Re: How to tell if engine is fooked.

Ensure you are there and hear the engine started from stone cold.

Check the oil and the water- both should be clean, within specified marks and *not mixing!*

Check for white gunge inside the oil filler and rocker box, and it should all look nice and clean inside. If there's black crude or the oil smells old and burnt chances are maintainance has been far from ideal. The coolant should be a fresh looking blue/green or red. If its cloudy or there are deposits from boiling over be cautious.

The engine should should start immediately without assistance from throttle and settle to a slightly fast idle. If its been stood for alittle while there may be a brief moment of tappet rattle which should silence within acouple of seconds. Check for any puffs of blue smoke from the exhaust when it starts indicating valve guide or seal problems letting oil into the cylinders when stood.

Go for a drive.

Look out for any hesitancies during the warm up or a tendancy of stalling. Check that the engine warms up to a mid point on the gauge within reasonable time. Give it moderately hard acceloration through the gears checking for clutch slip, synchro problems, misfires, spluttering etc and also for any smoke out the back. There should be none.

If you can find a long gentle slope where you can go down hill off the gas for abit in 3rd or 4th. Accelorate hard at the bottom and check again for blue smoke.

Return to yard and allow engine to idle. Open bonnet, listen for any strange noises, that the engine idles happily, and that the cooling fan cuts in as the gauge passes 100degrees. Key off and on to check hot start.

If all checks out, then should be fine.

When was the cam belt last changed? On the 16v the interval is 36, or 40k miles. The kit costs around £100, barter accordingly if seller cannot provide evidence of a belt change.

Tim..