Hey-

I need some advice, insight, etc: a few weeks ago I bought another 240d manual transmission car. I have another and I thought this was a great parts car as it is identical, hold for the paint color. I bought it from a used car dealer that had just taken it as a trade. He didn't have any interest in it and basically said "its got a broken timing belt and the engine is probably shot, but it looks like it has good parts". He let me look at it as long as I wanted. The dealer with little negotiation on my part dropped the price to near scrap price so I had to take it.

So, I get the thing home and start to look at it and realize that it was a very nice albeit non-running car. I decided that since the engine was supposedly shot, why not try to start it. Anyway, the thing turned over fine, but of course wouldn't catch. I messed around then finally pulled the valve cover and discovered that the cam was broken just past the second lobe and that the first bearing carrier was sheared at its base. Further investigation showed a silver dollar sized hole in the vacuum pump.

I have been reading on here about broken camshafts caused by the vacuum pump shooting parts into the timing chain. With mine, outward appearance would indicate that except the engine still turns freely even with the camshaft in two pieces.

So, after that long-winded intro, a few questions. I have read that there two different cams for the 606. What year had what? How do I find the right one? Where is the best place to source these parts? Is it cost effective?

My plan is to start simple first: cam and carrier and see what happens. If that fails then another course will be looked at.

Also, please feel free to throw advice and insight my way.

Thanks in advance, Phil.

I think you mean 616. The 606 has two different cams - intake and exhaust

Sixto
87 300D

Thanks Sixto!

It is a 616.

call phil at peachparts, he got a new cam for me. You have the newer uprated cam.

__________________
1977 240D turbo

Manc, I have a good used engine if you want to consider a used cam. It ran great, had 221k miles when retired due to rust (unsafe to drive, seat belt attachment point rusted out) and did 0-60 mph in 17 seconds.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Best place to find a cam in my opinion is the junkyard.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Less pain to inspect everything involved with the failure first before buying parts. Perhaps a complete used head might be easier or more practical to repair that engine if the project upon serious inspection makes it possible.

You want to locate and remove any pieces of the broken vacuum pump and account for every one of them as well. There is a chance of bent valves in the head . Serious piston damage is not common at least. Chances are the lower block is fine.

According to the FSM there are 3 cams for the OM616 - the code for these is stamped into the back of the camshaft. See chap 05-215 for details

02 and 06 are chilled castings - need to be handled with care! and the 10 is more recent. If you have access to EPC you'll probably find there is another new code available too.

If you look in the FSM chapter (noted above) you can see that the "newer" cam shafts opens the intake valves slightly earlier and closes the exhaust valves slightly later...

You are "meant to" replace the rocker arms with the camshaft - but this sounds like an as cheap as exercise. For this reason I think you'll get the best deal with a replacement cylinder head with camshaft etc included - only be sure you get the right pre-chambers for your engine => pre-chambers need to match piston type.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Junkyard cams are best left in the junkyard unless you really know what you are looking at. For an experianced mechanic that is familier with the differant cams, and related parts that must go with each cam, this would not be a problem. It also assumes that the person getting it knows what to look for as far as wear is concerned. It would be a bummer to get that nice cam, and find it has a wiped lobe.

the newer cams have higher lift, and can not be used in the older heads without changing the valve guides, cam towers, and rocker arms. 1982, should be a newer uprated cam though. I think 1981 is when they changed.

If this is an on the cheap repair, then another complete or nearly complete engine with a known history is a better solution.

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1977 240D turbo

Hey-

I wanted to thank everyone For their advice and offers of parts. I ended up digging around more and fond that I was not gong to get by with just putting a new cam in. There was a lot more garbage that had been thrown around than originally thought. I also noticed that two rockers were bent/damaged.

So, it looks like I did end up with a parts car anyway.

With lots of money and time it probably could've been fixed but maybe this one is going to have the job of keeping others alive.

Thanks again, Phil.

Shame to see another 240 become a parts car. Swap out the engine and keep it going would be my vote. If it was just a chevy or ford let it die....

If you do part it out I would be interested in the tranny, and rear end.

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1977 240D turbo

There are always motors and transmissions on craigslist. Using a multiple location searcher is great too. Ive seen motors as low as $200

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."