| Name | Post |
| Brother Pat | Found a 1972/914 whose body has been restored to the max. The dealer(who've I dealt with in the past and have found him to be honest in his dealings)told me that te engine smokes after being driven awhile. I've checked under the car and can't find a drop of oil beneath the engine/trans, nor does any smoke exit via the tail pipes. From what the dealer told me it would seem more likely he's discribing oil being burned as it drips onto the exhust manifold. Is this possible? If so would it be difficult to repair. Other then the 'smoke' the engine starts right up, and appears to be working great. I have another question. Are the 914's difficult to work on, and do they require daily/weekly upkeep to keep them running? Any information will be great appreacted. Thank you, Pat |
| Paul914 | If you are *SURE* the smoke is coming from anywhere other than the tailpipe, it is probably a safe assumption that it is a result of oil dripping onto the heat exchangers - especially if it only happens after "being driven a while" (when hot and under load causing higher oil pressure). Bottom line, the $0.50 internet diagnosis is its probably the pushrod seals .. there are 16 total (2 pushrod tubes per cylinder, and an inner and outer on each tube) and they sell for a whopping $1 each (for the good ones - the Viton(r)s .. the OEM are cheaper but less reliable). Bad news is they are a pain in the ass to change (but definitely something you can do yourself) .. which leads to your next question - 914's are generally easy to work on if you are (a) patient and (b) generally mechanically inclined. Hope this helps .. BTW: be careful about buying from a dealer - a 72 1.7 shouldn't be any more than $3k TOPS (thats in excellent condition) unless it's some kind of show winner! Good luck! -Paul |
| JP Noonan | Check out the Pelican article about how to buy a 914. Key areas are under the batt. I found my friends "rust free" car had fiberglass covering the rust. Also under the sound dedening material that is covering the floor pans. If the rear window seal leaks then the rear floor pan rusts out. Also check under the pad in the trunk and the head light buckets. There are 4 V.I.N.'s located on the car. 1. drivers side door sill (not to be confused with the paint code) 2. diver side "A" pillar 3. pass side headlight bucket. 4. pass. side top of front wheel well. If it is a 72 then it has a 1.7L and the tail shifter, not the most sought after of either engine or trans (later cars had better trannys and larger engines). If you are paying a premium price ($3500+) then it should be an accurate, original car. Buy the "914 guide to authenticity" I got mine from an online book store. It's only $15 and it could save you big time, besides there will always be another car. Maybe even a 73 2.0L "driven by a little old lady", "only on Sunday", "I would sell this car to my own mother...." |
| Dave_Darling | First--I agree the the rest. Smoke that isn't coming from the tailpipe is merely an oil leak, not a major internal engine problem. When my pushrod tube seals went bad, the car would smoke after about 30 seconds of running, and would last 5-10 minutes at most. The theory I came up with was that the oil was always dripping, but slow enough that only an accumulation of oil showed visible smoke. Once the overnight accumulation was gone, any more oil that dripped out would burn unnoticeably. Other people may have different experience with this particular type of leak. The could be something as trivial as the oil pressure sender, or something trivial but REALLY time-consuming to fix like the oil cooler seals. You won't really know unless and until you get in there, clean everything up as well as you can, and look for where the oil is coming from. As for your other questions, Yes the 914 can be difficult to work on. Most of the regular maintenance is relatively easy, as long as you don't mind lifting up the car and crawling underneath it all the time. Some maintenance chores are a pain--the valve adjust in particular. See the FAQ on Tim's Fan Page for some more description of 914 ownership. See also the "how to buy a 914" article here on the Pelican Parts site, as well as the valve adjust article. Yes, these cars need pretty frequent maintenance. In many ways they really show their relationship with the VW Bug, and this is one of them. You should change your oil a lot. The engine is cooled by a combination of air and oil, so clean oil is a must. Frequent valve adjusts are another similarity. I think the owner's manual calls for some absurdly-long period of time between adjustments, but I do mine every other oil change. Neglecting the scheduled maintenance can make for expensive repairs down the road, or lots of frustration-filled time spent tracking driveability problems. I see the 914 as a very good car for tinkerers. It's simple, but does need pretty frequent attention. It also makes a very good platform for modifications of many different kinds. And, of course, it's a royal BLAST to drive around! --DD |
| Wayne at Pelican Parts | I agree with everyone else. The 914 is a great, fun car to drive; I enjoy it more than
my 356. However, it was not the best designed car, and not the best built either. These
two make a really bad combination. Somethings on the 914 are so ass-backwards that you
wonder what the heck they were thinking. Just to name a few of my personal favorites: I still love the car, but it can be very frustrating to work on. Just ask my friend John Dunkle... -Wayne |
| Brother Pat | Thanks to everyone for the input about the 72/914. When I went back over to the dealers lot they had upped the price from 3k to 5k. The cars is nice, but not 5k worth. I walked away. based on what I see and the responces here, and from what i've read, $3k is a bit high, $5k out of the question. again thanks for your help. brother pat |