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 to worst :

(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!

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Wayne

the triumph of evil requires only that good men stand by and do nothing

13 Audi A3 TDI, the Wife's!
85 190D 5 speed, 195,000 miles
75 Triumph TR 6 w/Toyota 5 speed
2000 Ford F-250 powerstroke
03 Ml500, 109000

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.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

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.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Exactly why mine is sitting parked in the garage.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

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.

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

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

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.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

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

Did the 350s have the updated pumps on them?

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

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.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

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).

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

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

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.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

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.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]