Trap removed at 49K
-14 head cracked at 67k
Entire engine replaced at 178k
-22 head cracked at 201K (Replaced under new engine warranty)
Now at 249K and running fine.

My sig is out of date

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87 300D 265Kmi
Factory rebuilt crate 603.96x engine at 200K

Seriously? Did you see the cracked #22 head? I don't think I've ever heard of one cracking before. Where were the cracks located... between the valves, or valve to prechamber? What led up to the cracking?

The head gasket on my OM603 is leaking oil around one of the head bolts and the engine still runs hotter than I like it to, but the #14 head hasn't cracked yet. The engine doesn't loose any coolant, and there is no oil or water intermingling. It doesn't show any hard hose symptoms when cold either. Hopefully, I'll get to the citric acid flush this summer, but there is a laundry list of other stuff to take care of since I have had my 1987 300TDT for 6 years now.

I have been looking for a replacement head for a while, and I always seem to miss them at the wrecking yard. It's kind of funny I came across a 1987 300D in the South Sacramento PNP that I had looked at in 2004 when first started searching for a W124 with an OM603. In 2004 the seller told me it had a new head because the original #14 cracked. Sure enough the "new" head was gone from the engine when I saw it. Last time I went to the Moss Landing PNP in January there was a 1987 300D with cracked #14 head in the yard.


I still would take a OM603 any day over the OM617. My Mom used to own a 1981 300D that I learned to drive on (and I had to take care of). The OM617 was naturally aspirated and quite reliable, but the power difference and refinement was like night and day. Just my two cents worth in a long running debate.

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1987 300TDT smoke silver w/ burgundy leather interior
2000 VW Passat wagon indigo blue w/ beige leather interior
1985 Mustang SVO
1970 Chevrolet K10 fleetside, shortbed

Dave, I thought that I had told you about this. The -22 head that came with the crate engine cracked. My indy discovered a problem on a coolant system leakdown test. The engine hydro-locked after the test and would do so repeatedly after any pressure was applied to the coolant system. The crack was on the rearmost cylinder and was from the valve to prechamber area. The head was replaced by the dealer through which the crate engine was sourced. At the time, it was the only 603.960 crate engine available in the US and came from a warehouse in Baltimore. It had a 4 year, 50K warranty and I was very close to the upper time limit-but not miles. My only complaint is that they did not install all of the clips on the fuel hardlines to the injectors and rubbing caused a leak which they would not cover. I seem to recall that you had asked for pictures but I could not get them from the dealer. The only other thing of note was on the front two cylinders there were impact marks on the head/top of piston where some hard foriegn object had bounced around. Not major damage, however.

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87 300D 265Kmi
Factory rebuilt crate 603.96x engine at 200K

Although I didn't get any history when I bought my 603, my mechanic looked at it and said, "The head's been replaced." I suspect a PO overheated and cracked the original. The replacement head is unfortunately another #14 but so far it is OK except that the valve guides/seals leak such that the car smokes a little and I have to add some oil occasionally. Given the cost of a replacement head, I've decided to put up with the smoke and just drive the car.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Jeremy, the 60x valve guides almost never need replacement. If you're getting some blue smoke and oil consumption, and you're fairly sure it's the valves (not turbo, head gasket, etc) then it's most likely the valve stem seals. These can be replaced without pulling the head but it's still a fairly big job, as you need to pull the cam, carefuly rotate the engine 120° at a time from TDC (0°, 120°, and 240°) to get a pair of pistons at TDC, then use a valve spring compressor to remove the springs and access the seals. Don't forget (like I did) to then rotate the engine another 360° to bring the IP back into sync with the cam, and then check IP timing after the cam is re-installed.

Parts (new valve stem seals) are cheap but it's a lot of labor, and some special tools are required. If the head gasket is at all suspect, or leaking elsewhere, I'd just pull the head and replace the head gasket at the same time. Same deal with the head gasket replacement - parts are cheap, but it's a big job!

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I see I never replied to this, so for the record:

The problem indeed turned out to be the valve stem seals. Whoever had last worked on the head had installed the cheapest aftermarket seals and they did not seal very well. The exhaust seals seemed to leak more than the intakes and, in addition to the smoking, was the cause of the external oil leak because the exhaust manifold was not properly torqued. Oil would leak through the exhaust valve stem seals into the exhaust ports and then seep between the head and the manifold and coat the right rear side of the block with a layer of oil.

The head gasket was in good condition and the head itself was OK except for some dings in the head and piston crown of the #2 cylinder -- sounds very much like what theref described in his #22 cracked head. I can't imagine what might have caused such damage.

In the end, I decided to upgrade to a later casting and picked up a #20 head with most of its bits and pieces from Sixto, who had had it on his '92 300SD that got rear-ended. I had a "light" valve job done and installed factory valve stem seals and a bunch of new gaskets. Made a $10 valve spring compressor from scrap metal and screws by modifying a design for a VW tool that was mentioned in a forum post several years ago.

The new head works great and the engine has stopped smoking and leaking. For what it's worth, by the time I got the head serviced (Paul's Empire Head, Santa Rosa, Calif.) and installed (including $140 in special tools) and replaced all of the missing/broken/damaged parts hidden under the turbocharger, I had spent $2,000. OTOH, the car is a lot more fun to drive since I can romp on the throttle without leaving behind a cloud of smoke.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Cheers just got this 300 sdl in June in the attached photo do I have the new trap oxidizer on the eng. ? ty 350,000 km on eng, runs fine when the turbo is engaged. ty in advance,, I would hate to loss the head.

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No you don't have a trap ox.