i found the serial number on my engine and im having trouble identifying it. i tried comparing it to the FAQ on Pelican:

"A very good indicator of what type of four-banger you have is the engine code. The engine code is located in front of the oil filler, between it and the fan shroud, on 2.0L cases. The code should start with "GA" (for 73-74) or "GC" (for 75-76). The European 2.0L engine code starts with "GB". The 1.7L and 1.8L engine codes are on a flat spot located toward the right-rear of the top of the case. You may have to push some hoses and wires out of the way, and clean off a lot of dirt to read them. 1.7L engine codes start with "W", "EA", or "EB" (for the 73 California car). The 1.8L codes start with "EC" for the US model, or "AN" for the European model."

now im pretty sure mine is: 6A012526

so far ive been under the impression that this is a '76

can anyone help clarify?


Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Looks more like a "G" than a "6" to me. GA == 73-74 2.0, US spec. Looks like someone swapped an early motor into a late car, and added the smog pump to it. Does it have air injection ports in the heads? I don't see the metal piping that distributed the smog pump air, though, so maybe not all of it was hooked up?

--DD

so would you agree it is in fact a 2.0L?

2.0 case, 2.0 air cleaner, 2.0 manifold and throttle body... Yeah, that'd be the way to bet! How about the heads? I can't really see the plug wires or the intake studs; are there three studs or four holding the intake runner pipes onto the heads? Do the plugs come out the sides of the engine tin, or the horizontal top parts?

--DD

You've still got the original air pump on the car (1st giveaway) and only 2.0s were available in 76.

Pretty much rules out any other engine and that air pump screams originality.

But he should have a GC engine . . . it looks like someone swapped the air pump onto an older engine to avoid getting caught for swapping the engine (smog equipment wise).

GB is a European GA code engine, all characteristics of the case are the same, but it would have had Euro P/C...

so what's the verdict?

until you verify the 3 bolt heads (feel the head end of the intake runners, where they attach to the head. feel for a single nut in the middle under the injectors), GA engine swapped into a late car.

k, ill check that when i get home from work
been sick past few days so havent been around the car much

ill check and update tonight!

Hi,newbie here i also was trying to find out about what engine i have in my car and i was told to look for the same things u are being told to check for from the freindly people on this site,and it seems i have a 2.0.I just want to say thanks for posting the pic of the engine code area,i was not sure if i was looking in the right place now i know need to really clean up that area and get a better look there.I edited your pic so the code can be seen in case some other newbie will no where to look.thx

Oh, one more thing: I don't see any cross-shaft for the engine cooling flaps. The flaps MUST BE IN PLACE for the cooling system to work correctly! (The plug for the timing hole also needs to be there; it looks like it is missing as well.)

Do your engine a favor, and pull the engine tin off to install the cooling flaps.

--DD

dave.. i wouldn't even know where to start with that
do you have a picture that i can reference to?

seems like theres a number of things "missing", i just got the haynes manual the other day but the pictures arent clear and neither is the text (and people swear by these??)

i was wondering what that threaded hole was behind the oil filler. where can i get this replacement cap? also, what kind of job is it to replace these "cooling flaps"?

thanks dave

The threaded hole is in front of the oil filler--at least, if we're talking about "front" being toward the nose of the car!

That is the timing hole. If you stick your head waaaay into the engine bay, you can look through the hole to see the timing marks on the rear part of the fan. There is a plastic plug that screws in there; it should be available from all of your favorite 914 parts places. (My favorite is in my sig below!)

Everyone swears by (and at!) the Haynes because it's cheap, and gives you about 85% of the words and pictures straight out of the $400 factory manuals. Yeah, the factory manuals are not so great...

Re-installing the cooling flaps is a pretty tedious process. There's lots of stuff "in the way" that has to be removed. Pretty much all of the intake, all of the ignition, and so on--all of the stuff on top of the motor. Then you get to try to remove the engine tin screws (the only screwdriver I could find that fits the screw heads is about 2.5 feet long!) and wiggle the engine tin that covers the cylinder heads out of the engine bay, so you can put the flaps in. Then get everything else back in.

Probably worth checking to see if the flaps are actually there or not. If not, your oil temps will get quite high...

--DD

cool thanks dave.
ill have to order that timing hole plug (i was wondering what the name of it was) from pelican or if anyone has a spare laying around or from a parts car theyd like ot donate

would i have to do ALL htat work JUST to check if theyre even there??

dave do you have a picture of these cooling flaps or is it a piece thats not highly visible? what about this "cross-shaft" you're talking about?

thanks for the help

EDIT: dave im having trouble finding that part on pelican. little help?

DD- I was always under the impression the flaps were there to help warm the engine up faster, as the engine warms the flaps open to cool it down. If the flaps were missing it would take a longer time to get to operating temp. Being in TX that should take too long.

Timing hole plug, part number 021 119 233 A . Listed as NLA (rats!); used is probably your most cost-effective way to go.

Picture of the flaps and such:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/914/parts/engi...oling_large.htm

It's an "exploded" picture, so it isn't the clearest... The flaps go under the engine tin at the very front, right up against the fan shroud. They point the air coming out of the fan to where it needs to go. The cross-shaft runs across the front of the motor, just behind the fan shroud and just in front of the oil filler tower.

You absolutely need the right-side flap! When in its "open" position, it separates part of the air flow and ducts it into the oil cooler. Without the flap there, air will bypass the cooler, or worse yet hot air from under the engine will get sucked up into the cooler! Oil temps will go up...

It's best if the whole flaps and thermostat are there and working correctly. Failing that, having the flaps in place in the "fully open" position is OK. An alternative to that is only having that right-side flap in place, and having it fastened down in the open position.

If someone has done that last, you may have to pull the right-side engine tin off to tell...

A lot of people have reasoned that "flaps block air, removing flaps means more air". That's why the flaps get left out, but the reasoning is very wrong. And leaving them out is a Very Bad Thing...

--DD

My wild-assed hypothesis...

Your car might have needed an engine rebuild sometime in the past. Maybe for leaks, maybe for low compression... who knows? They got into it, and discovered the case was worn or maybe they couldn't find one of the case nuts and cracked the darned thing...

So, an enterprising shop (or previous owner) sourced a case and bolted all the old stuff, including the smog pump, back into it. However, this guy believed that he'd improve cooling by removing the flaps (a very common misconception, like Dave said above).

Or... maybe I should just go have another beer.

WOW.. that's sounds either really far fetched just from looking at that picture or VERY disheartening...

i checked last night and i DEFINITELY have the engine tin on. but i still dont know what the "cooling flaps" look like...

This might help you picture it or confuse you even more Dave Darling's diagram link shows it pretty well also.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...l=cooling+flaps

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...=30107&st=0

Hey Hammy, I appreciate the help! first link is more confusing lol
second link, i really dont know what im looking at because i dont have that "i can look at any pic at any angle and be able to identify it on my car" experience yet lol.. if i AM in fact, missing these flaps, is it costly? is it hard fix?.. im about 98% sure i DO have the "engine tin" dave was talking about..

if i AM missing these flaps.. it would be pretty depressing... just last night i found the worst rust of my life and am feeling VERY disheartened with teh car at the moment.. (new thread to follow)... thanks for the help guys

Your picture shows that your top pieces of cooling tin are in place.

the flaps are two rectangular pieces of metal mounted on a single metal rod, on opposite sides of the engine... they should be BENEATH the top engine tin. I've edited your photo to show approximately where they are.

The two fins are not in the same position on the metal rod. Their positions are offset so that when one is open, the other is closed.

The rod is has spring tension on it that defaults in the "hot engine" position. There is a cable that attaches to a thermostat on the bottom of the engine.

When the thermostat is cold, it keeps the cable taut - the flaps stay in the cold position. When the thermostat gets warm, it expands and that expansion "loosens" the slack on the cable and the flaps move to the hot position.

The Cap'n did a great write up on exactly how it works... I'll look and see if I can find it.