Just bought a very nice looking 914. Very clean. Got a great deal on it even with the tired smoke pouring leaking engine. Seller was very nice. Went from $1700 to $1300, he paid the license transfer and then after he saw it smoking gave me $200 back!

Though I can't complain with this deal....the engine pours out oil! I mean bad! After the first highway jaunt I looked at the engine to find out where the leak might be from and the drivers side of the engine was covered in an oil pool. Down where the intake manifold connects. There is also some other hose (maybe oil?) right beside the intake tubes.

I have worked on many v8's buy this is my first porsche. I don't know where to start. Can anybody help. Where are the most common places for these things to leak oil?

Oh...and is it just me??? Or do women really love this little car!!


P.S. The car is a '74 2.0.

Push rod tube seals for a start, oil cooler seals, valve cover gasket...and the list goes on. Congrats on the new car, they are a blast! They all leak, we prefer to think of it as marking their territory, but in your case it has a bladder problem.

Well, I can't help you locate the oil leaks, but I can welcome you to the wonderful world of 914s. Welcome to the club.

Now about your problem...
you have a problem motor, but only know about V8 engines. Sound to me like you need to talk to a fine company by the name of Renegade! Drop in a SBC and all will be fine!

So the pool of oil is above the engine tin, in the engine compartment (not on the ground)?

That's weird. You sure it's not gas?

the standard leaks that 1bad914 mentioned are either below the tin or on the other side of the engine - moto's leak (top driver's side) sounds like something else (pcv tube routing?)

post some pics of the area in question.

welcome to the board!

jbb

well I also had a severe oil leaking problem. was about a drop every 20 seconds.
I suspected the rubber gaskets between oil cooler and block (on drivers side of car same as you)
turned out the cooler was the source of the leak.
I was also told that the oil pressure sender which is also in that area can sometimes be the source of a big leak.

enough possible sources... be sure to single out the right one or check all the areas so you don't have to pull the engine too often


good luck with your new 914

greets
Jacco de Haan
Delft, the Netherlands

It is possible you engine has a shit-load of blowby and is pushing oil out the valve assembly cavity ( covered by the valve cover). The hose you are speaking of (one on each side) is the breather hose for the valve cavity. You can try plugging the one side and see if it blows out the other or check and see if the hose is actually connected.

If you pull the oil cap while the engine is running and it feels like a hurricane coming out of it - that's blowby from bad rings.

You might want to clean the breather on the top of the engine (oil fill assembly) - it could also be clogged from years of use.

Hey, I like guessing games

The hose has come off of your rocker box vent tube. Oil vapor (and if you go to high RPMs or make hard right turns, liquid oil) is spewing out of it when the engine runs. Find the hose, and hook it up. You probably need to replace it, because they usually fall off when they get old and hard and leaky.

Check the hose diagram in the 914 section of Pelican's web site. (Address for Pelican is in my sig below.)

--DD

If it is on the top of the motor, that would be the first thing I would check! Then the return tubes!!

Jeff

The oil cooler is on the passenger side of the car in the US.
So is the oil pressure sender.
Both of these leaks will go straight down to the ground and not pool on the engine tin. I think Dave has the answer with the head breather ports.

with Dave and Slits. Seen it too many times.
Just behind where the intake runners bolt to the head, there is a small 1/2"(or so) aluminum pipe sticking up from the engine sheet metal. It should have a hose attached. All that oil will run below the engine, land on the heat exchangers and smoke like hell.

yep, they are chick magnets!

HAHA

yup my bad got the front back thing screwed up
sorry bout that'
better think before I type, would agree with what's said above

but still,
good luck with the new teener

greets
Jacco de Haan

What about the dizzy? Could oil be leaking from around the dizzy shaft and flowing over to the side? Just another possibilty. Or maybe the oil pressure sender is missing? Something else to consider. I would agree that you should replace all of the vacuum lines and make sure they are all hooked up correctly first. Welcome to the club, and good luck.

isn't the diz on the passenger side?

Now that I re-read his post it does sound like the head vent tube, that's what I call it. I had problems with the oil sending unit leaking before also.

Randy

It is, and he said the oil is on the drivers side, so never mind. I guess I should read posts a little closer.

DD hit it right on the nose is my bet. Damn things get hard and crack or fall off and lots of oil will fly out of the vent tube at freeway speeds.

<_< ask me how I know.....


Geoff

Wow! Thanks for all the help guys! It sounds like I have a lot to check. I will post a pic for you all to see...

I should probably start with the rocker box vent tube. That's right where the oil is pooling on top. And it seems to happen the worst on the highway. If I just putt around really lightly at low speeds it is not near as bad.

Unfortunately while following the 914 I saw smoke coming out of both sides of the exhaust. That's in addition to the oil that is burning by dripping on the exhaust. But I can put up with some blow by. The mission now is to find that nasty leak.

Yeah the plan is to put a small block v8 in it down the road. I kind of wanted to use this engine for a couple of years for school first.

Got to love this car. Can't wait til I can get a stiffer suspension in it. I already like the feel of the midengine weight placement.

Ok...if this works right here is some pics.


I am working on it this weekend. Is it easy to get this little pipe off to replace? How far do I have to get into this? How hard is it to take these air covers off?

http://camarosales.tripod.com/camarosales/...s/enginebay.jpg

http://camarosales.tripod.com/camarosales/...ictures/914.jpg

sweet looking ride! sorry about the oil leak. that sucks.

The vent tube is the one next to intake manifold with the hose clamp on it. Unless that hose was disconnected for a while, or is very loose, its probably not the source of your leak. You are working on a late model 2.0?. Is the smog pump still hooked up?

I'm not even sure where the smog pump is?

The only hose diagram I really see at pelican parts is the fuel hose lines.

I'm going to do some checking right now.

Okay...I found the big one. It is leaking on the intake tube flange. right on top. In the pic it is where it is clean.

So I'll pull that off and go from there.

post some pictures ...

Here I'll post the link of the pic for you again.

http://camarosales.tripod.com/camarosales/...s/enginebay.jpg


I took the intake tube off and there was NO GASKET IN THERE!!! So I'll see if I can find a gasket around town here and button it up!

the link doesn't work

am i missing something? is there a reason that everyone but me can see these pics?

here's the pic

I believe I found a leak but....why would oil be coming out of the intake tube???

I am wondering if oil was leaked from somewhere else and covered the intake flange which revealed the leaky intake tube??? Is this a possibility? Am I way off here? Somebody help me.

Is it possible for oil to leak through the cover right above the intake flange there?

Could a bad valve seal leak that much through the intake?

nope. i sure looks like the hose from the oil-filler came off.

there's a hose right next to the oil-filler which is venting the crank case.
it is supposed to be attached to the air-filter so the engine can recycle the oil-vapors.
make sure that hose is connected and not cracked.

look inside the air-filter. is it full with oil-crud?

i suggest you take off all easily removeable parts from the top of the engine, give it a very good scrub with lots of brake-cleaner, put it back together, drive it around the block and see where it leaks from.

Andy

here's a pic of where the hose is attached on my car, from there it goes to the air-filter. on your car, it might be in a slightly different location, but it will always be close to the oil-filler cap.

also, give us a pic of your whole engine!

Andy

You guys are a big help! Thankyou!

I can't get the camera til tomorrow night.

But here is what I found: The air filter is full of oil crud inside. The hose from the air filter leads to the oil filler and to a couple other hoses. One of which is right to the left of the intake tubes (the black hose beside the spark plug wire on my pic). I rechecked that connection and it wasn't as secure as I thought. I gave it a good yank, with the clamp on, and it came right off. So that must be the culprit. You guys called it. Right on! Thankyou.

Now how do I stop all of that oil crud from getting in my air filter assembly?

it is supposed to go there ...

i guess it's time for a cleaning, a few new hoses and a oil-change!
Andy

Motoman, there is way too much oil to be coming from the head vent tube if the hose is connected. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the truth is, you have a serious blow by problem. This is caused by worn out rings, or, worn out cam. and worn out everything else. You already said that a lot of smoke comes out the tailpipes. Sadly, it sounds like time for a motor rebuild. I've seen this three times this year. Good news is, it's not terminal. Good luck

See where Andy's arrow is? The Oil Filler box that has the metal clamp on it, has a cork gasket to seal under it. If that is bad, it will leak a ton of oil too. There is also an o-ring gasket that goes in there. After you clean it up abit, maybe check that. Those gaskets are cheap and it's easy to fix. Would be nice if that's all it is. Good luck. That happened on my 73 and was driving me nuts as to where the oil was comming from.

the leak is not coming from the filler. All the oil seems to be below the level of the the intake runners. A leak from the filler would throw oil everywhere. Even the smog pump hose appears to clean and free of oil

you might want to turn your monitor a bit brighter ...

there's oil EVERYWHERE on top of the engine tin!!!
and i mean, on top, as in way ABOVE where the spark plugs are ...

it could very well be the gasket UNDER the oil-filler ...

86motoman, check and see if the oil-filler cap (the black thingy) is moving. it shouldn't. it's supposed to be clamped down with a metal clamp. they sometimes wear out. if it moves around you gotta need to tighten the clamp again. also make sure the cork-gasket underneath is still intakt. they do break. it'll spill oil vapors all over the place ...

Andy

Well Andy, the posted pic does not show the top of the engine tin. Just a small area behind the intake runners. I cannot definitely say the "entire top of the motor is covered with oil" when I can't see it, but you could be right about the filler anyway. The fact that the filter was "full of oily crud" would indicate a lot of blowby.