Yeah, you don't want to run gas SN oil in an old diesel.

20w-50 is too thick anyway. 15W-40 is what most use, but 5W-40 is recommended for all climates. It needs a C commercial rating instead of S spark.

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'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
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Before you pull the head, do a leakdown test to determine what cylinder has the problem.

This is where you place a piston at TDC / both valves closed then you pump air into cylinder. With a gas motor it is through the spark plug hole, a diesel it is through the injector or glow plug.

Also, don't randomly throw parts at the car, find the actual problem. ( RE installing a starter to cure exhaust smoke. )

Many people don't know much about a car so don't mistake lack of skills for malice.

Do the leakdown test, Check Compression, If it's determined that it's just a headgasket, replace the headgasket and see what she does. Turbo rebuild is easy as pie, it should only take about 2 hours max, and that includes taking it off, rebuilding it and putting it back on.

Was this in Jacksonville, Fl? pm me if you are going to part it out. I am in Jacksonville, Fl. Where are you located?

Oh, and I think if it has a good body and good interior that a purchase price of
$700 is a bargain....even if it had no motor.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Is there coolant in the crankcase? If yes - you are going to need to check the bearings. If no- do a leak down test on the cooling system (pump it up to 10-15psi) and see if coolant leaks into the crankcase - if yes see above regarding bearings. (Coolant attacts crank/rod bearing material)
Pull your glow plugs, examine, then do a cylinder leak down test. Listen for rushing air at adjacent cylinders, oil sump. exaust & intake. No leakage=good (not a likely result).

I wouldn't freak out about the engine. The rest of the car seems to indicate a fair deal if you can do the repairs cheap. If you can do the labor, and you buy the parts at the best price you should come out of it OK. Make sure you compare the price of a good used engine swap with the proposed repairs. You might find a good, swappable engine for lless than the repairs.

Thank you everyone for your advice,and yes this was the car that was for sale in Jacksonville.I am located in Perry,FL, I will be well chuffed if all it needs is a HG and other minor repairs,great news that I didn't over-pay given it's current state.

I really do like the car (third time I've said that? lol that must mean something),so any part-out will be avoided unless of course the engine is bad(cracked or damaged block/liner),given the price of a good used engine. Cheapest one I saw was over $1300! I could do a compression test and all that,but at this point it's certain there is some serious HG problems so I'm going to tear into it when the tool shows up in the mail as soon as I can.(A diesel compression tester would run me $50,which would be nice but I'm sure the problem will be obvious once the head is off)No coolant was registering on the dipstick. I'm not going to hurry the process and I'm going to do as much research about it as possible until my head hurts lol,I've done HG job's before and this one looks fairly straight forward.Biggest thing I'm worried about is the pin removal,and that big hex bolt. I'm going to be really careful to make sure I don't break any studs or head-bolts!

I was looking at the head-gasket kit's and I saw where PP sells the OEM Mercedes kit for ~$60! That's fantastic,I'm sure there will be other parts I will need (going to check timing chain slack,etc) but if this will only cost a couple hundred dollars that'd be amazing.

Thank you again guys,
I'll have an update sometime next week on the shape of the engine.
-fingers crossed!-

Get a proper pin removal tool - http://www.amazon.com/Timing-Chain-Guide-Rail-Puller/dp/B00I38SQYI . I pulled several pins with stacked washers (injector heat shields) and I'm happy to have paid $30 for the tool even if the last couple of pins I pulled are the last I ever pull. At that I use a $10 Autozone bit set on 603 head bolts.

Sixto
83 300SD

Advice heeded,and tool boughten.

Cool,I think at this point I should be good to pull the head this time next week.
Am I right in that I'll need a 17mm allen socket too? Read that somewhere,and then how does the turbo return line come off?

Having reading about the headgasket replacement on the 617, the only thing that I think takes any delicacy is lifting the head, keep the timing chain under tension(Think bungee Cords), and getting the torque sequence correct. Keep in mind that Victor Reinz uses a different torque rating for their headgaskets VS the service manual. Should be fairly easy and atleast lifting the head up will give you a good idea of what condition the pistons are in and what kind of wear. Take pictures and keep everybody posted, we all love pictures!

Yes,I will post pictures of the aftermath

I started to tear into it a little bit today,all I did was take off the charge pipe and cleaned it out,it was full of gunk. Really slick design MB did with the o-ring and the more I look at it,the less daunting this task feels. It's a pretty straight-forward design when you break it all down.

The benzes of this era are very mechanic friendly.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

This is where I left off today,I was just about to drop the timing chain.

Good news is the engine is still in perfect time,which I found pretty amazing!
Bad news is I broke the #1 glow plug nut off(gp itself is still removable from the head,just the nut that holds the wire on broke off),I'm a tad worried that it might be seized in the head which would be a real bummer.. I soaked the rest of the nuts in PB for the night,hopefully they will come out. Also the radiator is broken,the part where the upper hose mounts on is broken,so this engine was probably over-heated at one point of time.. I was going to get more pics but my phone shut off,all in all a good day today,tomorrow the head should be off and the verdict will be in on this engine!

PB is ok but Kroil is sooo much better

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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."

K I got the guide pin out,now I'm trying to figure out how to get the head off. I read on the DIY's to zip tie the chain to the cam gear (which I did) and then you'll be able to drop it into the front of the timing cover? I took the tensioner out,but don't see how that's possible.

Am I missing something? Does the sprocket have to come off the timing chain order for it to drop down? But then that'd make the zip tie irrelevant..