Hey guys,

After almost six months of hanging out here, from selling my old VW, to making a downpayment on a 914, my car was finally delivered last night! However, during the test drive there were some issues with the car, so I haven't made my final payment yet. Instead, I'm in the middle of a prolonged inspection period because of what popped up on the test drive. I'm fairly confident that I'll keep the car because it's virtually rust free, has nice paint and interior, and the engine seems to run and drive well.

That being said, main problems it has that need to be addressed are as follows:

1. The alternator light won't go out. I know how to trouble shoot this. The car appears to be charging regardless, so it might be a loose fuse. I can figure this one out.

2. When I drove it, the brake appears to be sticking. The front calipers were giving the seller problems and it was thought these were lubricated to where they don't stick, but apparently not. I've never rebuilt one, and I'm not thrilled about doing it, so I'll probably buy some rebuilt calipers. But I need to inspect them first.

3. Lastly, I have oil leaks. One appears to be from that plate near the drain plug. I've seen this before on VWs and it's not a big deal. However, when I went for about a 1-mile test drive, when I stopped, a bunch of smoke came forward out of the car. My initial thought is this might be oil coming off the valve cover gasket onto the manifold. But what else could it be? What are some common ("makes a lot of smoke") oil leaks on these little gems?

#2 and #3 are the items that give me a little bit of a stomach ache.

If the picture shows up, its not very good because it was in my garage late at night. I plan to pull the car out this weekend and work on it...I'll get new pix then.

Thanks in advance,

Mclovin

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Great ! Alternator max 250 $ for a new/rebuild one plus the voltage regulator. Could be a loose wire fix for 1$.
The brakes...add 1000 to the project for all new stuff to be on the safe side.
Oil leaks can be many things so more details are needed.
Hope you get the car for the price you want....but rustfree means that you have a great basis and you know what they say....buy the best one you can affort ! Good luck !
Ps nice color !

The caliper rebuild is simple if you buy the kit from PMB. They include great instructions. Nice color on the 914. Reach on top of the HE's to check for oil pooling. If the compression is good I wouldn't chunk it to the side because of oil leaks.

No alternator light means the system is not charging. Find and fix the problem.

PMB for calipers. No questions.

Smoking from under the car is almost always due to pushrod tube seals leaking, dripping down onto the exhaust manifold (AKA heat exchanger). Fix the leak, clean everything thoroughly, and then let it smoke for a while until the stuff you couldn't clean off finally burns off.

--DD

3. Likely the valve cover gaskets or push rod tube seals leaking onto the exhaust pipes. Or spilt oil from refill. Could turn into a full days work but definitely not a deal breaker.

2. Could be a couple of things, all minor. Pinched piston seal, old and swollen hose, old fluid. Won't know until you get in there.

1. Don't rule out wired wrong.

It's a really good sign if it is virtually rust free and you're able to drive it. I would get WAY down under the battery with a good light and take the rocker panel off to prove it's virtually rust free. Poke around under there is a screwdriver to ensure it's solid.

Alternator: Probably not a big deal
Brakes: For a few hundred dollars (maybe $1000ish) you can be in great shape
Oil leaks: Hmmm....let me think of a time when I've bought one of the 6 Porsche's I've owned and didn't have an oil leak...oh, never. If one of these cars has sat for a while, they will leak. If the car is driven and the seals are lubricated, they are less likely to leak.

Hmmm...I hadn't thought of pushrod tube seals. I think I remember these aren't that big of a deal to put new seals on and re-seat the pushrod tubes. Hope you are right!

Get the new Viton pushrod seals. They last much longer and less prone to leak.

Thanks for the suggestions. Tonight I verified my alternator belt is in place, so that's one item eliminated.

Now another question:

I was sitting in my car in the driver's seat, and I noticed it seemed that the steering wheel sits off-center to the right of the driver's seat by a little bit.

So I went to the internet looking for pictures, and I found some pix where the steering wheel also looks off to the right of the seat in the few pictures.

So is that normal?

Yup, welcome to 914quirkworld.

You mentioned you know how to troubleshoot the alt light. What are your procedures? Share the knowledge.

Thanks for confirming that. It's a little tight between the steering wheel and the gearshift...I might switch to a slightly smaller steering wheel and get use to the quirk. So does anyone sell slightly bent gear shifts?

Regarding the alternator, first I figure out whether the alternator is spinning by checking the belt. Then I figure out whether it's charging by checking the voltage with my multimeter. It should increase when the car is started and fluctuate with RPM. I can have a friend rev up the car, and if the voltage goes up I know that the regulator is OK. If it doesn't fluctuate, then it's either the regulator, the alternator, or there is a broken wire or fuse. I can check the fuse connection first. If those are OK, I can also check the conductivity of the wires using a multimeter with the car off. (that might require the use of another wire with an alligator clip for connections far apart). If I can't find an open circuit (infinite resistance), then I'd probably just borrow another regulator because that's easiest. If a new regulator doesn't fix it (i.e., voltage doesn't increase when the car is started and fluctuate), and I don't think I've got a bad fuse or broken wires, at the point I'd try swapping out the alternator.

Back in the day a quick test on old VWs was to just remove the battery cable when the car is running and see if it keeps running. But I don't know if that would fry something on a "late model car" like a '75 Porsche!

Thanks!

Mclovin

Steering wheel is way off center. Funny thing is all the other brand cars are offset, though half as much. The pedals are offset too... install an aftermarket seat and one starts to wonder if the stock seat is pointed inward to match

Measure the battery voltage off, should be ~12.5v. Then measure running, should be 13-14v. If there is that increase then the alt & reg are working.