How come nobody offers a turbo kit for a 240D anymore?
 

I seem to remember ads in Car & Driver, Road & Track, ect... back in the 70s and early 80s for a aftermarket turbo kit for the 240Ds. If ANY engine needs one, this would be it.

It don't look like the hardest thing to stick a turbo on, and I'd think there would be a market (however) small for one, worldwide.

I mean, seriously, Edelbrock makes aluminum heads for 351C/351M/400s which they made for 10 years tops (4 years for the 351C), they make stuff for AMCs, OLD Buick and Pontiac engines they havn't had forever, even old Cadiliacs (intakes).

You'd think somebody could make a turbo kit for a 240D and make a profit without it costing 10K, wouldn't you?

Do a search on Ghurka (username sp?). He has a 616 turbo from Tempo in India. They currently produce them.
There are also British aftermarket turbo companies that make turbos for the 616. There are lots of those engines in trucks and motorhomes in Europe. IfIf you're seriously interested I can dig up the website, but I've posted it here before.

It has a lot to do with the fact that the demand is so low and the fact that they were not engineerd to support a turbo.....no underpiston oil squirters, nitrided cranks etc.....

For example there is a huge difference between the turbo and the non-turbo OM617 engines.....I guarantee you there is a big difference between the current Indian Turbo OM616 engines adn the older 240D engines.

Oh yeah, I'd be interested. I wasn't sure if they were still in production, but I know Mercedes must have made millions of the 616s, worldwide. I figured SOMEBODY still had to make something for it.

With all the 240Ds running around for 500K-1 million miles and getting 45mpg, a turbo would be welcome for a little more power.

If you got a old 240D up to 90-100 ponies, it would feel like a pro stocker, compared to stock, lol. Seriously though, I wonder why Mercedes never offered a factory 616 turbo in the states?

I don't think it's that big a deal (turbo on a non-turbo). I've played around with superchargers on mostly Ford V8s (351Cs, 351Ws, 302s, 429-460s, ect...) over the years, and while you won't be building a 100K engine (hot rods), a stock engine will take 4-5 pounds of boost without much issue.

The last 302 I built with a small B&M supercharger had cleaned up factory heads, good rod bolts, forged pistons, good exhaust, and little else. I drove that one over 80K with no issues, and made 200 passes on it, easy.

I figure with the typical diesel, I'm ahead of the game as most of that is already done. I mean, Banks made kits for Ford (well, International) 6.9s, 7.3s, GM 6.2s, ect... for years with no ill effects, so I figure a 616 shouldn't be that much different... as long as you don't go nuts with the boost.

Well the Benz deiesl is more highly stressed and therfore less forgiving.

People have retrofitted the non-turbo OM617 with the IP and turbo setup...

and they lived fairly short lives.

just get a mitsubishi 16g turbo.. i see them slapped on everything and they make alot of boost.. not the regualr 16g but the big 16g found on the evo's and stuff.. they can be found cheap on DSM boards

Here you go:

http://turboboost.co.uk/TB%20Turbo.html

I can only find a 617 turbo conversion on the site right now, but I know they've sold 616 turbos inthe past. Perhaps the 616/7 are basically the same.

I'd guess nobody makes one because most people that want a little more power from their Diesel Mercedes can buy a factory engineered turbo diesel for pretty much the same price as a 240D.

Trying to hop-up a 240D is an exercise in futility if I've ever heard of one.

There were so many trucks and vans and their variations (buses and motorhomes) produced in Europe with the 616 that there was/is a very large market for making the engine a little more peppy. I talked to a gentlman on the ferry from Portsmouth to Roscoff who had a turbo installed on his 616 engine in his motorhome and was very happy with it.
Even when MB put the 617 in their trucks and vans, it was almost never turbocharged.

Do a search...Mercedes made significant changes in the Turbo OM617......Internally. For durability reasons. Turbo a non-tubo OM617 and expect to grenade the engine well before its time.

I like to play with this stuff, and if I get the cars, I'll have an extra 240D to experiment with. I've got some fast stuff, so I'm not worried about that either.

I'm just researching it now, but I think it would be a interesting challenge. How cheaply can I slap a turbo on a 616? Know what I mean?

BTW Kerry, those kits from across the pond are interesting, but are also around 3K (American). I know where I can get some cheap old turbos, intercoolers, ect... at, so I might persue this and see what happens. If not, no biggie. Again, to me, it sounds like a fun little project for this winter. Yeah, my 240D is faster then your 240D, lol. Not that that's saying much.

I know all those differences. But the fact is that lots of people have put aftermarket turbos on those non-turbo engines in Europe and had good luck with them.
There was a 240d on Ebay in the US a couple of years ago with over 200k on an aftermarket turbo. So, while it might be better if starting from scratch, to modify the engine with oil squirters and hardened cranks, adding a turbo to an engine not designed for one, won't make the engine explode 100 miles down the road.

100 miles no.......20,000 or more yes...lot of people here have tried....and none have had happy stories to tell.

Hp per liter is higher than many of the domestic engines.....and explains why you can do it will no negative issues on a ford or GM....but the Benz has less safe range to play with before damage happens.

I'm not alone in knowing this.

for the cost of
 

turboing a 240 you can buy a 300 turbo car and switch over the engine and all the parts related and have a properly designed setup from the get go. note that when the factory wanted to offer more performance to the 240 they started by adding the fifth cylinder.

in addition to the things that bones mentioned when they turboed it they added the ribbed oil pan for extra strength, lengthened the nose on the crank, added a thicker harmonic balancer and installed a larger oil pump. and with all that the benz turbo engines still tend to need a head gasket at 250 to 300k. the non turbo motors tend to need one...............never.
(i refer to the 616 617)

remember when you blow one up it is not as cheap to rebuild than the 350 chebby. for the entire job on the chebby you just get the parts for the benz.

tom w