Episode: 2747
Title: HPR2747: checking oil
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2747/hpr2747.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-19 16:17:24

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This is HPR episode 2007-147 entitled Checking Oil.
It is hosted by Brian and in about 5 minutes long, and Karim and exquisite flag.
The summary is, Checking Oil Oil may not be so simple.
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Greetings, you're listening to Hacker Public Radio.
This is Brian.
I don't really have anything to talk about today, so you the listener are going to be
at an advantage because you already know what this episode is about.
It being in the show notes and in the description by our friend, the robot, at the beginning.
But there's a call for shows, so I'm recording one.
Let's see. I guess the only interesting thing recently,
this week at work, I'm a mechanic, and
I get to work. There's this old 70, 73, 74 Porsche 914 sitting
in the driveway, and I'm not sure what the deal is with it.
So I ask and they tell me, I don't know, check the oil.
I go well to check the oil. I want to start it. What's the deal with it?
Because it rolled off a tow truck I could see on the ticket.
And I'm told that the vehicle was delivered,
purchased and then delivered, and then driven off of the trailer,
parked in a garage, set overnight, and then in the morning
they checked the oil before starting it and found the oil on the dipstick.
So they added oil and then they started it and they had what they said was the
largest oil spill that they'd seen in their shop. It was coming at everywhere.
Okay, so they turn it off, throw it on a tow truck, send it over to our shop.
This is another shopping town menu.
So when I get that information, I realize, well,
that's just unfamiliarity. Sounds like a reasonable thing to do.
Check the oil before you start the car. Unfortunately, this 914
had a 75 911 S motor and at 2.7 liter, you check the oil
when the vehicle is running at idle and at temperature to get an accurate reading.
The motor itself doesn't hold in a foil, so there's an external oil tank
and it needs to be pumping and circulating for your dipstick to be reading properly.
I drain the oil. I say, I'm going to drain this oil, see how much is in it.
I bet he overfilled it. He said it's bitten out, it's going to.
It's going to find every week zone it can.
I pull 16 quarts of oil out of this motor, which is a lot.
The motor does hold 11.6 approximately, depending on the lines, because they're all
custom, because the vehicle, this motor doesn't go in this vehicle.
Then it won't start. Click, click, like the starter is bad.
So I investigate the solenoids a little loose. I replace it.
The starter looks brand new. I don't know why the solenoid was loose.
It wouldn't tighten, so I pulled the whole thing off and I removed it and I receded it.
Didn't see anything wrong and then it worked, but the motor wouldn't turn.
I put my wrench on the crank pulley. The motor will not turn.
It's totally hydrolocked. The cylinders are full of oil. I can't pump it.
So I pull the spark plugs. I pump another quarter, so oil out of the cylinders.
I clean up the plugs. I'm not going to bother changing them at this point.
I clean them up. I put them back in. I get it to fire. Another quarter oil or so at the tailpipe.
Things miss in. Backfire in. Figure it's going to for a while until the cylinders clear out,
which isn't going to be an easy thing. But he just wanted it running. So I put 10 of those
cords back in. After a bit of tuning, messing with the timing, new plugs, replaced a couple
different wires that we saw here and there. I think it hasn't been well maintained. In my mind,
there's a reason people saw these cars. But I do get it back together and deliver it to them.
And he was happy. I got $100 tip. So that was a decent day. So dear listeners, have a good day.
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