Valve adjusting
 

Hi I am going to adjust the valves as soon as my service cd gets here and was wondering if you have to use both of the special wrenches or can I use the long bent one and a regular wrench?
Thanks


David
1984 300 sd

David, you do not need any of the special wrenches in reality, but one would make it a bit easier. If you use regular wrenches you will need one that is thin, about .200" works great. You can just grind down if you do not have a thin one. Hope this helps.

Ok cool thanks for the quick reply!
How long do you think it normaly takes to do this?
I have adjusted plenty of valves just not on a mercedes so I'm how much time to plan on.
Thanks again

Shouldn't take more than an hour if you've adjusted valves before. The only thing to remember is to hold the cap still while tightening the lock nut (the bottom one).

Access is a pain no matter what wrenches you use.

Watch that you don't adjust for intake clearance on exhaust valves and vice versa -- the valves aren't arranged the same way on all cylinders.

Peter

Thanks for the tips I cant wait for the cd to get here so I can get to it.

If you plan on keeping the car for any length of time, I would buy the special wrenches. Only $65 bucks or so from Perf. Prod. I just did the valves on my 85 300SD with the cool Hazet wrenches and it was no problem. You can use the bolt on the power steering pump to turn over the engine. Do NOT use the cam shaft bolt. When using the feeler gages, err on the side of "loose" for the pull resistance. (Especially if you live in cold climates.) IMHO

Bill Rokaitis
1985 300SD 152,000miles

I plan on keeping this car for a long time to come. How often should the valves be adjusted also does it make a noticeable differance in fuel mileage? I have to admit in the past I have been a adjust'em and forget'em type of guy lol.

Schedule calls for the same as my 4.5 - every 15K miles, but that is considered a bit extreme by some. Yes, your mileage may improve after an adjustment.

My fuel mileage on the '82 300D has been slowly going down over the 27K miles I've driven it (without a valve adjustment) and the engine has gotten quieter. I've gone from 27.5 typical miles/gallon when I got it to about 25.5 now.

Guess that means its time for a valve adjustment on mine too!

It runs great though, no loss of power that I can tell. Do you think the most telling impact of needing a valve adjustment is the fuel mileage? I understand of course that if you let it go too long that valves might burn and it would be hard to start.

Ken300D