Salvage yard engine running bad/noisy/smoking

[Matt Brandsema]

So I just finished putting an engine into a 2003 Mercedes E320. The engine came from a salvage yard which was bought on ebay.

When I start it up, it is REALLY noisy. As in, the noise seems to be coming from inside the engine. It also is smoking a lot and running REALLY bad. I am not sure why this is happening. Can anyone give any insight into what I should look for?

Thanks

Topic

[dreamer2355]

How many miles on the used engine? Was it sat for long? Any previous known issues?

Any check engine lights?

And I’m going to assume you did fill all the fluids?

[Matt Brandsema]

Lol yes I filled up all the fluids. The new engine has about 100,000 miles on it. I am not sure how long it was sitting but if I were to guess I would say a decent amount of time. (I don’t know for sure though.)

I am not sure if there were check engine lights, I kind of was in a hurry to get out of there so I didn’t pay too much attention to the dash. I will check tomorrow.

It just seems weird! I hope THIS engine doesn’t need to be replaced!

EDIT: Also, I do not know the history of the engine either.

[dreamer2355]

I agree, hopefully the engine isn’t the issue…

[dave]

my crystal ball guess
my guess is that your timing is off. setting timing isn’t as simple as shooting a timing gun. in modern cars, it involves some complex procedure (probably involving the use of a scan tool) to put your car (specifically the computer) into “base timing mode.” Setting your overhead cam timing could involve special tools. Each car is different, so grab a chilton book and learn the procedure for setting timing on your vehicle.

if you want to avoid speculation
if you want to get an overall picture of the health of your engine, you should perform a compression test followed by a leak down test if necessary.

[college man]

check that your ignition components are correct.
++++1 on a compression test.

[Matt Brandsema]

Did a compression test on all 6 cylinders. 150+ psi on each one. So that makes me feel better that the engine is mechanically sound.

-Verified spark
-Checked fuel pressure 60+ psi

I found a few vacuum leaks, and this made it run better and not sputter as much.

-Scanned computer. A bunch of misfire codes and a MAF sensor circuit code. The MAF sensor on the engine was the one that came with it. Meaning, it is possible it has been sitting awhile and got all gunked up. I took off the MAF sensor and it looked like mud or something had gotten inside. I sprayed some intake cleaner in it, waited for it to dry, then put it on the car. The car ran a LOT better but is still misfiring and STILL giving me a MAF sensor code.

As of right now I am trying to find the old MAF sensor that was on the original engine, because I know it worked. If anyone else has any other ideas on what I could check, let me know!

[college man]

see if this link helps.

https://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues#PerformanceIssues

[Matt Brandsema]

I will look through that page later.

UPDATE: This is becoming very weird.

I cleaned the MAF again and now there are NO check engine lights at all. But the engine still does not sound right. (Maybe Ill make a video of it.)

Anyway, there is TONS of white smoke coming out the tail pipe. (If could have a hint of blue in it, hard to tell.) So to me, that means either its burning oil, or coolant, and a LOT of it. This confuses me because it passed the compression test. What could be happening? I checked the oil and it does not look like it is mixed with anything. My best bet would be it is burning oil through the valve guides. What do you guys think?

[Walter Cheryba]

White smoke is usually water/coolant. Sounds like either a head gasket problem or a crack in either the cylinder head or the engine block. Has there been any noticeable coolant loss since installation/start-up?
Any guarantee from the seller for the engine?

[Matt Brandsema]

Yes there was noticeable loss of coolant. But I was confused as to how it is getting into the combustion chambers when every cylinder shows 150+ psi. With this much smoke, the leak should be HUGE and that huge leak should show a loss of compression. But it doesn’t.

I am doing this for a customer of mine, I am not ASE certified and I think the warrantee only covers the engine if it is installed in a shop by ASE certified mechanics. (So stupid, I passed the ASE exams, I have just never worked in a shop)

[Bill]

First of all it’s not unusual for a used engine to be a little noisy especially if it’s been sitting for a long time. The valve lifters are likely empty of oil. The second thing is the smoking could be caused from the old engine. You didn’t say what went wrong with the old engine but the exhaust system could be full of whatever puked on the old one. (Oil and or coolant)
Let it run for while after you repair the running problems to see if the issues clear up.

[Walter Cheryba]

Pressure test the cooling system-that should confirm/deny the head gasket, cylinder head, engine block crack idea. I’ve had blown head gasket situations that gave OK readings on the compression test. Let us know how it all goes. I’ll send the Mercedes Angel your way to help!

[Matt Brandsema]

[quote=”wysetech” post=69415]The second thing is the smoking could be caused from the old engine. You didn’t say what went wrong with the old engine but the exhaust system could be full of whatever puked on the old one. (Oil and or coolant)
Let it run for while after you repair the running problems to see if the issues clear up.[/quote]

The guy drove through deep water and hydrolocked the engine.

[quote=”sunset”]Pressure test the cooling system-that should confirm/deny the head gasket, cylinder head, engine block crack idea. I’ve had blown head gasket situations that gave OK readings on the compression test. Let us know how it all goes. I’ll send the Mercedes Angel your way to help![/quote]

Haha! Thanks I am going to need it. Ill keep you guys updated.

[Tom]

My head gasket puked last spring . . . compression test was amazing considering the age and mileage of my engine, which had me nearly convinced that it couldn’t be a bad head gasket. Then I pressure tested the cooling system, which also passed with flying colors, holding pressure for a half an hour. I didn’t verify the bad head gasket until I started the engine with the pressure tester still on the radiator, and watched the pressure sky rocket way too fast to believe that it was anything but combustion pressure leaking into the cooling system.

[Matt Brandsema]

I figured out why it was making all that smoke. When the guy drove through water, it flooded his exhaust. While I did remove both exhaust pipes (It is a Y pipe type of exhaust) there was still a considerable amount of water in the catalytic converter. I removed both down pipes from the engine and ran it. No smoke. I re-connected them and ran the car for about 45 minutes and after that time, no more smoke! It boiled off all the water in the cat.

The engine still is making a noise however. And I believe wysetech is right in saying that it could be the lifters. I am not sure if this engine has hydraulic lifters or mechanical ones. I will put some cleaner into the oil supply and see if the sound goes away. (Assuming they are Hydraulic.)

[Author]

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