[Tidybuoy]

Here's my 2 cents worth:

Based on your comments and mentioning that some things are "taped", etc...it sounds like the same L-jet problems I had when I first got my 914.

L-Jet is actually a very simple setup and my car runs consistantly well - as long as I don't have "any" vaccum leaks. L-Jet has one primary sensor that is critical to proper performance and that is the airflow sensor. It measures the amount of air entering the engine and adjusts the fuel mixture accordingly.

That being said, any additional air entered into the engine (i.e., via vaccum leaks) is "un-measured" air and the fuel injection system will not add any additional fuel because it is not measured by the airflow sensor.

Step one: fix all vaccum leaks. I reccomend that you replace every vaccum line whether it looks good or not. When I replaced my vaccum lines, it seamed like I gained 5hp with each new line.

Step two: replace gaskets. there are 4 gaskets (or hose things) on the intake tubes, a gasket at each head under the intake runners, fuel injector gaskets - one large and one small for each fuel injector, throttle body gasket, oil cap gasket & gasket under the oil breather, and lastly the boot should be in perfect shape. When inspecting the air boot, be sure to flex and look for tiny cracks - if there is any cracking, the boot should be replaced. Of course, nobody sells them but you can use one from a VW bus but they are slightly different.

Step 3: Head Temp Sensor. You can test it to see if it's good but there only $20 at Pelican so I would just get a new one.

Step 4: Only after all vaccum leaks are corrected, you can start tuning the fuel injection system. This requires specialized equipment but you may find out that your car starts running better with just new hoses.

If your car is old (and all 914's are) you should probably replace all of the fuel lines too.....no sense getting it running just to set it on fire.

Also, backfiring can be very harmful to the air flow meter. It dosent always cause problems but it can.

I reccomend a book called "914 tech tips". They sell it at Auto Atlanta (if you can stand them) and it's a very good book. I have solved virtually every problem with my car using this book and I knew nothing when I first got started.

Hope this helps a little.........................Vern