My 1989 245 DL, non-turbo with 200k miles leaked coolant from the #1 right/passenger water jacket to the outside. I changed the headgasket myself, cleaned combustion chamber, reground the valves (vacuum pressure in each cylinder 17-18"), and milled the head. The brick now idles rough, intermittently kicking at rest. Otherwise it runs fine. I found no vacuum leaks in any hose. In fact, nothing leaks at all. Timing is fine. Idle speed is set automatically by ECU. Thermostat works fine. Temperature gauge reads mid-range. Compression is in 140s. Cleaned throttle body and corrected lack of click in throttle position sensor. What am I missing?

Check all ignition components- sounds like a misfire. Dist cap and rotor nice and clean? Plugs new? Wires in good shape? I've seen a ton of coil wires abraded against the PS pump, the master cylinder, the battery cables, etc...
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 87 244DL- 249K, 88 245DL- 181K, 84 242DL, 89 244DL parts, SOLD: 86 244, 88 244GL, 87 244, 91 244, 82 245T, 88 744GLE, 86 244

Did you remove the intake manifold? If so then I would be sure to install a new gasket. You can check around the intake gasket area by spraying carb cleaner around the perimeter while the engine is idling. If the idle smoothes out when yiou do this and rpms increase then that's where the leak is. The carb cleaner won't hurt anything. Good Luck!