Going to try and make a long story short. purchased this car for a mere $400 and i would love to bring it up to snuff. Here it is

No Bueno

I have done the following- yet i STILL have this ominous sounding knock/tick/misfire. Its actually 2 different noises. One is a high pitched tap, one is a nasty sounding knock, accompanied with the engine missing. Happens occasionally at running speed, but rare. Happens more when cold.

Car has unknown mileage (243k) on halfway working odometer, and unknown maintenance. ive done the following in the past 2k miles ive had it:

Valve adjustment (4 times)
Rebuilt injectors w/ Monark nozzles torqued to 58 ft lbs
water pump
alternator
both alt brackets
belts
air cleaner bracket/mounts
diesel purge
both fuel filters (twice)
return lines
oil change (twice)

and other things that wouldnt pertain to this issue such as brakes, seats, wood, wheel bearings, etc

Let me note one thing that may be essential- the #3 valve (intake on cylinder 2) will not adjust into spec. the nut seems stripped, not only on the hex portion (can only fit the wrench on one side of it) but also on the valve. No matter how much i fight it, i cant get the clearance to close. The closest i can get it is over .020, when i know it is supposed to be .004 for intake on the om617 turbo. all other valves adjust perfectly.

going to check the valves again tomorrow

could it be a fuel delivery issue? the car sat for 7+ years before i got it and i havent touched the tank.

it sounds horrible, i would say it is catastrophic engine failure, but it comes and goes. I would believe if the engine was about to pop, the noises would just get worse and worse.

Sometimes it drives great, and sometimes it does terrible.

Oh, and after installing the injectors with new nozzles, it smokes A LOT. Like before i never got any smoke. Now, it smokes pretty heavily on start up (when cold) and is puffing out a faint haze most of the time when driving. But the old injectors were for sure trashed, i couldnt even see the tips of the needles on some of them.

Of course it didnt do alot of what it normally does in this video im posting below. You can defintely hear the inconsistant high pitched tick, and the loud knock/misfire only happens once or twice. Once at 0:06, and once again at the 2:22 mark of the video, right at the end before i shut the camera off. Its a loud "knock" where the engine makes one violent shake, then goes back to normal. It does it sometimes when driving, but not often. Feels like a surge of power when it does it.

Oh by the way, my exhaust is off right now (in the process of putting it back on) so some clattering and noises can be heard because the pipe rattles pretty bad down there.

and yes i need to adjust my linkages bad. i think my idle is too high. i also need engine mounts


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnAYVBcbuqY


any help would be oh so appreciated. will buy you a beer, if we ever cross paths. this car is really frustrating me. every time i fix something, two more things go wrong. but hey. "nothing more expensive than a cheap mercedes"