hey everyone

thanks for the great info for the battery that i did end up buying. here is the back story. my car sat for about a year due to the fact it would not start. I just never got around to figuring out what the issue was (I thought it was a lot more involved that it actually ended up being) turns out it was just a dead battery.

so i replaced it yesterday, and turned the key. took two or three turns but it fired up. sounded like crap. to be expected.

it was on fumes so i putted to the gas station close by. never got the RPM's above 2000. got the gas, returned for home almost got back, then something in the engine bay broke, oil light came on, and it died. I did not want to try to start it again. pushed poor guy home, my lungs did not approve...

the "break" sounded real "tin-can" like. thought maybe it might be due to no oil but i checked it this morning and there was plenty if not a bit dirty.

anyways 2 ?'s

#1 with what little info i have provided, did i do significant damage and

#2 for all the LA/Culver City folk i need a trustworthy shop/mechanic

Raise one wheel, put it in 5th gear and see if you can turn the motor over by turning the raised wheel. This will tell if it died due to being locked up.

The oil light will come on as a result of the engine stopping due to no oil pressure. Unless you are saying the oil light came on and then after a few moments it died.

Had the same thing after a long spell of no driving -

Mine turned out to be old gas trash in the lines.

flushed / new filter / new gas / cleaned the injector screens

Don't know about the tin-can sound, though,

best of luck

were the valves adjusted correctly before driving? You said it sounded like crap which leads me to believe the valves or timing wasn't set correctly to begin with.

green light came on as it died not after - sounds like that is a good sign...

no adjustments sounded to me like the timing was off - i though it was due to old gas that had not octane left in it.

I've had the alternator belt fly off, which makes a nice noise, and it then knocked off the wires to the coil causing the engine to stop.

Maybe post a picture of the engine bay and people can see if anything looks weird?

OP - can you pull valve covers and make sure everything looks OK there (or post pics)?

Also - can you slowly rotate the engine by hand (pull the plugs first) and see if there is any binding?

If you pass both of those tests then likely in the clear.

P.S. - I just moved (with my 75) to the Westwood area. Would love to meet up sometime and see if I can offer any help. I'm out of town for the next week and a half but would otherwise happily offer to come take a look.

-Cole

Don’t dig.
Alternator belt sounds right.
Jacking it up in 5th and turning one wheel will let you know if it’s internal.
Pulling all the spark plugs and using the starter to turn it over will be second.

hey Cole
you rock - let me know your schedule and maybe your can stop by and we can suss out how bad the damage is. PM me and we can make an arrangement from there - and lunch is on me.

-jp-

ok I will take some pics this weekend and see i that reveals anything, ill do the valve covers as well - i guess those are accessible from underneath correct???

Dang it, sorry this happened. Trailer or tow it to the El Segundo event Sunday, there will be some pretty smart 914 people there.

Just a thought.

#2 for all the LA/Culver City folk i need a trustworthy shop/mechanic
[/quote]



But sounds like you should have know better then starting it up in the 1st place .

Hey John Pierre - I closed up my shop a few years ago, but I'm still in So Cal part-time. I'm gonna try to make it up to the Automotive Museum event in El Segundo on Sunday morning ... maybe a few guys can shoot up to your place to take a look at the issue you're facing?

That would be great I’ll pm you my cell

Highjack, I sure miss Johnnie's for pastramis...

The 'tin can' sound could have been pinging. If the fuel lines are kinked or clogged they would reduce fuel flow, making the mixture lean. That could ping and then die.

Was it the green or red light that came on?
Green = alternator. Probably the belt broke.
Red = oil pressure. Something more serious but can't tell from just the sound description.

green

hey everyone

regardless of what i did or if i can get some help - i still need to get a good trustworthy mechanic or shop. has any that lives here in LA heard of a place called Mistress in Silverlake?

I do some work around the sunset/hyperion area and this shop always has some amazing looking porsches in it - i even think i saw a singer like 911 in it. I stopped by and got a good vibe from the guys the were there.

was there about a month ago, the best.... ;-)

I'll see you next w/e JP.

Try Precision Tech.

Alex Wong is the owner, he's a great guy, you can tell him I (Sean Lee) sent you. I first met Alex in 98 or 99 when he started working on my cars. I still drop in to say hi when I'm on the west side.

He's not in Culver City, but not too far at all. He's on Washington across from Costco and In-N-Out.

Others here have used him before. And no one will tell you but he did a lot of the mechanical work for Wayne on his 911 projects book.

Here's a screen grab of his location info.
Click to view attachment

coolio