It was a lovely day today in Rockville MD., so I took advantage of the situation & decided to get some work done on the 6, as well as explore her little better. The only surprise was a good one... no additional rust discovered & I have a "K&H dialable" brake proportioning valve installed. The PO told me it was time for an oil change & I had scored a genuine owners manual for the 6 on eBay & had been reading. Nine & a half quarts every 3k mi. & the tranny every 6k mi.? I wanted a fresh start so I did both. The engine took me 10.5 quarts... I don't have a 2.0 I have a 2.7... I hope that's normal. Changed the filter & cleaned out the strainer... all looked clean or no debris. Bottom of the engine looked dirty though, I think I'm leaking from the strainer & the oil cooler... I will be investigating. I ploped a full 3 into the tranny & got the plug in while it was still gushing out. While I was down there I decided to install a rear sway bar. When I purchased the car I noticed it used to have a rear sway bar but it had been removed for some reason. This made installation a snap. Hardest thing to do was take off the muffler... it is big & somewhat heavy. Tomorrow I clean out the air filters, lube my linkages & am going to check the plugs to see how they are. After that... . I find myself enjoying working on her a little too much & really need to drive instead !

914 owners are divided on the need for a rear sway bar......

As to the oil....."I" always put in 9 quarts then let the engine get to temp and the thermostat is open and then check the dipstick WHILE RUNNING and on a level surface. Fill until just below 1/2 mark.

you did check the oil level while running and on a level surface right?

stock tank?

Yes, level surface, poured in 9, stock tank, fired her up, let her warm up 10 minutes, however I then did as the manual said & shut it off & checked it. Took another 1.5 qt. to get it up to the fill line.

needs to be running for a proper oil level check

I guess I'll just check again, while running, tomorrow. Does anyone make a decent aftermarket oil filter? Stock one cost me $17.00.

Make sure you check the oil level with the car at regular operating temps. It should read halfway between the add and full marks.

.

There are maybe three "decent" oil filters you should trust. Pay for the stock one. You can find it cheaper...

Warm and running... I know what your thinking but that isn't what I said... If you overfill you will be making a mess soon. Everyone does it.

I've always found it difficult to check the oil while the car is running. I usually just do it while it's in the garage. It's too hard to steer and pull out the the damn dipstick at the same time.

It's actually quite simple... passenger reaches over to steer & give gas while you pop the engine lid, crawl out the window & reach around for the stick. Have to be careful at speeds in excess of 50 mph. Hard to get a true reading at that speed with all the little drops of oil flying off the dipstick into the wind... .

Johny,

Are you going to the Hershey, PA swap meet? Every year there is a guy who sells Mahle oil filters for $7.00 to $8.00 a piece. I usually pick up my year supply than. If you can wait Hershey is only a month away.

Steve

I've never been, am trying very hard to go this year & that's good to know, thanks. I use K&N oil filters on the 4 & was shocked, yet not surprised, that there are none for the six. In reading everyone's replies to my simple oil change I think I discovered why I overfilled my engine... the dip stick. The stick on the 6 rests inside the mouth of the oil tank. It's made from one piece of metal that was looped over on one end to make a finger hold. Where the rod ends, after the loop & back onto it'self, it gets hung up on the rim of the retaining tube where it lives. I squeezed it together & shoved it all the way into the tube & voila... I'm 1/2qt over. Oh well, it's not like she's not messy already w/ leaks from the strainer & stock cooler. Another thing I realized is how much room I have to work on the engine down there. While lying under the car & looking up I realized why there is so much room... headers. So there I was last January, driving the car & freezing my a** off dreaming about Patrick Motorsports complete SS exhaust system for the six. When I say dreaming I mean $2500.00 + shipping. Yesterday I realized that if I put the heat back in I loose all that wonderful, lightweight working room. Crap!

I have a cosmetically challenged set of 914/6 heat exchangers....lemme know.

Here is a replacement filter cost is only about $80

Rob- you're right!!

Well I went in & fired her up... I hate cliche's; "once you go six you can't go back" . I took a photo of the culprits that can lead to false readings; see below. That 1st one gets hung up onto the tube every time. Anyway, like a true Dumb A** I checked while stone cold & sure enough it looked to be about 1/2 a qt. high. So I rolled her out into the sunlight & let her warm up. While warming up I took advantage of the weather, the warm dry & level parking lot & adjusted the new rear sway bar while she was on all 4's. Not so "Dumass" .
I ran her today & let's just say I think I know how Vader felt the 1st time in his little black Tie fighter . The power & handling were phenomenal. Back end was noticeably tight... I like it. Got home & let her idle on level ground & the reading was perfect... right on the line ?

That's not the line, that's the handle. The bump you see to the left of the image is overfull, so you're REALLY overfill. There should be 2 lines stamped into the dipstick, and the fully warmed up oil level should be somewhere below the upper line, maybe half way. The Cap'n

I'm aware that those are not the line. Those aspects of the handle or loop I highlighted get hung up in the mouth of the measuring tube, inside the filler neck. I have to make sure those go all the way into the tube to get an accurate reading.

I have always used the lower "hook" over the tube as a stop. Gives me a consistent reading since I always have the stick at the same point each time. Checked with the engine hot and at idle.

Muuusssssssst resist .... muuussst resist ....

Oh hell ....

You have to have an engine in your car first!

Considering the list price is around 13 bucks, I'd look for another source ...............

The Cap'n