Vintage Diesel Car Care, Part 1

All the recent attention given to alternative fuel vehicles has piqued interest in diesel-powered passenger vehicles. Their higher fuel efficiency has rekindled a desire in many drivers to join the "Church of the Lakka-Lakka-Lakka." Or perhaps you already own a vehicle powered by one of Rudolph Diesel's progeny. Either way, you probably would like to be able to make a quick evaluation of the engine, even with its legendary reputation for reliability.

Assessment
Let's start with the scenario of a potential purchase of an older diesel, and then go into the details of the assessment procedure (covered in more detail in part two).


Since diesels last a long time, you many not want to shell out the 25-large (or more) to own one of the newfangled, fully computerized, highly-fuel-efficient, direct-injected compacts, such as the new VW Jetta TDI or Mercedes E320 CDI. Even if you do, you might like to also have a backup compression-ignition-powered vehicle to augment it. Something at least remotely related genetically, but with a different mission statement—vintage funkiness would be a plus here, too.


Well, what do you have to choose from in that field, and how can you tell the good from the bad from the ugly?

Candidates
If you want to get completely technical, "vintage" refers to something no longer produced. If you're talking trucks, you don't have to go back much more than a decade to find a model that falls under that description. Dodge, Ford, and GM all produced trucks in that era powered by since-discontinued Diesel powerplants.