The motor runs rough at idle. To check compression do I take out injector to test? If I take valve cover off is there a way to check valve tappets?

Thankyou, that is needed for the ac?

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Took valve cover off, is there a way to check if valves are good? I will check timing chain stretch also. This the first time I have seen the inside of a motor but I am going to fix this car.

you have hydraulic lifters so no valve adjustment is possible. Either the lifters work or they do not. Clean oil is important. My valve train improved over time.

I dont know if the relay is vital or not-- with mine, the engine stays at the right temp winter and summer although I never get caught up in traffic, since there isnt any here. I've heard that with this engine, the fan clutch, which is electrical, doesnt deploy unless the ac is engaged. I dont know if this is true or not, my fan clutch never seems to work, but as noted, I've never needed it.

Yes I know I have hydraulic lifters. how do you know if the are working? There is a knock in the motor some where, if one or more of the lifters was not working this would cause the knock and the blowby?

As noted previously: You need to bring everything up to the line before you can figure out whats what. New: Fuel filters, oil filter, and air filter first.

Make sure youre burning diesel, and not something else.

Clean up the engine of spilled oil.

Make sure of your oil level, your coolant level, a/t transmission level.

Lots of things can make a knocking sound; I had a terrible knocking sound on startup the other day that turned out to be one of the ac condenser tubes having unthreaded itself.

Lifters dont really knock, they tap.

How many miles on this engine do you think.

All new fuel filters, oil level is good, tranny fluid is good, oil cleaned up. The knocking sound speeds up with the motor. I have some vacume lines I need to fix, would that cause it to idle rough?

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First picture is the Alda with the vacume hose missing, the other two is the fuse box. It looks like I have two relays missing? Can anybody tell me what they are.

Oh yeah ,I remember now ,these had a problem with the vacuum pump arm ,unreliable .Mine had weak braking and no shut down due to the pump .Pulled the vac pump and found it had hand grenaded.In further study and research of the pumps demize I learned of its issues ,the arm piece on the pump that rolls up and down a turning piece off the crank (like a roller coaster) .That arm broke sending metal further down into the block gallery.Its a bit of a mystery were all the metal went but its safe to say I would start here.I fixed it with a vac pump off a 2.5 88 190d ,matched up and was better built.Had power brakes and correct shut down .This is probably why the car was so cheap ,but a very good motor .Clean out the pan if this does end up being the problem with the noise ,its the metal on metal of the pump and its pieces still riding on that roller piece.

I will check and see if the noise is coming from the vac pump, thanks,

If it happened on the first engine, there could be a lot of oil left in the exhaust that will keep coming out - so the second engine is not necessarily suspect. I think you want to have someone test drive it under lots of load/unload conditions and look for what kind of smoke it produces.

What is the oil consumption? Seems the owner is on top of it to some extent, and so ought to know how much it loses. If it is reasonable, say, less than 1qt/700 miles, Id go for it. If more than that, beware.

Of course for the price, even factoring in a new engine the car is pretty cheap...

The po said oil was coming out the exhaust, the oil is coming out where you put the oil in the motor. So I think something is wrong.

Oil out the filler cap is a sign of a bad filler cap gasket or blow-by or both. A reasonable amount of blow-by is tolerable with this engine. The knocking is what concerns me most. Lifters "tick" or "tap." Rods or mains knock. I would ascertain that all four injectors are popping at 125 bar. To do that, you'll need to take the injectors out, which brings me back to my original suggestion - check the compression. That test alone will tell you volumes about the condition of the cylinders/moving parts. Others have suggested this also. Really difficult to know anything otherwise.

[QUOTE=sasquatchgeoff;2425675]Oil out the filler cap is a sign of a bad filler cap gasket or blow-by or both. A reasonable amount of blow-by is tolerable with this engine. The knocking is what concerns me most. Lifters "tick" or "tap." Rods or mains knock. I would ascertain that all four injectors are popping at 125 bar. To do that, you'll need to take the injectors out, which brings me back to my original suggestion - check the compression. That test alone will tell you volumes about the condition of the cylinders/moving parts. Others have suggested this also. Really difficult to know anything otherwise.[/Q

I will check compression next, I will try and do it today. I will let you know as soon as possible. When I check compression do I turn the car over by hand or use the starter? If I turn the car over by hand, which way do I tuen the motor? I dont want to turn it backwards. Thanks.

looking at the engine bay from the front of the car: clockwise

have someone help by turning the engine over with the key. get the FSM - you will need instruction on compression testing as well as numerous other procedures in your journey. Without a manual you are depending on this forum or others for info, which won't last long.

good luck!
- Geoff