Hello all. Just recently purchased my dream car, a Nine-Fourteen. Its a 1975 1.8 with fuel injection. I have encountered a no-start problem. I was driving it and it was running fine and now it will not start. There is no spark! I know its getting fuel and that everything is mechanically sound, but there is no power to the coil. The coil itself is fine I just replaced it and Im sure it works alright. Where do I look now? I checked my fuses and they are all good. Please help! I love my car! Thanks

make sure there is power on both sides of fuse#9 with the key on if there
is no power your switch may be bad. If there is, this goes to the relay board
pin #8 comes out to pin #7 to the coil.

lol sorry Im no electrical master, but what you said about that fuse made me wonder because I followed one of the wires from that fuse over to the stereo, and it wouldnt start after one of my friends was fiddling with the stereo. So which switch could be bad? The ignition switch? Im confused as to how it happened because I dont see how messing with the stereo could make the car not have spark but then again it ran before he messed with it and when he was done... kaputt

Where was power taken from for the radio? If taken off any power source, it could have been for the ignition and blew the fuse at the panel. Get a Continuity Tester, you'll be glad you did.

Edit:

Where's my manners...

Well, the radio looks stock to me. I know it is wired through the ignition because you cannot turn on the stereo without the key on. Also all the fuses are good on the fuse panel under the dash. Are there any other fuses I sgould check? Thanks.

The fuses may look good but they could have dirty contacts and are not making conection. Check with a volt meter for voltage on both sides. That fuse is the switch power fuse.

you are on the right path to fixing the problem

Did you check for power at terminal 15 on the coil or are you assuming there is no power because there is no spark?




Does the car have points ? or a pertronix which may have fried with the key on, engine not running

Well I have not checked terminal 15 for power, but the coil is good so should I still do it anyway? And the car has a regular distributor with points. And I checked for spark where the coil plugs into the dizzy, so Im pretty sure the coil isnt getting power.

There is good L-jet troubleshooting info here: http://manuals.type4.org/ljet/

I went through this top to bottom when diagnosing various starting problems after re-installing the fuel injection system on my 1.8.

Would a clicking wiper relay have anything to do with it? The thing that is weird is I had JUST driven the car. Walked away for a while, and my buddy fiddled with the stereo and that was it. When I came back, no spark.

I checked out that website for L-Jet troubleshooting, but I could not find anything that had to do with my problem. Sorry guys guess Im just an idiot

LET YOUR BUDDY FIX IT THEN BEAT HIS ASS...LOL

GOOD LUCK

Turn the key on and check for power at the coil (term. 15), yes, even new coils need power to work.

Then pull out your Haynes manual and look at the wiring diagram to find the connection on the relay board that goes to the coil. Check for power there with the key on. (Hint: it's pin 7)

Then check for power at the connection between the relay board and the fuse panel with the key on. (Hint: it's pin 8)

Then check for power on the appropriate fuse with the key on. (Hint: it's fuse 9)

Report back here with your results and I'll tell you exactly where your problem is. If you don't have a Haynes manual or a multimeter, you need both items NOW and in the future. So get them.

WOW, That sounds like a very dangerous place to test.

Check that your points aren't welded together.

McMark, thanks for the tip, unfortunately I will not have time to check til the morning. I have a Multimeter, however I do need to go get the hanes manual!

Marty, Okay I lied, I didnt test for spark like that, I made my friend Arthur do it... well actually he did it without me asking lol. I learned my lesson doing that test on my Super Beetle ... oops

Click to view attachmentHey, when you guys say the "relay board" and to test pin 7 and 8... is this the right place to be testing?

That would be the relay board. There are copies of the factory manual floating around, it can be a bit daunting, but is amazingly useful to have. PM me if you're interested.

Just a little something I thought I'd add.

The stock radio does not run on Ignition power, so it should play without the key being on.

That being said, I think the fuse path is a good one and the Haynes manual is worth its weight in multimeters there. However, a good check of all the fuses in the fuse block is a fine way to start this troubleshooting exercise.

I know I found the current flow diagrams on line for the 1.8 before, but will post the link when I re-find them.


Good luck and I love my 75 914 l-jet. It is surprisingly reliable.

Hey guys I got some new news. I fiddled with the plug on the relay board and now the multimeter shows that there is power to the coil, when I gound it to the engine. Hovever when I ground the multimeter on the negative terminal of the coil, there is no reading on the multimeter. This indicates a bad ground right? There are 3 wires plugged into that side, one is the condensor for the points... but there are two others... a white one and a black one... what now?

Click to view attachment

It is your points that complete the circuit. When the points close, there is a ground to the coil. This charges tne coil (inductor). When the points open, the coil discharges a high voltage to the spark plug. Basic Kettering ignition.

Okay so... why wont my car start...

If there is power to the coil, confirm that there is spark using a timing light.

I would wonder about everything, however since you have been cranking the engine a bit there should be a reasonable amount of fuel in the cylinders. Its sure not burning, so you should have a raw gas smell at least at the end of the tail pipe...
If you can't smell gas its not likely being delivered to the cylinders.. thus your points, coil etc isn't your problem. I say this because you don't have to know much about cars to check for a gas smell. I would take a minute to check this out and report back.

If you don't have a timing light, Use an old spark plug. Disconnect one plug wire from a cylinder and connect it to the spare plug (or remove a spark plug and use that one). Make sure the base of the plug is resting on a grounded surface. Have someone crank the engine and look for a spark.

I am sure someone has said this before.... But...

Check your points.

On my 75 1.8 if I turn the ignition switch so the radio comes on and leave it like that for a while, and the points are closed at the time, the points will be fried. Anytime I work on electricals in my 75 I always disconnect the power wire to the coil.

I hope this helps,

Yesterday I had a no-start situation on my 1975 1.8L The reason was one of the wires at the dual relay was not making contact==probably yellow. Pushed each of the wires into the base, made sure the base was snug, and PRRRRRRR; started right up.

Wow thanks a lot guys!! Im off to work now, but when I get home Ill see what I can do with it. I might even have some pics of my 2.0 build!

Also, the '75 1.8 L-jet has the yellow wire jumped at the back of the relay board:

lol! You guys... I got my whold ignition system ready to go... Im sure she should fire right up... but my keys went MIA!!! Nothing is going my way right now... I hope you guys are having better luck with your cars!

One more thing: the 1.8 L Jet dual relay has a ground wire. If it is not connected, the relay will not work. It attached to a permanent clip on top/middle toward rear of motor.

If you have not checked that there is power to the coil, you can not know that the coil is good.

Rich

I pass! Well after I messed with the relay board and got power to the coil, I replaced the whole distributor. Also when I tried to set the timing, all the marks had worn off the impeller... lol so I had to set it using the distributor drive gear (I dont think thats the proper name... but the place that it slides into. Anyway, it works great!

Good news . Now get a :

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! yeah no kidding right? Thanks for all the help on this thread!