is removing the IP a simple un bolt rebolt/retime procedure.. i see the oil cooler lines and oil filter housing will have to come off to remove the IP... reason i ask is i noticed the om603 takes special tools to do the job and i was wondering if the om617 does also.. (all to change a damn freeze plug)

The problem with removing the IP is the lower mounting bolt. You can reach down and loosen this bolt with a long box wrench........and you might even be able to get it out........but........it's impossible to put it back without removing the oil filter housing.

BTW, you can't see this bolt from underneath, and you can barely see it if you peer way over the back of the IP and look straight down between the IP and the oil filter housing.........very close to the engine.

It took me 20 minutes to find the head of this bolt..........can you say PITA?

Ask the BHD about that bolt.......he's pulled the IP about a half dozen times.

Edited: Well, forget that recommendation.........he's already provided you with everything you need to know............

thanks bc.. i do have skinny fingers so i think ill be able to get that bolt.. you should of seen me trying to get the cruise control computer out.. sunroof open my feet out of it.. fun stuff

Don't bet on it!!! Not with the oil filter housing in place.

I never understood the "skinny fingers" approach. The reach behind the IP is about 10" to the bolt. Maybe Brandon can get his fingers down there.......but nobody else can.

I bent up one of my cheap 13 mm box wrenches with a torch so that I could move the bolt 1/6 of a turn without removing the rack dampener pin. I've got the pin set perfectly and I'll be damned if I am going to remove it to adjust the IP.

I never removed that bolt. I had to loosen it to set timing. No wonder nobody bothers with IP timing on the 617..............

Mwahahaha

I have done it, it is not impossible.

It is possible to get that bolt back and tightened, it just takes forever. It would probably take less time to just go ahead and pull the oil filter housing though.

And seeing as I had to go through 4 IP's I have had them in and out just as many times as anyone.

I did remove the rack dampener.

OK, cough up the goods.

How do you reach down there and start the bolt with the IP installed and the oil filter housing installed.............

Inquiring minds want to know...........

The BHD has not been able to accomplish this..........so........it's damn near impossible.

Well, this is what I can remember. it was last summer, right after I got my final (forth) IP to work. I spent probably an hour just getting that back bracket on and the spring into place. Then, I suppose by the grace of God, I just used a magnet and my longest finger to push it up into the hole.

Luckily, I had just enough room to wiggle my finger just enough to begin to turn that bolt. The threads of the bolt caught (after MANY times trying) and I painstakingly begun the process of tightening that bolt with a wrench. It took me way too long, and I should have just removed the oil filter housing.

It could be the fact that with different IPs and different engines, the IP is installed at a different angle.

My angle must have been just right so that I could accomplish this. Next time Im taking off the oil filter housing

You accomplished this from down below........or from the top??

What's the deal with the long skinny fingers........Brandon must be going down from the top???

im going for the non removing oil filter housing route.. i dont have a floor jack to lift the engine to remove the oil cooler lines.. tomorrow ill see if i can reach the bolt with my hand. a source told me it will take a 12" extention and a u-joint on the ratchet to get to that bolt

down below, good light, and up on ramps.

Seriously though, anyone reading this, I would never attempt this again. It takes too much time and is not worth it. Just remove the oil filter housing.

FYI- When I spread out my hands from the tip of my thumb to the tip of my pinky is about 11 inches... the long side of a standard piece of paper.

That dimension is not going to help you hold a bolt and start it. The dimension required is the tips of your fingers to wherever you hand jambs in between the IP and the oil filter housing.

removing the oil cooler lines involves jacking the engine up yes? just removing them from the housing is all id need to do.. and the filter housing gasket will need replacing while im there to get it out of the way.. ill loose about a quart of oil doing this i bet.. might as well do an oil change while im there.. im going to have to find out the timing of the engine and pump.. ill contact dannym since he is by me and see if we can arrange a day to do that.. and get a woodruff key..and such a bunch of lil projects to change a part that cost less than 10$... i love mercedes benz.. then i have to install the plug and make sure its correct.. i need to find a source for one.. regular OEM but SS if i can find one just so i dont have to do this again in 21 years

Yes, but that is what the magnet was for.

And, your right.

I will never try this again.

You do not HAVE to jack up the engine to remove the oil cooler lines, it is just much easier that way.

Yes, you need to replace the oil filter housing gasket.

If you let the oil filter housing drain you should not loose much oil.

If your up for an oil change, go ahead and do one, but it is not required.

Also, be sure not to get anything at all in the hole that removing the oil filter housing will leave. It goes straight into the block where the crankshaft, connecting rods, bearings and pistons all are and anything could mess that all up easily.