Dead Engine 1987 300d Turbo
 

My car has 330,000 miles and has perfet hadling (I have only had it for a couple of months.)

It did have a sight Knock at tickover and up to 2000 rpm, I suspected best:confused: to worst:eek: :

(i) bad injector
(ii) worn piston
(iii) bad little end
(iv) bad fuel injector pump (has alredy been replaced to a Bosh- yellow sealant all over it.)
(v) cracked cylinder block - it has the origional and I have lost some coolant since owning the car.

The engine died completely on me and now will not start at all. (when it happened the battery was too low to turn over, but it still wont fire on normal voltage. I dont smell deisel in the exhaust - could i have a broken drive(belt or chain) to the camshaft?

Take the oil filler cap off, have someone use the starter to turn the engine over while you look at the camshaft. If it doesn't turn, BUMMER!

Is there a trp oxidizer in place on the engine? I had a similar engine that refused to start after putting new parts into the engine it was discovered that the trap was completely plugged up. I hope you have a similar problem because the factory will replace the trap at no cost.
But there are plenty of other things that can make the 603 go bad, including a cracked head. Look for oil in the coolant expansion tank or coolant in the oil. Either one is bad news.
What does the cover on the vacuum pump have? Four torx head screws? If not its the early version and these tend to disintegrate and destropy the engine when parts fall into the the timing gear and jam up the sprocket. This is a very common problem that is preventable if the vac pump is replaced with new style. At 330K miles it is at the point things start to go bad and if maintenance is done before then the engine will last a long time.

As said above have someone turn the engine over and look at the cam and see if it turns.

Maybe the vac pump let go? That isn't all that uncommen.

Exactly why mine is sitting parked in the garage. :(

I have a feeling as time goes on we will be seeing more and more 603's die because of them. People either just don't know or stick their heads in the sand. I have seen them on 602's as well.:eek:

However the plus side is lots of good usable heads for us!:D

I posted pics of what happens when the little bearing in the vac pump get loose, its an ugly sight, and there's two 603 engines in this area that failed for this and they both will not turn over.
It really is a sad situation to lose an engine for this. My friend's 300SDL died from this, I had warned him about the need to update the vac pump but he didn't want to spend the money. within 6 months it failed hard.

The pics may have been lost when the Shopforum server died last year but I have originals on my hd if someone wants to see them.

Yay, I could pickup another one for next to nothing for my brother then. He really enjoys mine but, it is mine... :D

Did the 350s have the updated pumps on them? :confused:

Thats a good queston, I don't know what year MB started to use the new pumps. It might not have been to the mid 90's because I am pretty sure the 606's used the same vac pump right up to 99.

By "updated," do you mean simply replaced or replaced with a different model pump? We had my car's vac pump replaced three years ago with a new one, but not sure of the specifics (my sister was using the car at college at the time).

You guys...

...you realize almost nothing ever breaks until someone tells you that those things are "prone to failure"

Happened to my dad...his dune buggy. Someone told him that stock bus rear IRS breaks...and he hadn't broken anything in about 8 years...or even bent.

Next trip out..snapped the rear suspension off and stowed it under the engine....only thig still connected was the brake line :D

I'd second the timing chain though...check that first.

Does it turn over evently or is it really rough, broken, and unhappy sounding?

The design of the pump was updated sometime in the 90's - I'm pretty sure (if your pump was replaced with a new one) that you now have the updated pump. If the front cover of your pump contains 4 torx screw heads you have the new version.

If the vac pump has four screws on the cover you are ok its the new one. If the cover is smooth I'd replace it asap, $350.

My wifes 98 E300D had the updated pump when it was delivered from the factory in 1998.

These aren't "heard it from so and so" style failures, I can hear my pump big time under the hood. That explained why the motor was (is) so loud and why it's parked.

No need to chance it when I have others to drive.