I could do that, but it is still a little premature. I was trying to get the engine running before I finish putting everything together in case I need to pull the engine back out. I have seen many others who have done these conversions, and almost every one has a video on youtube showing the first start in the engine bay, before they finish putting everything back together. That's where I am at.

I need to finish the hydraulic clutch hookup, fill the tranny with lube, install the hood, bumper, grill, trim, fuel tank, etc.

I want it running before I complete all the re-assembly.I don't want to have to take it all apart again if I need to pull the engine to tear it down.

I can't even remove the valve cover without removing the engine mounts and lowering the engine til the pan sits on the crossmember. That's how tight it is in there.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a break from it and complete some other projects that needed my attention. Then I will come back to it with fresh eyes and enthusiasm in a couple days.

Rick

Rolson

I dont know where your at with this now but I would be willing to bet that if you got a new mb starter or used the one from the donor and used the battery cables from the benz ( larger ) this thing will start right up. I have seen these cars burn up jumper cables and other wiring just from the amount of power needed to turn one of these engines over. I also have a 115 body 240 that wouldnt start in winter and I always thought it was compression related but I put a new starter in and it starts so fast you cant release the knob fast enough.Good luck and keep posting on this iteresting project.

You had better take a step back and/or get another set of eyes on the cam and IP timing.

My bet is that you've got an error in one........or both.

You changed the starter............have enough crank speed with working glow plugs............and it won't start.

Either the compression is NG on several (doubtful since it was running) or you've made an error in timing. Nothing else is possible.

ol ironhead,

I wish it were possible to use the MB starter, but can't. Because of mating this engine up to the ax-15 transmission from a Jeep so I could have a 5 speed with OD for highway use, it must use the Jeep starter. Life would have been much easier if MB would sell these cars in the USA like they sell them in Europe with the 5 speed tranny.

Brian,

After being gone for a family vacation, I have come back and started moving forward with this truck. I completed the clutch conversion, filled the tranny with the proper fluid, checked and added air as needed to all the tires, etc. so I could attempt to pull start it.

Last night my wife pulled me around the block to pull start it. It does start, and I could get the rpms up enough to hear the turbo whistle, but then it stalled. Did that a couple times, and each time I pushed in the clutch it would begin to stall.

I had to hold the pedal to the floor for the most part to keep it running, and it spewed a HUGE amount of white/gray smoke. I finally gave up before I ticked off the neighbors from the smoke.

I was both encouraged that it did run and respond somewhat to the pedal and hear the turbo whine, but frustrated too that it will not stay running on its own, and never idled at all.

About the only thing left to do is pull it back out, and tear it all down and re-assemble again.

If I remove the head, will I need to buy new head bolts? Not sure if I can re-use them, but at around $80 for all 22 of them I don't want to replace them if I can help it.

Rick

It was running in the car. It has be something you have done. No sense taking the engine out and apart at this point. You may find nothing obviously wrong.

I would do the conventional injection pump drip test at this point because of your description of after it started and ran with the pull start. Something is way off. Make absolutly sure you are doing the drip test correctly.

This post is in no way meant to be critical. It would be a shame to tear out the engine with no obvious indication of the need to do so yet.

"marked everything prior to disassembly" is pretty easy to get the pump several degrees advanced or retarded with PERFECT markings... if you don't know what you are doing. would you believe 180 out?

__________________
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My drivers:
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You can stop the thought of removing the head. Unless you've failed to torque the head bolts, you have proper compression.

So, with proper compression and suitable air (I presume you don't have any intake blockage).............you are left with fuel. You have plenty of fuel as the neighbors can attest by the smoke.

So, why won't it run?

Simple..........the fuel is being injected at the wrong time. Despite your ongoing assertions that the timing is correct, the IP timing is definitely not correct, and as John suggested, is very likely to be 360 degrees out of phase with the crankshaft.

Naturally, you are aware that you have a four stroke engine and you can easily time it on the exhaust stroke if you're not careful.

Your results show this to be the situation.

Please check the injection timing again! The fact that it will run, and respond to the pedal but spews tons of gray smoke and will not idle is almost a classic symptom of injection timing off by 180 degrees!

__________________
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Hope everybody had a happy and safe Independence Day!

Here is the latest in this saga:

After hearing from everybody that I had obviously done something wrong with the timing I went back to the manuals and re-read everything I could find regarding engine rebuild, engine timing, IP removal, installation, and IP timing and I finally found where I had messed up.

In the Todd Computer manual I found the instructions that I had not found in the Chilton Manual. After getting the timing marks matched up from the harmonic balancer on the crank and the cam, I read that I had to bring it back around to 24+1degrees BTDC, and THEN install the IP with the timing marks matched on it.

My timing was 25 degrees off.

Put it back together and after getting the lines purged it started right up.

However, it will not idle. I have to give it some pedal to keep it running, but it is smooth. It still smokes a lot also, and it is gray/white. Only goes to black when I put the pedal down hard.

Any ideas on what may be causing the engine to not quite idle, yet smoke a lot? My IP was put back on and tightened down at the same position it was in when I bought it. I did not tighten the nuts and bolt that hold it in position until I installed the hard lines to the injectors so that it went back to the way I found it. Then I tightened the IP bolt and nuts.

Is it possible I have an injector that is dumping too much fuel?

I remember when I removed the head last winter that the top of the piston on the number 5 cylinder was quite wet. All the others were very dry and only a little soot.

Before I removed the engine from the car, I noticed that when I started and ran the engine it would leave a black spot on my driveway behind the tailpipe. I thought it was due to the valve seals being worn out and oil was getting past the valves. I replaced them when I did the head gasket, etc last winter. Now I am wondering if it is injector related.

Any recommendations as to replacement injector nozzles? Bozzio, Bosch, or others?

Thanks for all of your help!! You guys are awesome.

Rick

You remain with cam timing and/or IP timing errors. The "same position" is irrelevant unless you verify it.

1) What's the current cam timing. Do a quick check and set the mark to the mark on the #1 tower. Take a photo of the crank damper and post it on the forum.

2) What's the IP timing? Have you checked and set it with the drip method?


Apparently, you want to go off and chase gremlins that don't exist to avoid confronting the timing scenario that you have not resolved.

You have to do the drip timing proceedure in my opinion. Not that hard but really required as well. If everything was now as it was the engine would still be running the same as it was when you aquired it.

Just make sure those two first lobes on the camshaft are pointing generally upward when you do it. Logically you would not have developed a new fault like a bad injector during the time frame of the removal and installation of the engine.

Or if you did go buy some lotto tickets as you would have had a better chance of winning the lotto almost. Keep the faith as you are getting there.

Brian,
Thanks for the input.

I have verified the cam and crank by actually pulling the valve cover and verifying the cam position with the lobes in the up, or closed position.

Due to chain stretch the crank is actually about 5 degrees ahead of the cam timing mark on the tower. I will replace the woodruff key soon with the proper off-set key. It was this way when I took it apart, and I have it back to where my match marks are exactly where they were before dis-assembly.

Any thoughts to my observation of the 5th cylinder being all wet when I took the head off? Is that likely to be an injector issue, or from leaky valve stem seals?

Thanks.

Rick

Not likely to be the old valve seals on the number five cylinder. A broken valve guide might do it but you should have spotted it when changing the valve seals. Are you sure you cannot get a compression check on number five?? If you suspect the injector swap any one of them with the number five injector.

It appears that the cam timing is acceptable. Now, you need to check and verify the IP timing. Assuming that it is proper, simply because it was identical to the condition in which it was removed is counterproductive.

You'll need to elaborate more about the exact scenario of "all wet".

Valve stem seals don't cause any accumulation of fluid in the cylinder...........they just increase oil consumption. Not harmful in any way to a diesel...............just costly for the operator.

The injector provides such a miniscule amount of fuel to the cylinder on each compression stroke that it would also be impossible for fuel to collect in the cylinder on a running engine. Of course, if the engine is cranked for minutes without combustion, the fuel can accumulate on the top of the piston and on the walls of the cylinder............somewhat.

Hey guys,

It's been a very productive weekend here. Yesterday my son helped me put the fuel tank, heat shields, bed, new fuel lines, fuel filler neck, etc.

Today, I ran Seafoam through the injectors and it helped with the smoking, and I was finally able to get it to idle after it was good and warm. It runs smooth at higher rpms, rough idle, but definitely better after the injector cleaner.

Also completed installing the rest of the front end, lights, grille, hood, both bumpers, etc.

Tomorrow I will test drive and tie up some loose ends.

Thanks everybody!! Will hopefully post some pics soon.

Rick