Greetings!

I am in need of a bit of advice regarding my 1976 240D - about 3 years ago I suffered what I thought to be a catastrophic engine failure on my way home from a music rehearsal. All was normal when I exited the freeway - however after coming to a complete stop I found that the throttle was unresponsive. I shut the car off, rolled it to the side of the road, and opened the hood to find oil splattered all over the engine bay. There was also black residue that had come out of the tail pipe and was sprayed along the trunk. After a jump and keeping the revs above a certain point so it wouldn't stall, I was able to nurse it home. At the time there were no known mechanical issues; fluid levels were checked before making the trip and the vehicle showed no signs of distress during the drive.

We had an acquaintence (who had done work on the car before) offer to take it under his wing to inspect and find a solution, but after 8 months of it sitting in his garage without touching it, he dropped it in our front yard. Since then it has sat at home, waiting to be fixed. Being a poor college student at the time (and now a poor college graduate), I haven't been able to afford to even transport the vehicle to a proper mechanic. I live in rural Iowa, so there aren't many Mercedes specialists nearby.

My dad has recently suggested pulling the engine and swapping it from another 240D. Some searching on eBay has produced a few promising results, but this option seems expensive and risky.

Does this sound like a blown cylinder? Catastrophic failure? Something less dramatic? Something fixable without replacing the engine? Any thoughts or suggestions for a solution would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! I've owned the car for about 6 years, but do not consider myself to be aMercedes Diesel Engines expert in the slightest.

Thanks!

-icampbellm1

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Insufficient input to allow for a real diagnosis.
Id start by cleaning under the hood to allow for visual checking
Check your oil level. Get the level back to where it should be
and turn the motor over. See if any leaks reappear.

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

You've come to the right place. We'll help you figure it out.
If the motor's trash, the swap is not a bad job. You'll need various parts & pieces off the old one if the donor is a W123 instead of a W115.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

Do you remember any knocking or unusual sounds as you nursed it home? What's the oil level now if no one has added any?

Sixto
MB-less

Well from the picture on his post it is a very nice looking W115. Pretty hard to put in anything but a 240 D. It is really difficult to tell anything after it has set for 3 years. The oil trail has dried up and is in the dust. OP's memory about the incident is pretty hazy. I would say a good place to start looking would be to pull the valve cover off, and get that big 17 mm deep socket and see if the engine will turn over when pulled by a long breaker bar. And see when turning it over if all the valves are operating. If that is visually AOK, I would try to get it started. Make sure oil and coolant are in the engine and crank it to start. It probably wont take long to see that you have a bad leak in the oil line to the cooler along side the radiator. Two composition lines come from the rear drivers side by the oil filter and run to the cooler up front. I think one of them blew. Pretty easy fix if that is the case and if it runs half decent you are very lucky. I am also from Iowa, grew up in Sioux County. I never ever saw a Mercedes in Sioux County.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

27 deep or 1-1/16" will turn the motor over from the balancer.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?