After many repairs, my car finally made it on its first long voyage. The drive was over 2 hours long, and the car did great. However, when i first got my car it would not start after you turned it off. First repair was a new battery, fixed it for awhile, then the fuel pump went. Fixed that with some new wires, and the old fuel pump works perfectly. Car still doesn't start, found out the battery i got was bad, got a new one, and the car starts to run again. After this i take it out and have to have it towed home because the alternator wire broke off the starter, replaced that and the car starts up. At this point everything is running perfectly, so i took the car out yesterday for the long drive that was over 2 hours, get home and my mom parked right in the middle of our driveway, so i can't get the car into the garage. Go in to get the keys for her car and move the thing(don't understand why you park in the middle of a freakin' driveway, but thats besides the point).

I move her car, and get back into the 914 which won't start. I can turn the key and here the starter cranking the engine but it won't fire. Every now and then while trying to start the car it would give a little hint it was about to start but would not turn over. Finally, i decide to let the car sit for awhile while i go vote and run to the atm. The car sat for maybe an hour or two. Get back try to start the car again and it does the same thing, starter cranks and it would hint at starting. I waited for one of the little hiccups the engine would do, like it wanted to start, when it did that i gave it some gas and it turned over for just a little bit. After this, i try to start it again and it fires right up like nothing was wrong.

Whats going on?

The engine is a 1.8L single carbed engine. Could i be running the car to lean or rich and it just won't fire after a long drive?

Thanks everybody.

I just want to be able to drive my car, shut it off, and not worry about it not turning on again!!!

Gasoline Vapor Lock

T.C.

Is it really just that simple, shouldn't the gas be in a gas phase instead of liquid if it were vapor lock. I pulled the air filter off the carb on the first try of getting it to start and pulled the accelerator cable and a nice stream of gas shot right out of the jets. If it were vapor lock wouldn't it not be spraying any fuel? Or am i completely wrong about this? It is a 72 and the fuel pump is relatively in the same position, i moved it because of the rust problems in that area need to be fixed, it is now mounted on the firewall.

I Do Not Think So


Andy

Any guesses at what my problem may be? I could always drive the car for another long period and then bring it home and see what happens. Try and start it, if it doesn't start, then i could try to cool off the fuel pump and see if that helps. Thanks

We had this problem on a friend's Corvair and it turned out to be coil heat soak, though I doubt that is your problem.

Is the engine hot when you have this problem?

Next time it does this, check the spark. If it's a nice fat blue spark you're good. If it's small and yellow at best, it could be an intermittent electrical / ground connection. Check the wires around the coil and distributor. Especially check the little braided ground wire between the advance plates in the distributor.

If i go for short drives with the car, it will restart in an instant after you turn it off. It seems that after long drives and the engine operating at a high temp, once you shut it off, it has to cool off before it will fire up again.

I know this sounds like vapor lock, but i don't really think that is it!

How could i resolve a heat soak problem with the coil, Could i move the coil to another location away from the engine?

This was the longest i have ever had the car out, most drives are around my neighborhood for no more than 20 minutes. I always have to shut the car off, get out and open the garage door. Car fires right back up after short drives.

So heat seems to be my issue. What is heat soak? The coil is brand new and so are the plugs and wires.

Thanks everybody!!!!

On the subject of the coil, I've never heard of something like that on a 914. The car we had that problem on had a really old coil that was getting hot to the touch when running.


Like Rand said, it probably is a spark related issue that surfaces with heat. Everywhere he suggested is a likely culprit

On the subject of heat soak, remember that resistance for pure metals increases with temperature, so if you have a poor ground it will get worse as it heats up. The increasing resistance essentially robs power (and dissipates it) from the device that needs it.

It seems like 99% of problems on cars are grounds, so it might be worth it to check yours.

Do you have heat insulators between the heads and manifold .. you know the bakelite ones?

If not, the carbs could be getting hot enough to boil the fuel in the bowls after a long hot drive. Heat transfer from head to manifold to carburetor when shut off and no airflow to cool them.

Just a guess ya know. You could carry a squeeze ketchup bottle with a small amount of gas in it. When trying the hot start, shoot a small amount of raw gas into the carbs and see if it fires.

So which grounds should i be checking? The braided one btw the advance plates and distibutor, what else should i check? Should i cleam the grounds as best as possible ith a wire brush?

Not to sure what you mean about the heat insulators, never heard of those

Thanks everybody!!!!

The spacer Ron is talking about goes between the runners and the head. The runners slide over 3 or 4 studs and then get held on by nuts. Between the metal runners and the sealing surface on the head is what is known as a phenolic (thermally insulating) spacer. Its about a 1/4" thick and non-metal.

I know you said you can see the accelerator pump squirting fuel into the car. Does this boil, or is the carb hot. If it is your problem may be there. If not it is most likely ignition related.

Good luck!

I had a similar problem with the center carb. After running for a while, then sitting for 10-15 minutes, the car was very hard to start. Would start up cold every time.

So one time when it didn't start, I got pissed and jammed the accelerator to the floor, and the the car started up.

The cause of my problem was the electric choke. After sitting for a bit, the electric coil of the choke would cool and choke the engine causing it to flood and not start.

By jamming the throttle wide open, the choke is also forced open allowing the car to start up.

The ultimate fix for me was to replace the center carb with dual Weber IDF40s. This transformed the engine response and was a lot more funner to drive.

90% of carb problems are electrical. A couple of things to check. As others have mentioned. ALL Grounds. Old cars that sit will corrode the cables inside the sheathing causing a weak transfer. When the engine is hot, the electrical draw is extreme. This will result in weak spark with a hot engine. If your main pos and neg cables are original and your car sat for many years, I'd start there. Then the main braided cable on the tail housing. Even connected, these corrode and loose connection.

Then you stated you changed coil. Be sure you installed the correct coil. It makes a difference. Check to see your not frying your points. An incorrect coil will cause this. Once you have tested and changed the grounds and the coil, take the car for a long drive. If you have a starting issue, check the spark. Pull the plugs to see if there fouled or fried from running leak.

I had a recent issue. I went to the car wash to clean my engine. I had a no start caused by a wet cap. I tried to dry the thing with no joy. I ended up pulling the coil wire out of the cap and leaving lay on the top of the distributor. It arched all over the place and actually started the car. I pushed the wire back on with the engine running and drove home.