Thats most likely the next step. I read through some other threads involving engine rebuilds and that was one of the ones I came across. I am currently waiting for the rest of the oil to drain out of the engine since I just changed the filter which freed up some more oil. Once that is finished I am going to put the pan back on and fill it back up so I can at lest move the car to my other garage bay which is closer to my tools and work bench.

Well if it isn't the intermediate shaft bushing I'd then be thinking oil pump. (But you'd have noticed some changes in oil pressure right?)

__________________
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!

Oil pressure is pegged at cold idle and always between 15 & 30 bar at warm idle. Has been like that as long as I can remember. How critical is that bushing? Engine killer if not replaced at once? I don't have any need to drive the car but it is my favorite cruiser.

The intermediate shaft bearing you mean?

I estimate the spring force on the vacuum pump to vary somewhere between 25 and 75 kgf (I'm not 100% sure about these figures; I'm in the middle of making some measurements as luck would have it!) as the roller rolls up and down on the timing device's roller coaster track. You get a constant oscillation from the vacuum pump that runs at the same frequency as the crank rotation speed. If the intermediate shaft is allowed to oscillate excessively then the stroke on the vacuum pump gets bigger and then causes more damage to the bushing - eventually the vacuum pump's roller bearing follower has enough and commits suicide...

...then we all know where the ball bearings go...

__________________
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!

yuck... I know the vacuum pump on the car was replaced in the late 90's or early 2000's and doesn't have more than 25k to 30k on it.

I did let the car run for about 30 minutes and drove around the neighborhood and did some listening to the engine and the noise is definitely coming from the top rear of the engine. I did adjust the valves around the first of the year and I thought one of them might be a little on the loose side. Could that be the source of the noise? The air cleaner is a tiny bit loose as well so I am going to order new mounts since I need to do a cooling system flush and it is much easier to access the block drain with the air cleaner removed.

Well checking the valve gear is nice and easy compared with that big end bearing.

__________________
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!

True... Checking the bearings I had access to was quite easy though.

I am thinking about this puzzle..

.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Did you find it easy applying the final 90 degree torque angles whilst under the car? I'm not sure I'd be too happy with that.

__________________
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!

Easy is a relative term here

I was expecting a horrible job and it wasn't bad. 300D oil cooler lines are worse.

So what do you think?

There is no doubt this is correct.
* The only reason for highly elevated copper in the oil = bearing failure.

My concern = where is it coming from.


.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Sounds like the engine needs to come out to determine which bearing is bad and at that point might as well replace most wear parts since it will be out. I don't mind doing it I just need the tools like a hoist and stand. Should be fun :/

Might want to do another oil test for copper content alone. Too much work without verification there really is excess copper acumulation for the miles since the last oil change. Drop a note to the people that tested the last time on what they think. I would not drive this car until then.

Agreed. I did take another sample when I had the pan off and need to send it off this week. There are only about 500 miles on that oil change (I checked) so if the copper is still very high then it's time for the motor to come out. I'm pretty much indifferent at this point because I have been looking for an excuse to do a manual swap and this may provide the perfect excuse.