1.8?)

Try a voltmeter on the low voltage side of your coil and see if you have 12 volts there.

thx swl ,for the info placed a n order from pelican for a coil and some other items.Can some 1 tell me what this is and if it can be removed it is floating around freely in the engine compartment not attached to anything.thx

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here is another pic of it .

Its the carbon canister, an emissions control device, and it doesn't really affect performance It just helps out the environment a little bit. Unless you are doing something crazy with your car it should probably go back on.

That said, it should be mounted to the firewall that blocks the engine from the trunk with a bracket which goes around it and 2 m8 bolts IIRC. I would remount it to its correct place and put the lines back on it correctly.

Edit: Here is a picture of it on my 1.8

It is the charcoal canister for your emissions system. It should be attached to a hose that comes out of the fan housing on the passenger side of the fan and the fuel tank... Not often that you see one attached but it isn't hurting you. You just have to get it back on its mount. Original is not a bad thing. Under forums when you first log on, you will find a originality and something or other forum. Post that pic there and they will tell you how and where it mounts. That is where we keep our concours weenies to keep them from pissing everyone else off!

Thanks for the info and pic jd74914 i will go look at the trunk fire wall and see what i need to put it back where it belongs.Thx again

Thx ConeDodger i will check out that forum.

No problem . . . if you need anything else just ask Where in NY are you?

2 more questions, i have been trying to locate the engine code is this where it should be or am i looking in the wrong place. Also i need to change the oil ,i came across a thread how the new oil is no good for this engine.Brad penn seems to be the oil fo choice in the post that i read ,but i dont think i can get my hands on that here.so what brand of oil do most of u use in youre car mabey some 1 can do a poll on this if it has not already been done.thx

what you describe with the gauges and blinkers working erratically sounds to me like your #9 fuse is bad or loose or corroded. mine did this when i accidentally kicked the panel getting in one day and dropped the fuse out. try replacing that fuse and watch your blinkers, brake lights and all that other shit come back to life. Does your alternator light glow slightly and gauges kinda work when you rev the gas until you step on the brakes, then the light comes on really bright? fuse #9 bud.

queens,ny

I recieved my coil and condensor from pelican i put the new coil in and i have spark but the car still wont start.I checked the voltage from the coil and i got a 11v.I did not replace the condensor because that screw that is in the midle of the wire that connects to the ditributor looks very difficult to get at, and impossible to get it back on,how do i get that off and back on .and my next step is to try to install points but i want to make sure what type of distributor is in my car first, so i know what to order where would the number be located.also i picked up a copy of how to keep your vw alive and when reading it i came accross a section that says to never jump start the type Iv engine, that it could dammage the fuel inj sys i jumped my car a few times not knowing this is it possible that i may have dammaged my fuel inj sys. thx for all the help.