I consider myself somewhat mechanially inclined, but I'm not quite sure what I'm getting into.

The story: My son drives his 1.7 over the pass to Redmond (about 150 miles), car has been runnign great, goes to leave last sunday, gets some gass on the way out. About 4 miles down the road car starts loosing power, sounds like it's not running on all cylinders.

I had my father inlaw drive it over to a local shop that knows little about 914s, and have been told that the engine needs to be rebuilt. I have yet to talk to the shop, but this is the story I've gotten second hand, I'll be calling tomorrow.

My thinking
As it's not smooking, and it's not banging around like a valve dropped, is that it's down to air, fuel or spark

Air- don't think this is an issue as it runs partially

Fuel - could be an injector problem, but my son did mention that it backfires like ther was unburnt fuel in the exhaust, so I'm thinking it's probably spark.

Spark- I was hoping that it was a plug wire grounding out and that the shop would check it, simple fix. It still may be that, or a plug that has broken.

I plan to start the car and pull plug wires until there is no change when I remove one, If it's not the wire (I'm going to replace all) the pull plugs and replace.

This is a stock 1.7, are there any other things I should be on the look out for?

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

What's their reason behind saying it needs a full rebuild? Definitely go over the simple stuff you just mentioned, better off do it yourself before a shop even looks at it, those labor hours stack up fast.

Where is it? Is it in Redmond WA?

It's in Redmond Oregon. I plan to talk to the shop in the morning. Either way I'm making the trip. I was hoping to fly over and fix it, but I may just drive over and take a tow dolly. If I do that, It'll probably be just a plug wire.

Clogged fuel filter? It might allow enough fuel past it to run at idle or low speeds, but not enough for higher speeds.

Skip

Thanks, I'll bring a spare and change it out.

I think you're on the right track with the plugs and wires, but I wouldn't just siccinctly replace them.... unless they just need to be replaced anyways, look at them and see if they look okay first Also, when you do a cylinder balance test, do it by pulling the injector plugs instead of the plug wires so you don't jolt yourself.... Yes, it WILL shock you through the insulation if you're grounded; ask me how I know.
Once you find out which cylinder(s) are your problem, you can further narrow it down by putting a timing light on each plug wire individually and seeing if it flashes. If it does, you have spark. If not, you don't, and you should probably look at fuel delivery. If you don't have a timing light, you can unplug the injectors and have them shoot into a coffee can while someone cranks the engine to see if they're firing on your problem cylinder(s). If they are, then it's an ignition problem.
From my personal experience, I have an idea of what this may be, but do your cylinder balance test first. If you have two dead cylinders and the same side, then check the ground terminal on the block. (Three prong ground connection bolted to the block inside cylinder 3 and under the #3 intake runner. Pain in the ass spot) Two of these ground connections are for each bank of injectors, and sometimes the ground wires shake lose; ask me how I know. If that's NOT the problem but you have one whole bank out, I would look at the injector points in the bottom of the distributor. Make sure they're clean and the wires to the connector are solid.
That's about all I can say without more info. Did this happen suddenly, or was it a gradual decline in power? What year is your teener? Are you running the same grade of gas as before? I would say that this is absolutely not a problem that warrants an engine rebuild. Maybe the engine needs it, maybe not, but I can almost guarantee that's not what you're dealing with here. It's all too sudden. I'd chuck that 'mechanic' if I were you. I've been to hell and back with my 1.7 with fuel problems, so I know a thing or two about D-jet injection and ignition diagnostic, and there's a ton of knowledge on this board. You sound like you're somewhat on the ball mechanically, so you can get there, probably without spending long dollars. Feel free to PM me if you need some further help.
Mark D.

The story I got today sounded a little better. Especially when it ended up as I really don't have the time to do this, and I don't work on these often.

The just of it is the points were replaced, and electrical checked. compressions were taken and #1 was "70%" no value offered. So, the conclusion was (after $214) that these valve (intake), was burnt and not seating correctly, so it was back firring up the intake (yet to be confirmed). I got a trailer and will be picking it up in the morning. I also happen to have an extra set of heads, but I'm going to check it out myself before I tear into it.

By the way I just blew the head gasket in my 944T. I've got a busy weekend ahead.

BTDT. Fun huh?

WOW, really not what I expected. Decided to grab a car trailer and drive over to pick up. Glad I did. Just got the motor dropped and the head pulled. Noticed alot of oil that appeared to be dripping out of the push rod seals.

Got it apart and found one of the push rods had been completely severed. It happened to be an intake. Apparently the intake did not open and sucked oil in past the piston rings and started forcing it out the bottom of the head between the jug and head. It was still running.

My question is what would cause this kind of wear? (see picture below)

I think it was because the valves were not adjusted when the motor was installed, and the valve lash wore it down????

Should I just replace the push rods, and pop on a new head (both sides of course)?
Or, is the a symptom of something internally wrong?

That wear is caused by improper installation of the pushrod tube retaining wire. No doubt.

that would make sense as the retaining spring / clip was worn an actually 2 pcs. My son did the disassembly so I didn't see the position. I'm assuming that it was touching now. So, when I reassemble, just make sure the clip is inside the ridges so that it's not touching, or is there a special trick?

The retaining wire inside just pushes agains the tubes - it should NOT come in contact with the pushrods themselves.

A broken pushrod... Those don't look to be OEM - stock are aluminum and are the same diameter from the base of the tip to base of the tip - there shouldn't be thinner sections like the ones pictured.

Since you've got the pushrods out, buy a set of Cut-To-Length chromoly pushrods from Jake's store, or get a good used set of stock ones from a member here (post in classifieds).

They were OEM, those were the 3 that didn't shear (yet). Fortunately I have a set from another motor with a bad rod bearing.

Any one have the torque values for the head installation? I've got a Haynes manual that says to specified values.