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Posted by: JawjaPorsche Jul 6 2015, 01:53 PM

I was reading Road and Track 914 Owner survey from 1972. They surveyed 228 owners (1970-72) and it was interesting to see problem areas that we thought only happen after years of use:

Vapor Lock or fuel pump failure
Speedometer and Fuel Gauge Failure
Glue lost its effectiveness and dash, door panels, and roof headliners peel off.
Clutch cable breaking
Fuel lines breaking
Vague shifting
Starter failure or solenoid would not work while hot
Roof squeaking


Interesting 89% said they would buy another!

Posted by: RobW Jul 6 2015, 02:07 PM

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: ripper911 Jul 6 2015, 02:14 PM

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: JawjaPorsche Jul 6 2015, 02:28 PM

Awesome! Thanks for compliment!

Posted by: Tom_T Jul 6 2015, 02:37 PM

....and rust!

But I think that one was coming up in their later follow on +/- 1976 owners survey.

It's also interesting that Porsche had instituted "fixes" for the following complaints that you listed above in the subsequent post-70-72 MYs -

Vapor Lock or fuel pump failure <-- service bulletins to relocate FP to front, below fuel tank & up behind steering rack/cover, & production 914s 75-76 moved up front at factory.

Speedometer and Fuel Gauge Failure <-- 150 mph Speedo from 911/914-6 for 73>, which didn't go bad at the odometer on mine until 150k+

Clutch cable breaking < service bulletins to check transaxle ground strap & clean corrosion if needed (bad grounding goes thru clutch cable instead & fries them)

Vague shifting <-- tweaked the tail shifter for 72 MY, & new 901 side shifter 73>

Starter failure or solenoid would not work while hot <-- multiple starter p/n superceeds, but never really fixed it!

Roof squeaking <-- new & better targa roof seals & design, along with the new windows/regulators for 72>

... and my rust noted from later owners survey above <-- well, they never fixed it on 914s, but all other 76 MY Porsche models were hot dipped in zinc thereafter!

Thanx for sharing jawja!
Tom
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Posted by: JawjaPorsche Jul 6 2015, 02:43 PM

Wow! I did not know: check transaxle ground strap & clean corrosion if needed (bad grounding goes thru clutch cable instead & fries them)

Learned something today!

I think they got better glue in 1973 because the dash vinyl didn't come off like the earlier models.

Thanks for all the info, Tom!

Posted by: Tom_T Jul 6 2015, 02:56 PM

.... but I wasn't for sure that they did upgrade the adhesives, so didn't put it down.

It's nice to know that they listened to owners sometimes, even back then!

Cheers!
Tom
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Posted by: SKL1 Jul 6 2015, 11:21 PM

I could have been one of the responding... ouch!!