Finally after 10 pages, exactly what I was looking for! Thanks.

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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

I just adjusted my valves after a extended service interval of 70,000. I know thats bad but I did the previous adjustment at 25,000 int. and they only needed very slight adjustment on 2 valves. I meant to get to it at 35-40K and lost track of it.

Anyway they were all tight, a couple of the exh. very tight!! I probably dodged a bullet here but there seems to be no harm done.

I'm keeping it to 30K from now on. I know its 2X the reccomended interval but at 295K miles total on the car they dont even budge at 15K.

Stephen

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85 300D 305K miles WVO(105K so far), Mine
82 300SD 235K miles BIO-D, Wifes
96 F250 SC PSD 4X4 285K MILES BIO-D, Ours
89 BRONCO 182K MILES sold
Finally Compression Ignition Only!

question: why would you NOT just rotate the engine with the camshaft gear bolt?

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

Since the camshaft rotates at 1/2 speed of the crankshaft, working it backwards where the cam drives the crankshaft, it is twice as hard to turn the crankshaft by using the cam nut.

That's why I always turn the crankshaft by the nut on the crankshaft and so I don't screw up the timinhg chain or the tensioning device.

P E H

I have seen cam bolts break off, chains jump time, and guides fracture from stress while attempting to rotate the engine by the cam bolt..

Bad idea..

the reason i ask is that i did just this a couple of weeks ago. i just took it slow and let any compression leak out of each cylinder as i rotated. after thinking about it, if the chain is slack enough i imagine there is a possibility of valve to cylinder contact? but i'm used to working with the volvo gas 4 banger noninterference engine.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

Valve adjustments are VERY important. I did a 84 300TD a month back, they were so out of adjment, the engine was rocking back and forth. I actually thought the engine was going to hit the right inner fender.

After adjustment, it was so smoothe at idle, it was a totally different car.

Here is the thread where I posted.

OM617.952 valve adjustment. How tight is too tight where the engine will not run?

This is a current thread running now, might be good to link it here. GO, No Go, feeler gauges.

Q: Type of feeler gauge to use for 617A valve adjustment

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Exactly why I set them to .006" and .016" respectively....Robert

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

Put some of your research and time to good use: Design a set of hydraulic, self contained capsules (like a Porsce 6 cylinder chain tensioner) that will eliminate valve adjustment in these engines...Robert

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

IN ADDITION to that....

Many people see that Power Steering nut and think " so much easier than getting to the Crank Nut "....

Also a terrible idea Specifically Forbidden in the Factory Shop Manual....

The reason ? That power steering shaft and that pulley are a taper fit... thus.... applying too much force... which by definition is the amount required to turn a 21 to 1 compression engine.... spreads that pulley's insides... makes it an interference fit.... and will cause you all sorts of heartaches if you have to take it off to work on it....and might cost you a new power steering pump also...

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

I screwed something up doing my first valve adjustment. It is a 1977 300D with a new engine that has ~40k on it.

I did the adjustments, some were tight, some were loose, and a couple were fine. Put it all back together and the car refused to start easily and promptly died when it did start. Took it back apart, checked the clearances, tried again and same result.

I see now there is some suggestion to keep the valves from turning, though that was not included in the how-to I read prior to doing the job, but that seems to be an issue for older/high mileage engines so I am not sure that applies to me.

What can I do to get the car running again? Do I get to blindly spin valves until the car is happy again? For some reason, I sense that a compression test is in my future.

Edit: After checking the clearances again today, I went to start it and now it is doing this: 1977 300D failure to start - YouTube

Rarely on here anymore, but thought I'd reply to help. You want to keep the hexagonal valve spring keeper from rotating, That can rotate the valve and won't allow you to actually "adjust" the valves. Hold that with something, THEN loosen the nut directly on top of that, then loosen the valve cap. Measure between the top of that and the lobe. The lobe should be pointing at the oil feed line when you check and adjust. I've seen people with broken valve guides from people torquing too much to the side of a valve while loosening or tightening. But at least it would start and you'd have an oil burning issue. Most likely something unrelated to the adjustment though. These kind of coincidences happen WAY too often for some reason.

Compression, fuel and air at the correct timing. One of those is missing.

BTW, is it a NA engine? 77 might be. You did adjust for an NA engine if it is, right? But 2k out still shouldn't keep it from running.

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1984 300D Turbo - 4-speed manual conversion, mid-level resto

1983 300D - parts car

1979 300TD Auto - Parts car.

1985 300D Auto - Wrecked/Parts.


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"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". Lewis Carrol

your battery sounds very weak...

At this point I am figuring that has to be the case. I aim to do a compression test tomorrow, otherwise sometime next week. While I am at it, I will get the gauge and measure the timing chain.

It is an NA engine and I did .10mm and .30mm, it is totally in spec at this point after being checked ~5 times. In all honesty, the valves were not spinning wildly; I will keep them from spinning the next time I check the clearances in the hope that will make it start again.
A side effect of trying to start it a couple times. If the problem persists after I am done with compression testing, I will record it again with a stronger battery and no leaf blower in the background.

here is how it should sound.

mercedes 300d cold start - YouTube

1985 Mercedes 300d Starting - YouTube

300D 'cold' start - YouTube

1985 Mercedes 300D cold start - YouTube



.

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ASE Master Mechanic
https://whunter.carrd.co/

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
2003 Volvo V70

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