Trying to start my carbureted 1.7, Electrical help Options

[pastormacman]

Issue: There's no power going to the coil/fuel pump when I turn the key. (you can skip the history and jump down to the ALL CAPS and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) to see more about the issue)

History: 16 years ago, this was a running 1.7 fuel injected '73 in Bakersfield, CA. I bought it wrecked in the front end, (hood crunched a little, passenger fender dented) A friend straightened the trunk, cut off and welded a replacement fender on and we put on a replacement hood. I had it painted and new tires on it. It was my daily driver for a couple of years.

14 years ago, I got a new daily driver and this sat for a few months. Unbeknownst to me, a critter made it's home around one of the cylinders with mud and leaves. I went to drive it and the cylinder overheated and seized the engine. I bought new cylinders and took it to a friend to replace. Upon removing the engine he discovered that my block was cracked. I found a rebuilt 1.7 down in Los Angeles and bought it to replace the old engine. My mechanic friend was going to work on it in his spare time for me.

I had always had trouble with the fuel injection, so I saw this as an opportunity to remove it and replace it with carbs. So he installed the carbs and after he got the engine back in the car, he discovered his dog had eaten the wiring harness (From the relay plate to the alternator/starter) At that point, life happened... kids grew up, I worked a lot and the car sat in that condition in one of the bays in his shop for 10 years.

Three years ago, my sons are now teenagers, and I decided I wanted to finish it up and get it out of my friends way. He had kind grown resentful of it being there. I brought it home and put it on jack stands in my garage. I ordered a new wiring harness and tried to finish the car to get it started for my kids to drive. I discovered that through life I had developed a strong case of claustrophobia and it's difficult to get under the car for me. So it has sat for another three years.

So I have a new friend who rebuilds VW Bugs who is now helping me.We've gotten all the electrical hooked back up. Removed the gas tank and flushed it out. replaced all the fuel lines, and filters. And got a new battery. Which brings me to the present...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) ISSUE: WHEN WE TURN THE KEY, THERE'S NO POWER TO THE COIL OR FUEL PUMP.

Since we replaced the fuel injection with carburetors, we no longer have the ECU in the car. (in fact, I no longer have the ECU or any of the fuel injection parts anymore, they are long gone at my other friends garage) Not sure if that was a mistake, I thought I didn't need it anymore since the FI was gone.

My VW friend is not familiar enough with 914 electrical to find the issue. Could I have a bad relay? I see that there is a port for the white wires from the ECU to connect to the relay panel. Is there a part I need there in place of the ECU wiring? Is this a common issue with a carb replacement? Other electrical things work, (headlights, and whatnot) and if I continue to turn the key, the starter starts to crank, but no power to the coil/fuel pump.

Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

[porschetub]

Issue: There's no power going to the coil/fuel pump when I turn the key. (you can skip the history and jump down to the ALL CAPS and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) to see more about the issue)

History: 16 years ago, this was a running 1.7 fuel injected '73 in Bakersfield, CA. I bought it wrecked in the front end, (hood crunched a little, passenger fender dented) A friend straightened the trunk, cut off and welded a replacement fender on and we put on a replacement hood. I had it painted and new tires on it. It was my daily driver for a couple of years.

14 years ago, I got a new daily driver and this sat for a few months. Unbeknownst to me, a critter made it's home around one of the cylinders with mud and leaves. I went to drive it and the cylinder overheated and seized the engine. I bought new cylinders and took it to a friend to replace. Upon removing the engine he discovered that my block was cracked. I found a rebuilt 1.7 down in Los Angeles and bought it to replace the old engine. My mechanic friend was going to work on it in his spare time for me.

I had always had trouble with the fuel injection, so I saw this as an opportunity to remove it and replace it with carbs. So he installed the carbs and after he got the engine back in the car, he discovered his dog had eaten the wiring harness (From the relay plate to the alternator/starter) At that point, life happened... kids grew up, I worked a lot and the car sat in that condition in one of the bays in his shop for 10 years.

Three years ago, my sons are now teenagers, and I decided I wanted to finish it up and get it out of my friends way. He had kind grown resentful of it being there. I brought it home and put it on jack stands in my garage. I ordered a new wiring harness and tried to finish the car to get it started for my kids to drive. I discovered that through life I had developed a strong case of claustrophobia and it's difficult to get under the car for me. So it has sat for another three years.

So I have a new friend who rebuilds VW Bugs who is now helping me.We've gotten all the electrical hooked back up. Removed the gas tank and flushed it out. replaced all the fuel lines, and filters. And got a new battery. Which brings me to the present...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) ISSUE: WHEN WE TURN THE KEY, THERE'S NO POWER TO THE COIL OR FUEL PUMP.

Since we replaced the fuel injection with carburetors, we no longer have the ECU in the car. (in fact, I no longer have the ECU or any of the fuel injection parts anymore, they are long gone at my other friends garage) Not sure if that was a mistake, I thought I didn't need it anymore since the FI was gone.

My VW friend is not familiar enough with 914 electrical to find the issue. Could I have a bad relay? I see that there is a port for the white wires from the ECU to connect to the relay panel. Is there a part I need there in place of the ECU wiring? Is this a common issue with a carb replacement? Other electrical things work, (headlights, and whatnot) and if I continue to turn the key, the starter starts to crank, but no power to the coil/fuel pump.

Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

Wow some history right there,by all means check the pump fuse first ,then the FI and power supply relays,you can swap these for known good ones,the headlight motor ones are easy to get to.
If no luck try powering the pump direct and see if it fires up,it is not uncommon for them to stick up when not used for a while,if you get it working its a good time to check the condition of your rubber fuel lines as they don't last that long...safer too, good luck.

[pastormacman]

Wow some history right there,by all means check the pump fuse first ,then the FI and power supply relays,you can swap these for known good ones,the headlight motor ones are easy to get to.
If no luck try powering the pump direct and see if it fires up,it is not uncommon for them to stick up when not used for a while,if you get it working its a good time to check the condition of your rubber fuel lines as they don't last that long...safer too, good luck.

I've pulled and tested five different relays (two from the headlight motors) and I have three that work. I've put two of the working relays on the power supply position and the fuel pump position on the relay board. Previously, the relay on the power supply position was one of the non-functional ones. But after turning the key, still no joy.

Then I pulled the hot from the pump and touched it to the hot on the battery using a test light. The light lit up with continuity but the pump didn't run. Maybe a bad pump. Which, if I have to now get a low pressure pump for the carbs, means I need a new pump anyway.

Another thing: looking at the relay board diagram I noticed that a few of the relay posts run through the connectors to the ECU. Post 86 on the fuel pump relay runs to post III on the ECU connector. And post 85 on the fuel pump relay and post 87 on the power supply relay run to post I on the ECU connector. Is it gonna give me a problem that there is no longer anything plugged into the ECU connector?