I just repaired my door handel mechinism. My hands are covered in red grease, and black grease. Its a simple job, but it took me an hour or so.

Thats not the point though, I've been driving my new toy to work since my daily driver (saab) cant hold a charge and my mechanic is of course on holiday. Driving the 914 more and more I realize jeez, theres a lot I need to have fixed, or looked at...

First of all, new oil and filter. What is a good recommendation? There is a bottle of 10W30 already from the seller, so I'm assuming I'll stick with that. What kind of filter? I cant get to the filter without a jack I assume, since I cant find it, and my Haynes book says its around the underside.

What does it mean when shifting into 2nd gear too soon makes the engine rattle? Same thing can happen in 3rd sometimes.
(I'm assuming this is because something on the engine is loose)

What does it mean when 1st gear almost always grinds when starting from a stand still after warming up? The only way I can avoid this it seems, is to shift into 1st before the car rev's to an idle speed.
(I'm assuming this is the synchromesh dieing)

Turning on the heater to full heat makes the cabin smell like its on fire! Does this mean the heater box is causing some kind electrical fire? Fan works, and pushing all the sliders to about half way doesnt heat up or cause the smell.

I think thats all I got for now. ANY help would be appreciated!

OH and can anyone recommend a 914 mechanic in the East Bay San Francisco area? I'm just on the other side of the Caldicott tunnel.

The engine is a 74 1.8 FI but the tranny is pre-73 linkage (its a hybrid really)

Again, thanks for any help at all!

oil: 10W-30's a little thin, especially for where you live, but not horrible especially if no extended high-speed runs or track time is involved. use quality oil, something not Castrol or Pennzoil. Valvoline is widely available. i use Mobil-1 15W-50 but you may not be up for a synthetic changeover until you get more familiar with your engine.

filters - again - use quality, Mann, Knecht, Mahle, Purolator. NOT Fram. yes, it's underneath, kinda front-center.

how do you shift into 2nd "too soon" ? anyway - it sounds like wonky engine and/or transmission mounts. pretty common on cars with a lot of years on 'em...

1st gear grinds are age wear, but it's made worse by improper clutch adjustment; check that first. it's documented in your Haynes, and the procedure is non-intuitive. it is, however, correct.

probably the heat smell is your heat exhancgers have filled with oil leakage through the years - check your valve cover gaskets and pushrod tube seals. welcome to the joys of an aircooled car ...

Oil Fliter Mahle OC-61, Oil Wt 20-50 I use Valvo Mounts are probaley bad, Shift bushing are probaley worn also.Steve

If you want your engine to last a long time use Mobil 1 and Mann or Mahle filters. You can change the oil without a jack if the car hasn't been lowered. But you have to know where everything is. The oil filter is on the passengers side just behind the mount bar. If your filter wasn't put on by some meat-head gorilla mechanic you should be able to twist it off by hand (hard but do-able) otherwise get a spider filter wrench (the kind with three arms that open and close to accommodate different size filters.

Engine rattling (if I understand what you're describing) could be engine mounts or could be oil leaking from the rear main seal and causing the clutch to slip. If you can start from first okay, then it's not the rear main.

The crunching going into first is probably a bad sychro. Start looking for another gear box. Check with EASY.

You can take out the heater blower pretty easy and take it apart. It sounds like you're mechanically inclined enough to do it. Exhaust leaks can cause Carbon Monoxide to leak into the heater air stream and can be dangerous. Be careful.

I know of a good 914 specialty shop in Novoto.

Thanks guys!

What rpm do you shift out of 1st @?


M

Stop. Dont drive it. The engine rattle you are hearing is detonation. You need to check the timing. Basically you said: "if I short shift to second" this loads the motor pretty good... which tells me it is detonationg under load.

You will burn a cylinder head up if the timing is not set correctly.


B

Listen to Brad.

I was worried.


M

Thanks Brad. I'll keep off the car until I drive it to a shop. Speaking of which, I'll probably be calling your shop soon!

That is fine.. in the mean time run some octane booster or 91 octane gas and see if it helps.

I have had 3 different cars get gas from 76 stations and have detonation problems.


B

Yes, its when I short shift. So if this is what you think it is, then its all the gas from 76? I made sure to use the highest octane stuff they had at the stations. =(
Will it have less of a damaging effect in cold weather?


Also, does this look fixable? Or would it be easier to just put a new one on? The light still works, but insurance wants the lense to be replaced.
http://vectorbug.com/914/LFquarter.jpg

Again, thanks for the replies, I feel kind of lame that this is my first thread and I'm just mooching for advice.

We/my body guy can fix it. His/our rates are acceptable and below the Bay area average of 75$ an hour for body work.

We also have the used turn signal pods for 20$ or so....

I think all 76 gas sucks right now... winter fuel.


B

I agree with Brad.

First and foremost, find someone who KNOWS the Type IV engine, and don't spare a dime in going over the entire creature!

Fix what needs to be fixed, before you scatter something! Its all about tuning!

grayson,

Don't fret to much about mooching advice here. We want 914's on the road. After a bit, you'll no doubt get a chance to contribute!

kim.

Great. Looks like octane boost and a half a tank of non-76 gas seemed to "do the trick". Never-the-less it looks like I'll be making my way to all914 in a couple weeks.

Now its time to watch the original Italian Job.

Do you own a copy of the movie? Or is it on TV?

I just watched that a few days ago.....Better than the new one!

Yep, take the car to Brad and drop a few coins. I talk to alot of guys about engines, but Brad is by far one of the most knowledgeable of the TIV creature! Thats why HE is MY representative for the west coast!

Wait until we have a NorCal 914 club day when we go out to several JunkYards and BUY all of their T4 engines (for your use). We will send out "scoping" parties the weekend before and make a plan of attack with a open car trailer and my crew cab... should be fun.

B

Damn, I have a buddy that sometimes comes back from Cali with an almost empty 53' trailer!

Lets plan that!

We could actually cross breed with STF and have some of the VW guy's help us locate engines.. maybe give a small discount on future RAT engine purchases for those who participate. Just a thought.


B

Okay, two of you have mentioned using synthetic oil I thought I was the only one who liked the stuff in an air-cooled engine

why would you think this ?

the only issue is that most of these air-cooled engines are -old- engines, many with unknown service histories (and oil leaks). synthetic can be a very efficient leak-finder...

most of the T-IV's found in 914's are low-compression, low-revving engines used on the street. in this kind of service, especially if you're changing the oil every 3,000 mi anyway, it's hard to justify the additional expense. the 911E is a 9.1 compression engine i turn to 6500 rpm with some regularity.

i was planning semi-annual oil changes but i just did it a 4th time since June. (and on not very many miles.)
9 quarts of Mobil-1 and a filter - the cost adds up... i do plan to keep this oil in there for a while tho ...

ALL I use in my personal engines.......is synthetic oils!

Royal Purple and Valvoline all the way. Mobil 1 is for 911s, not TIVs. Tried it, dynoed it.

What, like this?!!!

Uh, I think I have an erection.............

I have 300 engines, but its not enough!

My 2002 Dodge pickup started rattling when I step on it, ever since the switch to winter ethanol gas at the pumps a week or so ago. The computer figures it out after a half second though and it stops rattling. Too bad the d-jet doesn't compensate for sh$t gas.

Because many people I talk with about synthetic in an air-cooled engine (let me specify...VW air-cooled engine) look at me like I attempted to fornicate with a goat in front of them. "They" say the engine will over-heat and leak like crazy blah blah blah. I have had neither problem and am a strong advocate of pure synthetic oil I've done my required reading However, I will tell ANYONE that if they stick to the standard oil change interval w/synthetic they are wasting their time and money. I double to triple the oil change interval. The filter, however, should still be changed per the manufacturer's recommendation. Like I said, I did my synthetic oil research.

I have went over 10K miles in my 912E with the same oil (Royal Purple 20/50) I don't change it till I see it start to smoke between shifts. that means its gassed out and broken down.

I have been using synthetic in one Bus engine for 45K, went 2 solid years without an oil change. Just swap filters every 1500 miles.