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Old 10-01-2020, 11:22 AM
HughO HughO is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: WYO
Posts: 165
Quote:
Originally Posted by barry12345 View Post
Sounds like removal of the head is next. If the cam is timed right. The blowby coming out the oil filler hole while cranking. May be stuck rings with wvo usage or scored cylinder walls.

I am wondering about his need to replace the timing chain as well. It should have not broken or been worn at the claimed milage. I would check the serial numbers to see if it is the original engine. Or the odometer reading is way off. That is not unusual with the 123s.

Waste vegetable oil residue can turn with sitting to a very strong glue in piston lands. Head work like many other things is not particularily cheap now.

A decent used engine checked out properly before purchase may be financially the easiest way . If you remove and install it yourself.

I am not a resident genius incidentally. Regardless of what the wife claims.



I guess the next step is head removal. The previous owner did not say why he replaced the timing chain and I should have asked him. The fact that the timing was way off and the valve adjustment off suggests to me the possibly the chain broke or slipped a cog. I assume if the chain broke the cam assembly would have been damaged. It appears just fine. A friend who is a cummins mechanic agrees with me that the valve(valves) may be bent nut not so bent that the engine can't be turned manually. So I will pull it and take a peek. I ordered a borescope and will try to see if I can view the valves thru the manifolds. Obviously can't thru the injector holes. I am looking for a used motor or head but they are few and far between in the mountain west. No one drives rear wheel drive diesel cars out here because of the ferocious cold and heavy snow. Even carpart.com has very few.A wrecked and running car is probably my only option. I have rebuilt a few motors but these old diesels look more difficult than what I have tackled before. The common notion that they last a million miles is nonsense unless they have had meticulous maintenance. I have several cummins trucks with a gazillion miles that still run with much less maintenance and 40-50 yr old tractors that still run almost like new. I do love the generally excellent engineering of these W123 cars and think they should never be scrapped unless they are rustbuckets but at some point it becomes a point of diminishing returns trying to find old serviceable parts and even new parts. I have out one AT and one engine in these cars in the past and it is an easy and fast chore compared to some modern cars and trucks so I guess I will stick with it for a while longer. I do have a restored 300D which now runs flawlessly but these 240D cars with their taxicab simplicity appeal to me.
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