#1(and most important) Using a rag to stop oil from leaking out of the oil bath filter is a good idea...forgetting about it and leaving it there to get sucked in is not. luckily no damage except the ego and a few hours trying to figure out wtf the car wouldnt idle correctly.

#2 a rule I came up with today: Whatever you put into a car, make sure to take the old one out. Oil, oil filter...and SPARK PLUGS!! the PO was nice enough to leave an old spark plug to rattle around beneath the engine tin.


i'll be picking up some seals tomorrow to see if i can stem some of the leaks. hopefully that was the end of the suprises.

a couple questions..since i'm still waiting for my hanyes manual, what is the correct way to set the idle for a 1.7? I know its supposed to be at ~900rpm when warm, but what needs/doesnt need to be hooked up when setting the screw. to get to the idle screw, i have to remove the air filer, but there are vacuum hoses attached to it, so do those have to stay attached?

what is the warm up process for the 914? what opens/closes and in what time frame? i'm trying to figure out what is missing because it seems like mine is not doing what is supposed to. it wants to go straight to regular idle which doest work on a cold day, so i have to make it idle more until it warms up.

I will say though, when I had my first 914 3 years ago, I don't believe I was ready (mechanically and financially) to own one, but now that i feel like i am, not only do i think the work is do-able, but also pretty fun, if not a bit frustrating at times....although what fun would it be if everything was easy the first time?!?!?

thanks everyone for the support!

We all make the dumb mistakes.

The idle should be set just like it would be every day of the year. So nothing special is unplugged and nothing should be disconnected. BUT, the car should be completely warmed up when you set the idle. It's better to have a car that stumbles when it's cold, rather than one that stumbles when it's warm.

There are only a few things that are involved in the warm up. The main one that causes issue is the auxiliary air regulator. It's mounted on the drivers side of the intake and has one hose going to the plenum (big black box in the middle) and one hose going to the intake elbow. Most people plug them off because they are hard to locate in working order.

Another warm up item is the air guide flaps. This one won't affect your idle, but it will affect how quickly or slowly your car will come up to operating temperature. On the bottom of the motor is a little spring/bellow looking item with a cable coming out one side. If, when the motor is cold, it looks completely compressed then it's working okay. If it's expanded when cold, it's shot. Again, this is not a big deal and most people don't worry about them. As I mentioned, it won't affect your idle.

Finally, your Cylinder Head Temp sensor and Intake Air Temp sensor need to be in good shape. Erroneous readings from these sensors will contribute to a rough idle.

if the air filter needs to be hooked up when i set the idle, how do i get to the idle screw since its located right below it?

still not sure how to adjust the idle with the air filter in the car...