There has been some debate on this and other forums as to the extent of the flawed 603 head failures. If you have owned a 603.96 engine (e.g. 1987 300D or TD or SDL) please reply to this poll.

Since the poll only allows people to vote once you'll have to post a reply if you've owned more than one of these engines.

__________________
-Mike
'87 300TD 304kmi (RIP)
'95 Toyota Camry Wagon 125kmi

Not yet, and I'm not worried about it. Most head failures were the result of the trap oxidizer contributing in overheating the engine, which is no longer an issue. Just keep an eye on the temp gauge and all's well.

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

There is speculation that the extra heat presented by the trap oxidizer contributed to this. In my case the trap was only replaced 18 months ago. So I think my head crack supports this theory. Any of the other broken heads had the traps removed late? Thanks,

__________________
-Mike
'87 300TD 304kmi (RIP)
'95 Toyota Camry Wagon 125kmi

Does anybody know what the overall percentage may be for the head failures to occur without overheating the engine?

And in what mileage band would this most likely occur? I'm currently at 100K with the SDL and have some oil leakage at the headgasket at the back of the engine. It drips oil from this area and is annoying but I've applied some JB weld at the seam last night hoping this helps without having to replace the head gasket. Fortunately, (knock on wood) I have no coolant or oil leakage internal to the engine.

Other than that, this has to be the finest diesel car ever produced by MB.

Herb
'82 240D
'87 300SDL

msyoder--

My trapox was removed at around 203k miles, the head cracked at 235k. Theory seems reasonable to me.

__________________
Lance Allison
Lance@LanceAllison.com

Current:
11 MB S550 4Matic, 55k miles, Designo Black/Black
14 Ford F150 XLT Lariat Crew, 73k miles, 5.0
Coyote V8 4x4. Black/tan.
09 GMC Envoy Denali, 5.3 V8, 4x4 SWB. 38k miles,
Jewel Red/Med Gray.

Gone:
87 MB 300SDL, 320k miles, Astral Silver/Blue.
98 VW Jetta TDI, 488k miles, Classic Green/Gray.
85 Olds 98 Brougham FWD, 4.3 DIESEL V6, 80k
miles, 3x Gray.

MBCA Member, Chicago Region

I am currently at 268k with no failure,

I do not see anything in the exhaust that resembles
a catalytic converter, but where in the exhaust system
is (was) it so I can be certain?

Thanks,

Craig Amos
1987 300D Turbo

Attached Thumbnails

 

Lance,

The PO never did the trap change. I had it done at 217kmi and the head replaced at 242kmi. The correlation is strong in my case also.

__________________
-Mike
'87 300TD 304kmi (RIP)
'95 Toyota Camry Wagon 125kmi

Craig,

The TO was located on the pass. side of the engine in the exhaust line before the turbo. It was a large silver metal canister about 8-10" in diameter.

__________________
-Mike
'87 300TD 304kmi (RIP)
'95 Toyota Camry Wagon 125kmi

Craig,

You can view before and after pic's of the TO removal at the following link:


:EDIT: bad link
http://www.dhc.net/~pmhack/mercedes/trapoxr.HTM

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

I'm at 262K now, no idea when the trap-ox was done, but I'm positive it was done while the car still lived in Cali, before 100,000 miles.

I have no signs of the head failing, I maintain my car religously, and watch the guages at all times.

Oh, and as far as I know the head is totally original and has never been touched.

Turbodiesel,

Do you have any external oil leakage, however minor, at the headgasket area? And if so, how bad does it leak?

Herb
'82 240D
'87 300SDL

The 87 300tdt that I bought with the engine disassembled had been diagnosed by the dealer as having a cracked head due to over heating. The PO had the trap oxidizer removed after the overheating problems began, and as one would expect, the overheating continued. New radiator, water pump,
thermostat, hoses followed, with no change in the overheating. The car was finally towed to the dealer, who declared after taking things apart that the head was "bad". I bought the car at that point and installed a good engine from a yard that incidentally still had the trap oxidizer on it. Recently I took the original #14 head to a machine shop to have it checked out and lo and behold I'm told that it is flat and not cracked! So somebody missed something,
probably a bad head gasket NOT a bad head. I wonder how many heads have been replaced due to misdiagnosis, thus giving the lowly #14 head its undeserved bad name. From reading this post it seems many more of the original heads are doing just fine, given that some other problem hasn't toasted them.
Steve

I can't quite fill out your survey. Yes, my head shows signs of cracking, but it has not failed. I've driven it for ~40k with small hairline fissures that allow combustion gases to enter the coolant, but do not allow coolant to migrate out. Driving on borrowed time I guess.

Uh - that *is* a cracked head, Casey, lol! It's just in the early stages of cracking, that's all. Might wanna fix that before intercooling and pumping up the beast!