PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - 190E 2.3-16 Is Sick! Need Help!!

JimSmith · #21 05-02-2002, 04:06 PM

Well, things are looking up after a few weeks of fretting over the issue with the availability of the stage 4 repair inlet valve guide. The head is still being worked, but now by a shop that has the skill and experience to manufacture a guide to custom fit the condition of the head. The head should be back on the car by next Wednesday. Peter is pretty anxious as he was planning to use the car to drive his date to the Prom, which is next Saturday.

I did contact a guy at Metric Motors as recommended by Michael in another communication. He did not have the guide, but noted it is not unheard of to see a condition like this and suggested I should have just pressed in (shrink fitted) a sleeve that could be reamed out to the first or second repair size, then put a standard part in. He noted it is done without hesitation before throwing an otherwise good head away, or going through the hassle of making a special guide.

I was originally inclined to do this but upon the advice of many others I dropped it. I was wondering if anyone out there has sleeved a valve guide bore in a head before? I guess one concern might be that you create another potential leak path for oil to get into the intake manifold/combustion chamber, but with a proper shrink fit it is not clear why that would be any worse than the shrink fit of the guide. I think to get the job done correctly the bore for the guide and sleeve would have to be opened up a bit, maybe to 19 or 20 mm from the 13.4 for the stage 4 repair guide. That may cause a problem but I have not looked at the head to see if there is that much meat available. Just curious.

I will keep you posted and hopefully get over there to take some photos of the head before it goes on and then once everything is buttoned back up. Jim