Mechanical Difference between Turbo and Non turbo engine
 

Could a cylinder head of a turbo engine be used on non turbo block? What are the differences between the turbo and non turbo engines?

Kinda depends on the engine – did you have a specific one in mind? In general, Mercedes turbodiesel engines have oil-cooled pistons so the blocks are not interchangeable. I suspect that the heads are also different but have no details. Mercedes tended to keep NA engines out of the USA so most that you will find are turbocharged. Thus, for example, almost all OM603 engines in the USA are turbocharged although you can find the NA version of that engine in Europe and other parts of the world and the occasional private grey-market import. The same would be true of the OM617 engine.

That would be true, except for the w123, when '82 model year and up, all were turbo for the US. In 81, the TD, or wagon had the turbo. 80 and below, all were non turbo. The w116 SD was turboed in '78. The w126 always had the turbo.

The goal is to get rid of the turbo on 83 300 TD wagon. I found a good 300 non "turbo block" and hope to use my turbo head since it has the Hydraulic pump flange.

I hate to be impolite, but why in God's name would you want to get rid of a turbo?:eek::eek::eek: At altitude, they're like adding a second engine alongside the original.
Valves are different in a turbo engine. They are sodium filled. Valve clearances are also different on the two engines I think.

I have a good running low mileage non turbo engine if your interested. It would have to be shipped from Arizona though.

Driving a 300 Diesel wagon surely is not for the power but rather its simplicity. If I like to go fast I drive something else. The turbo causes to much trouble for me...my goal is to use all upgraded components of the Turbo engine minus the turbo it self.

What kinds of problems does the turbo cause? I've owned both turbo'd and NA 617's and haven't noticed any additional problems with the turbo?

It is additional complexity. But the turbos are very very long lived. The turbo increases stress on the motor and (I believe and have observed) the turbo increases stress enough to cause the head gasket to fail around 300K or so.

I think the non turbo motor will probably go 5 to 700K without much of anything if you keep the oil changed.

That said the differences are large mechanically. different crank, hb pulleys oil pump, pistons, and probably a lot of other things.

The increase in durability might not actually pan out either. The upgrades to the turbo motor are to offset the stress and heat caused by the turbo. I am not sure if they will result in longer service life in a non turbo application. I don't know, just thinking out loud.

I imagine its been done sometime. It would be interesting to find someone who has done it.

I'd ask Gurkha.

Even the turbo motors are completely under-stressed in stock form. I wouldn't worry about it.

-Jason

The internal upgrades given to the turbo engines make them much stronger and more robust than the non-turbo engines ever could be.

My problem is oil leaks caused by blow-by after 189K. I'm sure the engine will go a long way but the oil causes rubber bushings to dissolve etc. and simply is messy. I had 240's that had no to minimal oil leak after 400+K miles.
However the question was not why or why not to get rid of the turbo.
The question is: Does a 300 turbo head functions on a 300 non turbo engine?