Thanks guys, it's nice to have a shoulder to cry on. I have a local machine shop recommended to me by a Mercedes indy, an old school machinist. He pressure tested the head with a rig that I did not get to see in action. Once I get the head back next week I'll photgraph the cracks.

Still waiting for a return email from the fellow I bought this from......

Glory to God!

The fellow I bought the head from just called me - he's going to refund the money (big sigh of relief)!

Am going to pull the car into the carport weekend after next and start taking it all apart. Will get the existing head pressure tested and go from there.

Lesson - always insist on having heads tested before purchasing and shipping (fewer worries that way).

Alright - as promised, here are some photos of the #22 head cracks - all the cracks showed up in the same place, on cylinders 3, 4 & 5 between the injector nozzle and the exhaust valve;





My Virginia state inspection sticker expires on 31 July, so I'm going to start tearing the car apart my first free weekend in August. I'll keep everyone here posted as long as ya'll are still interested in reading about my project. Stay tuned crime fighters! Same BAT time, same BAT channel.

UPDATE !!!!!

So - I've been writing elsewhere about my problems and solutions with this project. I located and purchased a clean #22 head from a forum member in Columbus, Ohio. I have, as of 1 hour, finally gotten the head off my car. What a P I T A !!!! Sooooo many lessons. Could not have gotten this far with everyone here on this forum.



I quickly washed and brushed the common crack areas and examined closely with a spotlight and my glasses and could not find any cracks. I'll invest the money in getting this one pressure tested.

A few things I learned along the way; Unbolt both the dip sticks from the head; have plenty of extensions of different sizes along with wobble links and elbows; build a rail pin extractor out of bolts and washers; keep your tools organized and clean; keep your magnetic extension always handy to retrieve everything you drop; place a BIG tarp under the car - it makes it easier to hear if you drop something and it'll not roll as far (also helps alot if you are working in gravel, you'll FIND whatever you drop much faster), READ THIS FORUM and ASK QUESTIONS, and finally, pray for patience and wisdom.

It was just a head gasket. You are an om603 Prophet! The head is laying on my workshop right now. It will be worked over and made fresh, the I'll have an emergency spare.

Hey JBrian.

I share your diesel passion and have done this job in Fredericksburg.
I have a e300 td with 311,000. If you need tools, let me know.

Your best friend is Rodney Eubank at Eubank Machine.

He has done all the mercedes work for Rosner Mercedes since the 70's.

One of the nicest guys on the planet!

Rodney 804.633.7343 - about 5 miles south of town off of route 2.

Best Regards, Michael 703.867.0850

Nice car I love the color. Great deal on just being a head gasket, too bad to bought 2 heads before you found out though.

I just had a guy offer me a 97 diesel wagon for $3K with 80K miles on it. It was his dad's and his dad passed away a year ago.........

...you were just featured in the Pelican Parts newsletter!

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Wow, thanks! That's coooooollllll.

You lucky dog, you.
My '91 300TE is probably the best car I have ever owned. It has 4Matic and over a quarter million miles...I have had to replace the front brake pads and the wiper blades a few times. If the engine ever wears out I will probably install a diesel..[never happen...but a nice thought]
Take care of your car and it will return the favor.

Yeah, yeah. I did learn a lot, at least I now have a good head to work with. Don't know much about the 97 diesel wagon you mentioned, I'd definitely ask around on here first to see what to look for. Good luck!

Thanks, that's what I, hoping for!

I got the head back from the machine shop this afternoon. All clean and fresh, new seals installed and a check of the valve face says it's ready to install.

Today is my first day back form 3 weeks at Ft. Gordon, GA (Army training Sir !). I couldn’t wait to get back into my Klaus project. A few days before I left, my #22 head came back from the machine shop with a new set of seals, a flatness test and a clean bill of health (no cracks). Soooo – today I got back to work.

I started out by cleaning out all 26 of the threaded head bolt holes. I first flushed them out with break-cleaner. Then I hand threaded a head bolt into each hole, all the way to the bottom. If the bolt fought me at all, or didn’t bottom out, I flushed and cleaned again until I was satisfied it was good. Then I got the block surface really, really clean (after reading some excellent posts here on that very subject). Now the block surface shines. Finally I sprayed the head down with break free and wiped it all down – then hit the whole thing with the shop vac – cleaned out all the cylinders and threaded holes. Almost clean enough to eat off of – see -



Then I started on the head. I polished the head surface a little (angle grinder with a brass wire rotary brush – did a great job). I wanted to mount the exhaust manifold – but it was rusty – so I spent about 40 minutes it with the grinder and wire brush too – got the mating surfaces all clean and smooth, then thought, what the heck, so I polished the whole thing as much as I could. I placed the head on its side and attached the exhaust gasket – noticed that I was missing two exhaust studs - which I don’t remember being gone. Then I figured it out – I was prepping the wrong head! They all looked the same (I actually forgot where I placed my good #22 head before I left) – I was actually working on my old #14 (crack-less) head. Ugh!



So – I polished the surface of my good #22 head, laid it on its side, placed the exhaust gasket and set the clean manifold on the 12 studs. Great – now where are those manifold nuts (the copper covered ones)? Oh - there are right here where I left them. Let’s count – 1,2,3….10 – missing 2. Hmmm – Oh yeah – these two came out with the studs still attached. Into the vice they go, great – got one off. Dang! Snapped the stud on the other, let me try again, ARGH! Snapped the stud twice. I give up for today. Right after I order a new set of copper plated exhaust nuts from Peach Parts.



Stay tuned crime fighters – same Bat time, same Bat channel…….

Oh yeah - I also answered on of my own questions. I found where the block type was marked, Mine is a 603 960 12 010 010 (now what does that actually tell me)?