I've put about 4000 miles on my 1.8 since I purchased & had the valves adjusted. Is it about time for another? How often do you adjust the valves on your 914-4's?

IIRC the recommended interval from Porsche is every 6k.

I think most people do it around 3k.

Every 3,000 miles without fail. That got drilled into me back in 1979 when I first got into VW maintenance and I've stuck by it. If VW or Porsche ever recommended anything else, I've never seen it. Now that I run synthetic oil I've changed the oil change interval to 6,000 miles, but the valves still get checked every 3,000 miles. There is so much that depends upon proper valve adjustment that I want to make sure they never out of adjustment.

I change my oil every 3000 miles, and check the valves every other oil change. The factory manual calls for 6000 mile valve adjusts.

--DD

6k, unless something odd happens.

b

I do exactly the same as Dave does, plus whenever it sounds like it could use a check.


M

can we now revisit the discussion about valve lash gap....

Every other AX or track event since I really don't rack up too many miles on the 914. Change the oil once in the summer and once in the spring...stuff is pretty cheap.

I set my valve lash to .004 to .005 and I am running the 911 swivel feet.

QUOTE (Bleyseng @ Jan 14 2006, 06:12 PM)

I am running the 911 swivel feet.

With 1.7 rockers???

I'm with Geoff, Hate the job but I run the piss out of my car. I keep the gaps close (snug .005 .007) also but I have tuned my ear to things that don't sound quite right.

QUOTE (Headrage @ Jan 14 2006, 06:47 PM)

QUOTE (Bleyseng @ Jan 14 2006, 06:12 PM) I am running the 911 swivel feet.  :wavey: With 1.7 rockers???

Of couse! They don't fit on the later larger 10mm rockers.

I am running SS valves and don't want any mushrooming as the swivelfeet are easier on the valve ends.


Yep Joe, I run the piss outta it when we race. We (Blair and I) both AX and share the car so it can get freakin hot running 8 runs in a short time.
It will be interesting to see how hot the oil gets now with the new Raby cam. I have seen 240+ several days of AXing which is too hot for my tastes.

I have never seen much valve stretching on this engine, but I have seen it on other aircooled motors I have had. Checking the valve lash is a pain but much cheaper than head/engine rebuilding!

I suspect Blairs Black 2.0L has a valve in the piston due to running the wrong MPS and a kid driving the piss outta it without watching his valve lash clearances. bad combo....

Chrome-moly pushrods, zero lash. Makes the adjustment EZ in the old 914!

keep a record of the before and after cleanence. If you find over a period of time that one or more valves need bigger adjustments, then make you adjustment period more frequent, if you find a steady state over a period of time, it could be argued you can extend the adjustment cycle a bit. however thimgs can still suddenly change, so i would still go no more than 4-5 k miles. I generally hit the valves at 3-4 k miles, more often on my cars that tend to have the clearnace change faster, less on cars that are more stable, but do NOT neglect it. Engine damage can result, poor perfomance etc... Let them completely go, and you can trash the motor fast.

again a record of what they are before each adjustment is a good thing to keep
It will give you a heads up if things are starting to go bad (ie time for a valve job)

good luck

QUOTE (dmenche914 @ Jan 15 2006, 09:32 AM)

keep a record of  the before and after cleanence.  If you find over a period of time that one or more valves need bigger adjustments, then make you adjustment period more frequent, if you find a steady state over a period of time, it could be argued you can extend the adjustment cycle a bit.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I hadn't thought of it that way.

Interesting oil temp observation. I only see 195 to 220 after 2 drivers barely taking enough time to change numbers, 12 runs total check tire temp and get back in line. ooutside air temp about 98 degrees black top enough to cook an egg. Then we did about 10 fun runs each.
I only get 230 on the oil temp driving home same day. about 90 MPH.