Steve's unending Progress thread, Air compressor setup recommendations Options

[stephenaki]

last picture.

[stephenaki]

Obviously, or at least in my mind, the oil screen cover area is leaking; easy fix. I think the shift mechanism towards the back may need some re-sealing as well.

The harder nut to crack is where the oil is coming from on the cylinder head. I know it isn't the push tubes, maybe the gasket isn't sealing right and letting some oil through?

I'll let the car cool down and then do some maintenance on what I think are obvious areas of leakage. Hopefully I can load up the video and post the link here soon.

[stephenaki]

Well, finally got the video uploaded; whether it helps or not I am not sure. Those of you who have way more experience and training than I may be able to pinpoint the suspected areas that are leaking.

Oil Leak vid

Not sure it will help much, kinda crappy, es tut mir leid.

[stephenaki]

Well, I took the teener to the autocraft shop yesterday and lo and behold...they have a power bleeder! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) Talk about making it a lot easier! So, after bleeding, world of difference! No more sponginess. Still got oil though and I am pretty sure I know where it is coming from transmission wise.

This morning I tackled the emergency brake. Got the passenger side to work however, a caliper rebuild is in my future. I won't go into detail but Eric Shea's write up was quite helpful. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

So here is the plan; I parked it in front of the inspection station. First thing Monday morning I will have her checked and hopefully pass. Since she doesn't really start to spit oil until she is nice and warm there should be no issues. Once it passes and I get it re-registered, I will bring her home and drop the motor...again.

From there I plan to completely tear her down and see if I can find where the oil is coming from. Then, clean everything up and re-assemble. I will have to replace some of the transmission gaskets so will do that as well. I don't plan on rebuilding the trans as it has caused me no problems. I want to make sure that their is not a single leak ANYWHERE in this car!!!

On another note, the engine lid bracket will have to get replaced as it is cracked, had it welded today but it didn't hold. Will work on that while I have the motor out. Also took the time to trace the wire from the electronic trunk release to find out why she wasn't working. Well, when you run a wire to ground and another wire just to the switch, you're kinda missing that important element known as...ELECTRICAL POWER! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) No, I didn't put it together; I'll work on that as well.

Finally, I was wondering why the defroster got no air, thought maybe the blower was bad. Still don't know if this is the case but, if there is a big hole where the air goes and then a hose that isn't connected to anything it kinda defeats the purpose of having heat exchangers. Yep (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) gonna fix that as well. I love this car...really I do! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif)

Of course, I will get everything torn down but will then have to wait until September to work on putting it back together since I'll be in Africa the entire month of August. Oh well, it is what it is. Wish me luck on Monday!

[stephenaki]

WOOHOO!! Passed inspection this morning! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) Of course, it helps that I know the guy fairly well and help him add to his military patch collection (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

So, the car is back in the garage, time to drop the motor and tear her back down again. Quick question; I read through Eric's brake rebuild thread and I have rebuilt brakes before however, the parts that I really need are not in the kit.

The outside adjuster screw and clip along with the inside screw in metal cap thingy are what I need for the rear brakes. How do I or can I get these parts? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

Push come to shove, I'll send em off to Eric but I would prefer to do the job myself, you don't learn by having someone else do it. Anyone?

[stephenaki]

And it begins...again. Phase one of operation, 'find the F@#$%^@ oil leak' has commenced.

Looks purty don't she? Too bad it won't stay that way.


Hey look! I got my ass in the air! WOOHOO!


Phase one done, tear down starts next.


Couple of things that occurred during the drop. 3 exhaust studs came out, not stripped just unscrewed on me and the inside nut that holds the gear shift rod support bracket was stripped. I fiddled with it for an hour before I could get the actual bolt to unscrew out of the transmission. Guess I gotta fix that one.

Other than it being hot as hell here in Germany, we went from cold to damn near a heat wave (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blowtorch.gif) It was fairly uneventful. I am unfortunately getting good at this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

I'll start initial tear down tomorrow and start trying to see if I can find out where the oil has been coming from. Unfortunately, I probably wont' start re-assembly until September as it looks like I'll be spending a month in Africa starting the end of July. Oh well, things happen, no sense getting uptight about it. I'm in no rush, want to make sure I find the problem and fix it once and for all. Wish me luck. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[stephenaki]

Well, things haven't progressed much on my end (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) , have had a slew of other things to work on that have precluded me from doing anything on the motor.

I've also been in a battle with Christoph over money. Long story short, the German equivalent of the IRS audited his books and caught a discrepancy. He is now saying I still owe him about 2000 Euros. I have been going round and round with him and I am hoping that this last set of emails has resolved the issue. He stated that the 2000 Euros is for work done from July to December of 2009. Uhh, I picked the car up on 17 July and it has never been back to his shop! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

I have the last invoice he sent me which was for all the work done up to the point I got the car back and I began checking numbers. He needs to fire his accountant! Not sure what he uses to to track his work expenses but what he billed me and what is actually reflected on the invoice don't match. I am thinking his people made a serious clerical error somewhere but I know I don't owe him any more money! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hissyfit.gif) Hopefully I can resolve this soon as I take off for Africa for a month here shortly. I can never seem to catch a break with this car (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[Bleyseng]

look for a oil leak on top of the engine as when it is blown out both bottom sides the fan is sucking oil on top usually and blowing it across the cylinders down across the pushrod tubes. Could be the oil filler tower gasket, the oil pressure sender...when you pull it apart look inside to see if its oily wet behind the fan housing on the case.

[stephenaki]

look for a oil leak on top of the engine as when it is blown out both bottom sides the fan is sucking oil on top usually and blowing it across the cylinders down across the pushrod tubes. Could be the oil filler tower gasket, the oil pressure sender...when you pull it apart look inside to see if its oily wet behind the fan housing on the case.

Thanks, will check that as I start the tear down.

[hcdmueller]

Don't feel bad about not having time to get the work done. I am sitting in Afghanistan again and my engine is still apart in my basement. I have put it together twice and had to tear it down to fix problems that I caused during assembly. Hopefully next year is the year for touring the EU in my 914. Do you still need the Historic plates for yours? I will send you an email when I get back about the inspection stuff.

Chris

[stephenaki]

Don't feel bad about not having time to get the work done. I am sitting in Afghanistan again and my engine is still apart in my basement. I have put it together twice and had to tear it down to fix problems that I caused during assembly. Hopefully next year is the year for touring the EU in my 914. Do you still need the Historic plates for yours? I will send you an email when I get back about the inspection stuff.

Chris

Hey Chris, I did get the historic plate so I am good to go, let me know when you're ready and I'll shoot you the info on the process, fairly straight forward.

[stephenaki]

Well, after a slew of other things and finally getting in all the parts save one which I will get locally, I am hoping to start the motor tear down this weekend.

The money issue with Christoph got resolved as the guys doing the book keeping were not using the correct numbers. Long story but I did quite a bit of numbers crunching and historical research on past documents and pointed out the mistakes they made.

So, the bike is back up and running, the ABS sensor on the van is fixed and I don't have any more trips to Africa until December. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) Time to get started...again! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

The goal is to get the whole thing done before the end of October. Whether that happens or not we will see but I want it up and running so I can pull the wheels off the bike as I intend to get them powder coated black this winter. Tired of @#$%^ with the chrome! Only chrome I want is on the air cleaners and the auxiliary lights! Thinking of wrapping the exhaust is some special cloth or getting them powder coated as well.

[stephenaki]

Ok, after spending the morning making a castle out of cardboard and toilet paper roll tubes I finally got around to tearing the motor down. After separating the trans from the motor I pulled the clutch and flywheel and got quite a bit of oil, see picture.


So, is this normal or excessive? I had some oil leakage coming out of the area where the tranny and motor mated so I am of the thought that this is one of the oil leaks.

The oil cooler had not oil residue where the rubber gaskets were mounted so that is not the issue on the front. I will hopefully get around to breaking the motor down the rest of the way tomorrow. Hopefully I will find where the leak is from the front when I do this.

[stephenaki]

OK, so remember the plan I had to get the motor done by the end of October? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif) Yeah....about that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

So, after a trip to San Antonio to deal with an ailing father, I am back in Germany and getting ready to tackle the motor rebuild again. Before I left I had completed cleaning most of the case up and had re-sealed and assembled the case.

I need to finish some final cleaning on the #1 cylinder area of the case before I call that complete. Once that is done I will move to the cleaning of the cylinders and pistons then installment of front and rear seals as well as re-checking end-play.

I am hoping that I can get the motor finished up and re-assembled during the long Thanksgiving weekend. I still need to tackle the transmission though so getting the car on the road will take a bit. Guess I'm riding the bike in the cold again this winter! Good think I got new rubber, brake pads and a new clutch put in!

Now, I need to re-do the mounting brackets for the engine lid as the driver's side L-bracket is cracked. I am thinking the best bet remove both old brackets and put in two new ones, preferably ones I bolt in. Anyone have any recommendations?

I also need to re-install new heater cable wires and check that the existing blower is actually working. It seems that I am never done with this thing but then I'm preaching to the choir on this forum. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) Let the madness continue! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif)

[SGB]

Good to know you are still at it.

Um, cycling is good for you anyway....
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[stephenaki]

Good to know you are still at it.

Um, cycling is good for you anyway....
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

cycling? Are you on crack?! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif) Unless it's got a motor, I ain't interested! I gotta friggin run in the cold as it is cause the Army says I have too, I ain't gonna cycle to work!!!

I did run into a slight problem this evening, finished cleaning the last cylinder area and started to re-install the oil strainer, oil drain plug and oil sump plate. Well, the friggin oil sump plate nuts stripped out the hole in the case...dangit! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Such is my luck. Anyone replace those with studs instead of re-tapping the dang things?

[RJMII]

Did you get the stripped holes issue figured out? How's your project coming along?

[stephenaki]

Did you get the stripped holes issue figured out? How's your project coming along?

Jim,
I have a timesert kit on order, yeah, it may be overkill but I don't want to have to do it again. I did read on the forum where it was advised against using studs so I decided not to go that route. Until the kit comes in I'll just focus on cleaning up the heads, cylinders and pistons in preparation for re-assembly.

I do need to order the crush washer's for the oil strainer cap and drain plug though. Maybe I'll order a dozen or so, that way I'll have them when I change the oil.

For a car that was supposed to spare me the hassle of riding in the cold, rain and sometimes snow here in Germany, it hasn't helped much. On the other hand, I have learned quite a bit from this project so I won't really complain, I'll leave that to the wife! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I'm sooo gonna have to let her buy a nice BMW sedan before we leave Germany (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[AndyB]

You need to do an RFO for sunny warm FT. Drum. You would have so much time on your hands. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[stephenaki]

You need to do an RFO for sunny warm FT. Drum. You would have so much time on your hands. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

OH, you mean the place where you get issued a snow blower with your on-post housing? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) Yeah, that ain't happenin! My buddy tried to pull me along with him but I think I will stay away from Watertown for as long as I can avoid it!

Lived in Buffalo for a couple of years, no desire to go back to NY; just not the state for me.