Hi all

I just changed the oil and filter in my 71 914 and everything went well (used swpeco 306). I drove it a few times after the change and it sounded good and drove great.

After a few days of not driving it I checked the oil and the dipstick was barely a quarter of an inch wet. I put in a quart and it was up to the lower line. I drove it for 15 minutes and then again it was down to a quarter inch.

The car leaves small drips when sitting.

What is going on? Is it burning oil? Is it leaking only when driving? Is my dipstick unreliable? If it were leaking/burning that much wouldn't I hear/smell/see evidence of a problem? The engine block is clean. The oil pressure light has never lit up (although I don't know if it works).

Have you seen this with your cars? Let me know if you want pics of specific parts to help diagnose this problem.

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.

i know a mechanical person will follow up on this. The old joke is get a longer dip stick. These motors never use synthetic. Many threads on oil and zinc in old dinosaur is necessary. This might be one of the problems.
the old fashion way is proper oil complete refill with filter and measure exactly what goes in. Then see what the stick shows.

Sorry for the nube question- is swepco synthetic?

And can someone point my to the oil recommendation thread? When I search I can't see to find anything.

Just use some cheap 20/50 for the time being (you will be emptying it anyway) with whatever cheap filter you want. Put the 3.5-3.7 quarts in it. Check the stick. Drive it like you did before, check the stick, then measure how much comes out.

I like synthetic in mine but we are all different...

You don't have the auto stick right? I see it in the manuals but I have never seen one listed on here before.

Yes 71 4 speed manual 1.7 d jet fi irish green

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What is the consensus on this oil?

It's available at Walmart and it's cheap.

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Wait, yes on the auto stick? Because I believe the engine and transmission share the same oil. I need to dig in my books to be sure.

The torque converter uses the engine oil. Let me see what that means for quantities....

Wow, can't find anything more in clymers or Chilton's but if the torque converter is slurping up the extra oil that would explain it.

Found something on the sportomatic in a 911 adding 2.3 liters to the normal engine requirements.

I do not have the autostick

I only have my .02, but I have been using Castrol 20w-50 on all of my air cooled sporting cars for close to 50 years, and never had a failure. It's probably safe to say the formulation has changed over the years, but it works well for me. Back in the 70's I tried Mobil 1, but it seemed to run through the engine like water. I switched back to Castrol and haven't looked back. I use a 3,000 mile oil change cycle on all my vehicles.

BTW: your example looks great in Irish green, is the engine high mileage?

But you said it was a 4 speed?

used this oil for decades,really seems to suit air cooled engines well,when I had my bus in Australia I used it and it was great even on the really hot summer days in Western Australia ...gets bloody hot there trust me.
I seem to remember they came out with GTX 2 and the original was superseded in my country and didn't seem the same ,I now use an Australian formulated oil called Penrite full zinc which I run in my 911 motor and water cooled VW's,very good but not real cheap @ 75nzd for 5 litres .
Change out the oil and check your gearshift knob it will show 5 forward gears ,good luck.

@porschetub - am running the penrite too. its good stuff.

Going through something like this now. Drinks oil, 20/50 high zinc, smoke on decel going down a hill and blow by at the cranckcase. Leak down numbers are bad, rings are probably shot. I need to open the filter and look for metal. It's either a top end refresh or a full rebuild depending what I find. Good luck.

sorry- yes it is a *5* speed manual. Thanks for all the help.

Mileage is TMU. It runs great though.

When are u checking the oil? Engine should be cool or at least at rest for 30 mins.

I think the main thing with oils is to make sure it has ZDDP. The fact is that most of us change oil annually or at least ahead of schedule, so longevity isn’t as much of an issue. I like the driven 50 wt.

Swepco 306 is high zinc, I have been using it in 911/814 for years.

Jim

Swepco is a dino oil.

nice looking car, bring it to Okteenerfest!.

1. use dino oil, 2050 high zppd, so castrol would be fine, i use Valvoline 20/50 non-synthetic,
2. you can do compression test and leak down, but its probably burning some oil as rings are probably worn, but they all use some oil, not unusual, but shouldnt be 1 quart for 100 miles., so you probably n the future should do the upper end, or atlease rings, oculd do a full valve job while heads are off, and also can inspect the cam and lifter wear.

Driven, also great too, all formulated for flat tappet motors.

Phil

As said, there's probably 100+ threads on 914World alone discussing oil types and weights. I've had good luck over the years with Delo 400 (15-40W). Works well in the mild PNW climate.