If you like the car, just accept the worst being you'll need another engine. There are many available in cars that are trashed. With good fortune, you can get a parts car with a decent complete drive train. Unlike some car forums, we don't consider an engine swap as maintenance but I'd never trash a good car because it needs an engine or trans.

Expect to pay between $500 & $1000 for a really good parts car. It may include some necessary working spares that you can store in the shop for when someone needs them. If you don't want to repair, I'm sure someone else here would like to buy it.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

The problem with finding a used engine is that it's a TD. Since the head is probably damaged on the current engine, he needs a TD engine for the SLS pump or he'll have to do an electric SLS pump conversion.

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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

I thought my "ticking" sound was coming from the top end also, as it turned out I had absolutely destroyed #2 rod bearing after running the car for aprox. 30 seconds with low oil pressure.

I haven't looked at #1 and I'm not going to. I've always wanted to rebuild a 617 engine and I just found a good reason to, It's going to be my winter project next year



BTW BE SURE to check condition of the rubber thing that holds the screen on the pick-up tube in the oil pan, I have now seen (3) of these seperate into 2 pieces and when they do they can block oil flow!!!

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Kevin

1971 300SEL 3.5
1972 280SE 4.5
1968 280S Parts Car
1983 300D (5-spd conversion almost completed!)
1986 Toyota pickup 22R 4-spd
1968 Mustang 302 (soon to be 5-spd)
1981 Euro-spec 300d 4-spd parts car

Sold:
1987 300D (had 415,000 miles when I sold it, now has 462,000 and still driven every day!! Original head)

I know where a used TD engine is located.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
No longer selling Cluster Needles Paint
No longer selling New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

Before things get too far out of hand, have a mechanic listen to the motor. Does this motor use hydraulic lifters ( hydraulic lash adjuster ) ? If oil pressure is low / lost, the lifter will collapse and cause valve tap. If this is the case, some engines take quite a while for the lifters to pump up. A collapsed lifter can cause the engine to run rough as it affects cam timing / lift / duration.

A worn connecting rod bearing can make noise on the top end. Diesels ( and some gas motors ) have tight clearance between the piston top and cylinder head, add a little bit of carbon and the clearance shrinks.

Some engines use soft bearings ( Ford 302 / 351 ) that don't wear the crank much, others (GM ) use hard bearings that end up wearing the crank. If your motor has soft bearings, winding in a set of bearing shells can patch the motor up. The deciding point is if the crank is still smooth and the bearing shells show signs of wear.

Forgive my ignorance, I don't know much about the TD's. You're saying that he needs a whole new SLS setup from a donor, is that because the SLS is pressurized from the engine oil? I thought it had its own fluid supply independent of the engine. My initial thought was that he could just retrofit the SLS setup onto any 617.

Also, this is pure guesswork, mind you, but would a W126 617 out of an SD work? Not sure if the SD's had the SLS.

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Never be ashamed to ask for help.

1985 300D
1987 300SDL
1970 Jaguar E-Type OTS
2002 Dodge Intrepid (Traded In)
2011 Ford Crown Victoria

SlS runs off an hydraulic pump mounted in the head. The SLS does have an independent fluid supply from the engine. So the block is the same on a TD 617 but the head is different. Pump mounts at the front left side of the head. SD's didn't have the SLS.

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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

I bought my current car with a bad motor. 3 or the 4 cam towers were cracked and broken because the PO ran the engine with no OP. I would start by looking at the Top end. The cam towers and cam are easy enough to swap. I would doubt that your valve train is severely damaged and you can swap over the head to a donor motor and you'll just have to swap out the cam towers and cam. (If it's a direct bolt on)

These old engines are tough. I started and drove my car into my trailer and up into my garage with only 2 cylinders. I did not care about the damage because with this form's help I secured a great donor motor.

I would drop the oil and change the filter and look for metal. If you see an it's done if you don't it's going to need a set of bottom end bearings so a swap is more economical. I'd also pull the VC to see if you can see any scoring or major wear in the cam bearings. The bearings are brass or bronze and they will wear before the l crank and cam. (By Design)

Good luck. I still have my trashed engine. I should shoot and post up some pictures of the head to show what was running.

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Mad_Matt's Current Stable:
Oil Burners:
09 Jetta TDI The highway queen @ 105k
83 300D. Sold
Gassers:
16 A4 sport line
10 Passat
83 Recaro Trans AM WS6 Bone Stock Survivor
11 Harley Ultra

Of course, you are right. But what does it matter? It's not worthwhile to rebuild.

FWIW, I didi miss the bit about the violent shaking. Time to find a new engine.

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Chief

1991 350SD

2x on A second hand motor, adding a motor for your SLS pump is no biggie. Lots and lots and lots of motors in your area. Alot seem to be in Cleveland.

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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."

Post up those pics. Some of us quietly watching this thread would find ur pics and any from the OP useful. Never know when maybe I'll be in a similar pickle (always trying to learn)

I will contest some of the information below. My contentions are based on engines in general but, I will bow to a high level third party that offers Mercedes specific information.


Lack of oil pressure _to the top of the motor_ can cause the cam to seize and shear off the timing gear / break a chain / belt but, not crack a tower. 80's Honda motors had a cam seizing problem if the oil was not changed at regular intervals. The oil feed was very small and would sludge up solid. However these motors still had good oil pressure to the crankshaft and could be repaired.




But according to your quote above, no oil pressure will damage the valve train.

I don't know this engine specifically, but brass cam bearings are not common in any modern engine ( I've never come across a 60's + engine that had them ) Insert type cam bearings are steel backed with Babbit overlay, some have a copper underlay, if the babbit is worn copper will be exposed. Babbit is used because if it's softness and embedability, copper is used for it's slightly springy properties ( and probably its ability to bond to steel and babbit ) Some crankshaft bearings are made the same way, these are softer than the crank and can be changed when worn.

Engines with aluminum heads typically have the cam ride directly on the heads aluminum. Some old tractor / industrial engines have the cam ride directly on the cast iron block but these are slow speed engines.

What makes you think it is not worth rebuilding? An engine with worn bearings has value as a core to rebuild. An engine with a rod hanging out the side of the block has value as scrap.

All this talk of buying a good used engine is fine but finding a good used engine is iffy. Rebuilding an engine will give a known result and is worth the investment to someone interested in hanging onto a car.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

An '82 300TD would have solid lifters.

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

Not in a million years will you believe how this wound up: I had the car towed to a shop. They determined that the crank was bad, and suggested that instead of repairing it, I should just replace the engine. They said the noise was eminating from the bottom, which I still was having trouble believing. Moreover, they claimed to have checked the valves.

Unhappy with the guy's prices, I decided to take it to a mechanic an hour away. And....believe it or not, to save on the towing, I decided to drive it there. I felt I had little to lose at that point. Even if it drove 3 miles, that was a few extra bucks I'd save in towing.

With the engine banging and rocking, smoke rolling out the back, my wife followed me as I drove it to the other shop. On a lark, going up a hill, I decided to goose it to see if it would hold together. At that moment, the noise stopped. Utterly. When I stopped at a light, the car idled as smoothly as ever. When I accelerated, she had great power! My wife called me from the w124 she was driving behind me to let me know that it had completely stopped smoking.

So I drove it home, thinking that surely, the next morning, with the engine once again cold, it would start all that commotion again.

It never did. One week later, it's running great. Near as I can tell, it must've been a stuck valve that, perhaps, either the cam, or the piston (on the other end) were banging. And when I goosed it, it must've given enough pressure to pop it loose.

Can ya believe that? Spontaneous remission!