PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - 1998 E300 TurboDiesel Engine Mount Failure

JimSmith · #6 11-24-2006, 06:17 PM

Len,

I just finished the mount and a glow plug change (#4 this time - so far I have changed all but one since I got the car with 40,000 miles) and, other than not being smart enough to stop working when it got dark and losing a bolt for the injector bay cover, all went pretty straight forward.

I put the car on ramps and removed the aerodynamic/sound absorbing plastic cover (center piece). Then I loosened the bolts to the mount. The bottom is a 13mm bolt while the top was a 16mm. I was a little surprised by the 16mm bolt - I tried a 15mm and a 17mm wrench for a few minutes before going and getting the nearly new 16mm combination tool. It was accessible from beneath the car, and I found once broken away with the wrench on the forward side of the mount, I got a better swing arc with the wrench on the aft side of the mount.

I removed both fasteners completely, then jacked the engine up with a hydraulic jack and a slab of 1"x4" wood between the jack and the oil pan. I had my son to help me by operating the jack while I had my hand on the mount and I minimized the lifting on the engine that was needed. Once the mount was loose, I had him stop lifting the engine. I did not notice any distress on any other "stuff" visible from under the car. The lifting was a fraction of what is necessary on a W123.

The mount kind of rolled out once it got loose. The new mount needed another pull on the jack to make it easy to fit it and try to align the angular locating pin with the slot in the top side mount connection.
I did have some trouble feeling the angular locating pin fitting into the slot in the top side mount connection. The new mount came with a separate, kind of molded on synthetic rubber shield, which was not on the old mount. I left it on, but I think it contributed to the problem I had feeling the locating pin fit into the slot. I loosely hand threaded the mount fasteners from both sides then drew them up snug by hand, making sure the pin was still in the slot, then let the jack down slowly until the mount was seated and snugged the fasteners up again. After the bolts were wrench tight, I took the jack out completely and retightened the fasteners (bottom one was still tight, top one was loose). Once again, there is more arc to turn the wrench on the aft side of the mount than on the forward side. I tightened each fastener to a one vein bulging in my neck tight. Pretty simple job, and a lot easier than a W123.

I used Lightman's fabulous instructions to remove the intake manifold and change out the #4 glow plug(Finally - Step By Step Glowplug Change - '98-'99 E300!. No problems, except as noted, I didn't finish until after dark and I was working by flashlight - lost a bolt on the injector bay cover. Also had to vacuum a bunch of acorns from each injector well. Freaking field mice. Car fired up and idles nice and smooth now.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions. I did not need to do the other side, so I didn't. That side looks like you will need to at least loosen the exhaust pipe connection. Good luck and I hope this helps. Jim