engine loud and rough for 89 Daytona ES

i got a 2.5L inside a 89 daytona ES. The engine is very loud and sounds rough, it also idle's irradically and sometimes stalls when shifting to drive or reverse.

so far i have:
adjusted ignition timing to 12 degrees BTDC
replaced head gasket
replaced distributer and distributer cap
replaced spark plugs and spark plug wires
replaced carberator
replaced coil
replaced oil, fuel and air filters
rebuilt the entire top half of engine when head gasket was replaced
replaced timing belt, camshaft, and tensioner pully

the engine was replaced by a prevous owner, so even though the car has about 108,000 miles on it, occording to the owner the new engine only has about 70,000 miles on it, i might get the bottom half of the engine replaced or rebuilt, or i might just replace it with a turbocharger 2.2L.

Carburetor? Do you mean throttle body?
Is your camshaft timing correct? It might have skipped a tooth, that makes your engine run a little rough.

Anyway, did you check you're O2 sensor? Probably just some sensor that went bad.

yeah throttle body, and the O2 sensor was replaced when i replaced the head gasket. camshaft timing is correct, I checked it when I changed the timing belt and tensioner. Im thinking it might be a vaccum leak, its the only thing i can think of that i havnt checked. Vaccum leak can make the engine run loud right?

This is a 5 speed right?

Sounds like an auto to me.

It might not even be your engine thats the problem then...Is it like a knocking noise? or almost like a deisle sound?

no, unfortunatly its not a manual, its a 3 speed automatic. its a knocking noise almost, like you can hear the pistons moving up and down.. i dunno what you mean about deiseling, iv heard about 3 things concerning the term "deisling".

1. it is deisling when the car continues to run, even after it is shut off
(mine does not do this, it does something similar when reving in neutral, the engine stays high for a sec longer then what seems normal, then goes back down)

2. A knocking sound in the engine is called deisling, and supposidly it happens to old crysler 4 cylinder engines..

3. irradic idleing is called deisling. (mine does that)

so what are you talking about?

my uncle was a mechanic for a dodge station for 1 1/2 years, he says if you dont by factory direct spark plug wires and champion spark plugs, they will run terrible, he says crysler motors were pretty much based off there stock parts, this true? Im planning on grabbing some factory wires/distributor cap, and some champion plugs anyhow, couldnt hurt...

I meant does it sound like a diesle while it runs... but u alredy answered that, as long as you have good plug wires, like ngk, you shouldn't have a problem, one thing you should never buy aftermarket is the head gasket, there alot weaker than factory, if you get an aftermarket and a factory gasket side by side, you can see why!! Everything else you shouldn't have a problem going aftermarket

alrighty, aftermarket=OK, but im still gonna get factory wires and spark plugs, maybe it will run better, who knows. so, yes my car sounds like a deisel, loud! :) so is it the engine or not? is it vaccum? ya didnt answer it all, well, unless you didnt know.

thanx for the help anyhow guys, ill get to the bottom of it if its the last thing i do!!! :)

ohh, by the way, i dont have ngk wires, i got like wearever or something, i dunno, but im replacing them anyhow

My bro says it's either the connecting rods, valves or lifters!!! Eiter way you look at it, it's not a small job!!

it cant possibly be any of that, the engine was rebuilt about a year ago, new pistons, cameshaft, bearings, the whole nine yards, i had to becuase of a blown headgasket. its been running like that ever since i got the car. Im thinking its a vaccum line or something, becuase the guy who made the previous engine swap wasnt really a mechanic (ya know, duct tape doesnt solve EVERY problem :) ) its really getting annoying know, iv pretty much tried everything in the Hanes manual to fix it!

thanx for the help

I just found out, i have autolight spark plug wires, yeah gotta get em replaced :)

hmmm, I'm stumped! Well if you wanna check the vacume lines, do what that guy sayd in your vacume post, but not with starting fluid!! u need to use a gas of some sort, an unlit propane torche works well, just be carefull, don't do it all at once, do a bit , then let the gas disapate. When you hear an rpm change, thats your leak!!

lol, gas is less flammable than starter fluid? ohh well, if its safer, ill give it a try, thanx for all your help shelbycharger :)

it's not safer by any means, it's just, a gas will get sucked into the pinholes bfor a fluid would!! Its fine as long as you use common sense about it ( don't spray propane on the spark plug, that sort of thing!)

ohhh... ok, ill give that a try tonite... thanxs for the tip.

Yeah starting fluid is meant for 2 strokes and for diesels, not for 4 strokes. It's a sure-fire way to blow up your engine, or atleast shorten it's lifespan significantly.

waddya mean? testing for vacuum leaks with starter fluid is bad? or just using starter fluid in general?