Originally Posted by TwoMuchBoost

Interesting turn of events... the OM603 might be going back together. Even weirder yet, there’s a chance even the #14 head casting has survived a second gasket failure and overheat... which is nice I guess as I just did head porting, lifters, valve stem seals + lapping. The last head gasket failure was more gradual starting with cold coolant pressure and oil leak but never an overheat. This was how I purchased the car.

This time after 2.1bar/32lbs of boost and how rapid the whole cooling system exited out the tailpipe, I figured the head was cracked for sure. Temp gauge was off the map after pulling to safety. Looks like the head lifted though and the fire ring between 5 and 6 couldn’t hang... (Victor Reinz gasket for what it’s worth, I know people talk badly about them but I think the power was the culprit here).

The reason I ended up tearing into the engine even after signing off on it was because I figured the 380,000 mile OM606 probably didn’t have enough life left in it to rationalize just dropping it in and beating on it racecar style. Another motor that was listed nearby for a fair price and low mileage turned out to be an incorrectly listed E320 gas V6 So I figured I better see what’s up with this motor. With the (at least currently) lack of carnage, it looks like I’m a monkey test pilot meant to take this #14 casting to the moon and back Time to stuff an OM606 MLS gasket in there and see if I can find some head studs for some clamping power. The “upgraded” head bolts seem not enough.