1998 240Dl lopes or shudders

dannym · Post by **dannym** » 16 Oct 2008, 12:52

billofdurham wrote: Is this a family thing about head gaskets?

Bill.

It seems like it. This is the second time for the Taurus.
The first time the water pump went. This time it was a radiator hose.
I'm hoping it won't cause problems shaving it down again.

Keep your fingers crossed!

dannym · Post by **dannym** » 17 Oct 2008, 05:10

I think I spoke too soon.

I took the Volvo out for a test drive last night and it smoked like crazy. I guess it had to get up to operating temperature before I was visible.
It's thick white smoke that lingers a long time. I'm sure it's oil and not antifreeze. I think I messed something up with the timing.

If I messed up the timing would it smoke like that?
It seemed to run OK but it made a weird noise. Like a little Celica engine at high revs but I only got it up to 50 tops.

I'm really bummed out about this. I hope it's an easy fix.

I got to go fix the Taurus. I'll check back when I can.

Danny

Post by **billofdurham** » 21 Oct 2008, 12:42

Usually oil smoke is not white. That is associated more with water. I have not seen excessive smoke as a result of the timing being off.

Have you got water in the oil or oil in the water? Did you have the head checked and skimmed if necessary?

Bill.

dannym · Post by **dannym** » 21 Oct 2008, 13:02

I decided to start all over again so I took the head back off. There was a puddle of water in the #3 exhaust port.

A litte off topic, but I helped my son replace the heads on his Ford this past weekend. It turned out both of them were cracked. We got new ones from a junkyard and the shop completely redid the heads. My son's girlfriends Dad owns an auto body shop. He really did a great job on those heads.

Ok back on topic. The first time I just replaced the gasket and put the head back on.
My problem now is the blocked coolant passages. I looked at some heads on Ebay and none of them had blocked passages. Maybe someone at sometime put stopleak in it? Anyway I'm seriously considering going to a junkyard and getting a new head then taking it to the shop and have it redone the way the other heads were done.
So that's the plan, Junkyard visit Saturday morning.

How does that plan sound??

Danny

Post by **billofdurham** » 21 Oct 2008, 15:23

Sounds good, especially if you can get the head checked and skimmed. Make sure your son stays on good terms with his girlfriend until the job is done.

Bill.

dannym · Post by **dannym** » 31 Oct 2008, 07:00

So I got a different head from a junkyard. I had it checked by my mechanic and had it leveled and cleaned. He said it was good and ready to go. So I put it in and tried to run it last night and it was still smoking.
It ran great! Except for the huge cloud of smoke coming out of the tailpipe.

So now I don't know what's going on. 2 heads and it still smokes? if it's not the head what else could it be?
I'm at my wits end here I really need to get it running but I don't know what else to do?

HELP!!!

EDIT:
I just got off the phone with the mechanic who sold me the car. He said the smoke was water & antifreeze that was left in the tailpipe. He said to just run it. As long as it's not overheating and losing water from the radiator.
I asked him how long it should take and he said a day! I was kind of shocked when he said that. I asked if it still smoked after 2 hours should I keep running it and he said yes. As long as it's not losing water and doesn't overheat.
I have to go on a business trip tomorrow so I'll give it a try when I get back on Thursday.

One thing I forgot to mention to him was how hard it was to start it. It kept dying on me. Hopefully that was just from sitting so long but I'm not holding my breath.

dannym · Post by **dannym** » 07 Nov 2008, 09:29

So I finaly get to check the car yesterday. I am happy to say it did not smoke at all. It has a little bit of black smoke when the engine is revved. I did the water torture on it and a Seafoam treatment. It seemed to help. I'll probably do the Seafoam again.

It still shakes and shudders though. Remember that? The original reason for this thread? LOL

I'm going to clean the Throttle Body and the recirculating Air Valve & check the Oxygen sensor. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do that this weekend.

Are there other things I should be checking??

Danny

Post by **billofdurham** » 07 Nov 2008, 11:39

It still shakes and shudders though.

Well I had forgotten that but it is good to know that the non-original problem is under control.

In your original post you indicated that the shuddering was a possible wheel problem. Has your view on this changed?

Bill.

dannym · Post by **dannym** » 07 Nov 2008, 12:53

That's a good question. I don't have any doubts it needs an alignment. But I want to replace the tie rod ends & ball joints first. New shocks would be nice too.

But the problem is it shudders and rocks at idle, which is a totally different animal. It's got to be engine related.

Danny

Post by **billofdurham** » 07 Nov 2008, 15:22

This is my check list for erratic idle on the pre-OBD1 cars.

Check mixture and idle speed adjustment.
Inspect all air and fuel hose connections.
Check idle air regulation valve.
Check fuel pressure.
Inspect fuel injectors.
Check coolant temp sensor (to ECU).
Check air mass meter.
Inspect air induction system under pressure.
Ensure throttle body is clean.
Check ECU connector.
Check operation of throttle switch.
Check initial opening of throttle valve.
Ensure valve clearance and engine compression are normal.

Not necessarily in that order. Pick out those you think are the most important or be like me and pick out the easiest first.

Bill.