If one did jump I have always suspected that it was upon initial startup ... and the culprit was not taking up the manual slack in the ratcheting slack takeruper before restart.
That situation could be lack of procedure... or broken spring in one type of tensioner.. or some other thing I do not know about...

__________________
1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

It's hard to imagine a chain jumping time. There is considerable wrap around each of the sprockets and not a lot of space for the chain to lift off the teeth. I'm trying to envision it happening in slow motion.... I can only picture it happening if the tensioner wasn't working and the engine ran forward a moment to put all the slack on the tensioner side, then run backwards for a moment (like on an aborted start, perhaps) so the crank sprocket could ride over the bunched up slack chain. It would have to engage at least one link, and that one link would have to stay engaged when the engine then rotated in the correct direction. But as I think about it, as soon as it turns the right direction, the mistimed link would fall away. So it would have to ride up over the slack chain enough to fully engage mistimed links. I cannot envision any way for the cam sprocket to jump time. The only other way would involve significant shearing of sprocket teeth. So I guess I am skeptical that it could realistically happen except through an assembly error.

Other possibilities for extreme cam mistiming occur to me, some involving human error (and I am not suggesting that any of these apply to the car in question.)
1. Really highly worn chain and sprockets.
2. Resurfaced head or block with excessive material removal.
3. Disassembly and reassembly with offset key installed backwards.
4. Measurement error.
5. Spun harmonic balancer (I know on a 602 the degree markings are on the part of the damper that is not attached to the crank directly, i.e., the marks are on the part outboard of the bonded rubber layer.)
6. Misadjusted or bent or incorrect timing indicator bracket on front cover.
7. Wrong thrust washer on camshaft (the washer that has the notch, that is. I do not know if any washers that could fit had different index locations.)
8. Wrong number one cam tower (I do not know if they had different index locations ever on cam towers that could be installed even if incorrectly.)
9. Any combination of the above.

__________________
1987 W201 190D

I would expect injection so late it wouldnt run at all.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Im gonna set it up and try again. 2 things I didnt do; remove valve lash, measure off the valve keeper, I used the rocker arm. The valve lash should bring it back a bit. forgot all about it last night.

Also, Id post pictures but the camera I have isn't good for much more than smudges of color..

Ill go check it out now..

Well, 30 degrees minus 11 degrees acceptable timing = 19 degrees off. Lends credence to the "installed one tooth off" theory. IP timing could still be close to correct.

I doubt a chain can "stretch" that much and not fail.

The OP should certainly double check the measurement, and I think it is also critical to check the accuracy of the "OT" mark on the the pulley. I don't know the 617 engine well enough to know how hard this is to do. I have some ideas for methods that are probably not in the FSM... but I'll keep them to myself for the moment.

__________________
1987 W201 190D

We're all anxiously waiting to see what you find!

__________________
1987 W201 190D

Well, it came back a couple degrees. I think the scale ends at 28, and im about 2 degrees from the end.. shows about 25 o 26. One thing i did different was using the rocker arm instead of the keeper. Its way easier to set up, and its straight up and down, putting it on the keeper makes the gauge sit on an angle.

Very handy the way it unscrews off the base and screws into the head.

Rummur you said you didnt know what car etc this engine came out of. How about some more background info? Only got it recently? Sounds to me like it was reassembled incorrectly before being sold. If its a recent acquisition and didn't come with a car I'd go ahead and shift it a tooth on the cam. Turn the engine over by hand for all cylinders before starting.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

I am OUT of here. Good Luck.

__________________
1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=10414

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

I got this engine out of a 240D that someone converted. The conversion was crap, so If the same person that did the conversion did the timing chain I could see how this happened.

The engine is now in my 220 with the 220s transmission.

From what I can see the chain looks fine, its shiney, doesnt have any gouges or obvious blemishes.. The cam sprocket looks good too. I cant see very well, but the tensioner doesn't appear to have deep wear marks from the chain, Nor does the guide at the top.

I read that the chains are the same on 615 616 and 617 engines.. I have another chain off the original 615 engine that is less than a year old and has a master link. Any one know if the chains are the same for sure?

Gonna go out and grind a link on the current chain, set it back a tooth and see if that gets a good mark on the crank

Rummur... Leathermang may not have boundless patience, but I agree with his reason for frustration. If you're doing it, do it right. Are you sure the rocker lever's geometry doesn't change the reading at all?

I'm also going to strongly suggest once again that you check that the crank pulley is accurate in showing TDC.

__________________
1987 W201 190D

The geometry is better on the rocker than the keeper.. the keeper is directly under the cam so the big gauge has to sit right next to the cam putting it at a 25 or 30 degree angle. The rocker arm is right above the valve and has no play in between it and the valve adjustment nut.. .08 is .08 right? I feel that the rocker arm is a more accurate test site, mainly due to the angle of the gauge.

I will make sure the tdc is tdc.. the injectors are already loose from compression check.

well Ill go check it on the keeper first.. might as well

TDC on 1 - lobes pointing out. See if you can find a manufacturer name on the chain, they may have replaced the chain and the offset could have occurred.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Well leather man g you were correct to be weary of straying from a text. I check it on the keeper and its only at 20*.. That would probably be a badly stretched chain?