Oil Change?

[thaddeus]

Dear Help,

I,m not a mechanic, nor have I ever
thought of doing any maintenance on a car
myself. Therefore I will have many basic
questions throughout the next couple of months.
I just purchased a 914 2.0 "76". It's
one sweet car and I would like to do as much
of the mechanical work on this car as I can.
I was originally going to buy a reliable Honda
Accord but couldn't resist this bad boy.
The car is ready for an oil change and I need
to find out what should be done besides just
changing the oil and oil filter. Thank you.

[JP Noonan]

If you are not sure of the previous owners maintainence, I would also change/clean the strainer basket. This is sometimes recomended every oil change, I do it once a year. The only tricky part is 1. Revome the nut holding that round plate in the middle of the engine. NOT the one to the front driver side that has two bolts holding it. 2. Seperate the strainer basket (it looks like a basket) from the steel plate and remove the two paper type gaskets. Buy a srtainer/oil filter change kit and look at the new gaskets. 3. Clean all the parts also remove the, by now smashed, alum. ring gasket from the retaining nut and oil plug (just be sure to buy new ones first, not everyone has them as a seperate item) and replace them. 4. Now this is the only thing that can screw you up. Replace everthing (I use a Copper Coat spray gasket dressing) and tighten down the retaining nut to something like 10 ft/lbs. (Haynes says 9.4 ft/lbs), "hand tight". A little more won't kill you, but too much pressure and you will crack the case at the cam shaft bearing boss ($$$$$$$). 5. Buy a new oil filter, the instructions are usally on the filter. Basically remove old, make sure old gasket comes off (if you put a new filter on with the old gasket, MAJOR oil leak). Spread oil on the metal sealing surface of the block and the new filter. Spin on until it contacts block then turn 3/4-1 full turn. It would not be a bad idea to change the tranny oil too, along with the gas and air filter. The Haynes manual is the only one I have seen and it is definatly worth the $15. Ask Pelican about the gaskets and book. The first thing I ever did on a car was change the oil, it took two days because the drain plug had been cross threaded and I freaked out. I must have talked to 10 people getting there opinion which was "Buy a new plug and don't worry about it." That was 6? years ago now I've rebuilt a whole damn 914. We all start somewhere.

P.S. The best oil filter wrench for 914's grips the filter from the top (bottom). The two or three prong type. You also need a 3/8" metric socket set, and one sided razor blades or gasket scraper (just don't go crazy \, almost every part on the 914 is alum and gouges very easily).

[Wayne 962]

Ok, let me put this on a separate line because it's so important:

DON'T OVERTIGHTEN THE OIL SCREEN COVER. DOING SO WILL DESTROY YOUR ENGINE.

I know that John already mentioned that, but I wanted to make sure that it didn't get lost in the long email message.

Pelican can provide you with everything that you need from oil changes, to complete engine rebuilds. Click on the "Contact Us" button below...

Thanks,

Wayne

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

If you do not think of yourself as mechanically-inclined, or if you've never done work on a car before, a lot of published info can go straight over your head. There is, however, a book that covers air-cooled Volkswagen motors that is written for someone who has not been exposed to the greasier side of their car. This is the "Idiot Book", or "How to Keep Your Air-Cooled Volkswagen Alive" by John Muir. Avaliable from many sources, including local VW Bug specialty shops. And I'll bet that the sponsors of this board can get it for you as well! (Click "Contact Us" at the bottom of the screen.)

Don't be put off by the "Idiot" monicker. If it makes you uncomfortable, cross it out and write "Beginner" or whatever you like. John does a good job of describing some basic principles what goes on with your car. He covers all the air-cooled Volksies (that were sold as Volksies in the US), including the VW Type IV cars. And our 914s have Type IV motors in them. Just remember that not everything John says is applicable to our cars specifically.

The Idiot Book was the only place where I found specific instructions on many procedures--for instance, exactly *which* thing I tweak to set my ignition timing.

The Haynes book is a decent manual, but assumes a lot of knowledge that most people don't have. The Idiot book gives you a leg up on acquiring that knowledge.

--DD

[IGTARD]

Been there. Done that. The idiot book owner.