Jim,

Thanks for going more in-depth. I was visualizing a major engine teardown but if the situation isn't that dire, will keep her for another decade or so. One question: Do you believe that repairing the cause of the engine smoking, which is only visible on an initial cold engine start, would also cure the engine miss or do you think we're dealing with two separate problems? I know that an oil burning gas engine can cause an engine miss by fouling the spark plugs but can the same thing happen with a diesel that uses glow plugs? And if your answer is yes, this makes me wonder why my mechanic didn't notice oil fouled glow plugs.