Ford Escort Diesel

[Steelehc]

Originally Posted by Kaliburz

What I meant by 'jewl' is in regards to fuel economy......

I see what you mean. It should be, assuming it can be made to "go."

Jerry/MT: if you can find those books, I'll buy them.

Henry

[Jerry/MT]

Originally Posted by Steelehc

I see what you mean. It should be, assuming it can be made to "go."

Jerry/MT: if you can find those books, I'll buy them.

Henry

So far I've found the wiring diagrams, the electrical and vacuum troubleshooting guide, and the Emmission Diagnosis volume. I'll keep looking as I know I bought a whole set.

[Steelehc]

Originally Posted by Jerry/MT

So far I've found the wiring diagrams, the electrical and vacuum troubleshooting guide, and the Emmission Diagnosis volume. I'll keep looking as I know I bought a whole set.

Well, like I said, I'll buy them all from you, assuming you can find them. Where are you located at?

Henry

[Jerry/MT]

Originally Posted by Steelehc

Well, like I said, I'll buy them all from you, assuming you can find them. Where are you located at?

Henry

I'm just north of Missoula, Montana in the Mission Valley.

[Woollybob]

My neighbor gave me an 84 escort with a 4-speed several years ago. He said it got over 50 mpg on the highway. I recall he said it had 1.4 L Isuzu diesel, but that was a few years ago and he might of been wrong or my memory has failed.

I gave it to a friend (this was when the diesel for my F250 was $1.50/gal) and a few months later the freeze plug vibrated out. He roasted the engine and scrapped the car.

Check the freeze plug and Keep an eye on the temp gauge.

[Steelehc]

Originally Posted by Woollybob

My neighbor gave me an 84 escort with a 4-speed several years ago. He said it got over 50 mpg on the highway. I recall he said it had 1.4 L Isuzu diesel, but that was a few years ago and he might of been wrong or my memory has failed.

I gave it to a friend (this was when the diesel for my F250 was $1.50/gal) and a few months later the freeze plug vibrated out. He roasted the engine and scrapped the car.

Check the freeze plug and Keep an eye on the temp gauge.

This is a Mazda 2.0L. Thanks for the advice, though.

Henry

[Steelehc]

Originally Posted by Jerry/MT

I'm just north of Missoula, Montana in the Mission Valley.

That's a little far, but well within postal service range. Let me know when you've got them, and we'll work out a price.

Henry

[Steelehc]

So... bad news.

We got the motor to turn over yesterday, but it sounded real bad. Really weak and slow, almost like it was only firing on one cylinder.

Turns out, it was only firing on one cylinder. No compression in two of them, only a little bit in the third.

Are there any things to look for at this point? Any other possible solutions?

Henry

[Kaliburz]

Well, at least now we know why it was abandoned and left on the side of the road....

When you got it running, did you remove the oil fill cap and observe the 'blow by' coming from the engine? Sometimes you can tell how bad it is by watching that or the breather....

Depending on how much you want to spend, the next move is really up to you. I'm going to hazard a guess that it could be valves or rings. If you have a leak down tester, it might help narrow it down. I'm not familiar if this motor is an over head cam type or not....

Which two cylinders had no compression?

[bockhold]

how many cylinders does it have??

[Steelehc]

Kaliburz: No, we didn't pull the oil cap off. It was pushing the dipstick up and down, though.

I'd like to get her running, but I'd rather not spend much more than, say, $1,000 or $1,500 or so. It is an overhead cam. Cylinders 1 and 2 from the left have no compression, and 3 has a little. 4 seems to work.

Bockhold: It's a straight-4.

Henry

[MaxHuey]

Originally Posted by Steelehc

....... but it was impounded for being abandoned in the roadway,.........

Is this why they call it a FoundOn Road Dead??

[Steelehc]

Originally Posted by MaxHuey

Is this why they call it a FoundOn Road Dead??

Evidently so. I was hoping I could turn it into something that would be First On Race Day. At least, in fuel economy terms.

Henry

[bockhold]

Well good luck on the rebuilding process. Sounds like a summer project to keep you busy.

[Forcus]

Rebuild it! There's virtually nothing on the market now that is cheap and gets that kind of MPG. Especially diesel. Couple guesses, it overheated and warped the head (usually will use water, or loose compression between two cylinders) or just a plain old bad head gasket (diesel = higher compression and some of the early car diesels were converted gassers...).