I finialy got my 914 to run again Im so happy. Ever sence I got the car the number one cylinder has never worked. I know its getting spark cause I can hold the spark plug wire up to something metal and see the spark jump. Im not sure were to start looking for the problem at. Could the timing afect this or the valves cause I know the valves have not been adjusted in years same with the timing the car has been sitting for a long time. My 914 is a 1975 2.0 .

Got compression? Got fuel?

Im not sure about fuel on that cyliender or compression. I know alot of the hoses are missing but all the other cylienders seem to work just fine. Im thinking it could be something with the fuel injection.

could be a dead injector. Rob one from another cylinder that works and trade them out see where the problem goes..

Next bet is a bad plug but I guess you already did that..

Then check to see if it has a tight valve on that cylinder. If so its leaking compression and not firing...

Then do a compression check if that don't work. could have a burnt valve or a broken ring/smoked cylinder.

When I first got mine I had two dead cylinders. I had two injectors that were not working. Changed them out and everything was fine.

Many years ago I rebuilt a type I that would only run on three cylinders; I went so far as to tear that cylinder down, hone and re-ring it. Somebody suggested I had a bad spark plug. Turns out it wasn't the plug or the plug wire; the damn brown plastic plug connector had died! Simple and cheap solution to a problem that drove me nuts trying to figure it out!

I would try a new plug--test it on the current wire to make sure it sparks!! Then run it in the engine.

I would also swap the two injectors on that one side. A good working car should still run that way, though it may run a little worse. If the "dead hole" moves when you do that, then the injector or the wiring to/from the injector is the trouble.

Check the valves and check the compression.

You need three things for a cylinder to fire: The right amount of fuel, air (or compression), and spark at the right time. Find which one is the problem in that cylinder.

--DD

From what I have learned on this board I would check the valve adjustment before I did anything else. Do a search here and you will find lots of info about that. After you are sure that they are all adjusted correctly then I would move on.

I would modify Dave’s statement to say that really you should break a cylinder’s needs into the FOUR components. You probably learned them in your shop class (I know I did) as "the power square" each corner represents one of these components: Air, Fuel, Fire, and Compression. Test these four and you will rapidly narrow down the field of problems. Sound like you are getting fire so I would look to the other three. Pull the injector, hold it over a can and have someone turn over the motor. If you get fuel put the injector back in and move to compression. It is easy to test and you can probably borrow a compression tester from school or your FLAPS. Air is the trickiest to test, but it usually will be the problem it the other three all check out. If something were really wrong with your fuel air mix or any of the major components relating to those systems the other cylinders would probably not run well either. This reasoning also applies to your timing. If the timing were off bad enough to make a cylinder not fire than chances are you would have problems with your other cylinders.

Remember most of these systems are interrelated so it is in a way good that you have one dead cylinder. That will help you narrow down the problem considerably and helps eliminate the major shared systems. Also remember that these tests are just to get you into the ball park with your problem. Run these test and the tests that the other folks have suggested and get back to us. You have some of the greatest T-IV minds in the world here (of which I am not one).

Good luck and keep us posted

-Pete

Valve adjustment is always first-