I just got a 914 (1974 1.8) about 3 days ago and the heat does not work, i look under the dash and everything looks connected, but realistically i dont really even understand how the heating system is supposed to work. ie where does the heat come from, what dials do what. any help would be great

There is a red lever between the seats, pull it up. The sliders on the dash control the fan. Open up the engine lid and see if there is a blower motor on the left side of the engine. Also check to see if you still have heat exchangers on your exhaust manifold which will require you to look under the car.
hope this helps.

The Red lever has two functions ... it pulls the flapper boxes open and grounds the heater fan in the engine compartment. Full on is only used in lo rpm situations which triggers the fan. Assumes cable is not broken, all components are there.

Air from the blower housing is directed into your heat exchangers at higher RPMS. It flows around the exhaust pipes. comes back forward to a flapper valve. The flapper valve either dumps hot air or directs it thru a hose into a body channel which takes it to the vents in the cabin.

Fresh Air Fan (top lever on the control) only brings in fresh air and sends it out the vents.
2nd & 3rd levers esentially contol heat direction .... floor or defrost.

I'll need the ac in my 914 tomorrow. Maybe some heat next nov.

I would also take a quick look under the car for the flapper boxes. Make sure that they are there and have a cable attached to the controlling lever. Then, make sure that all of the hoses are fitted correctly. When I bought my car it only came with one heater box...and it was wired open!

Along with everything else that has been said, make sure inside the front trunk the heater hoses are connected to the air/heat system from the longitudal behind the speakers. The red control knob on the dash has to be to the right to activate heat and to the left to turn heat off. Also for heat, turn off outside air by moving the top black knob in dash to the left which shuts off outside (cold) air.

Hay i just want to say thanks to all of you guys, Im pretty excited about this new car.... Im going to check that stuff out today...

Take pictures of your engine compartment. Post them here. We need to see if you have a blower fan in place.

Then take a picture of the under side of the car by the engine mount bar. We need to see if you have ducts and flapper boxes in place.

dsc201knoc,

Welcome to the world of 914's!

I suggest you get a Haynes 914 manual as soon as possible. It's not as detailed as the Porsche factory manual, but is a good starting point for learning about the 914 and its various systems. It will help you understand the heating system, which is definately old school VW-Porsche. I have three copies, my old dirty paperback in the garage, my clean hardback in my bookcase, and a new old paperback I found last year in a used bookstore for cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Porsche-914-4-cylind...5160&sr=8-1