Hello all,

I thought I would share some pictures and a talk-through on changing the lifters on my 1986 300SDL OM603. Please understand that the FSM is the authoritative source; I'm just sharing what I did and some photos.

You will need some torque specs as you reinstall things. Refer to the FSM for these numbers. Some of the values change depending on where in the production run your engine falls.

Photo #1

1. Remove the crossover pipe. 3 X 5mm Allen (hex) bolts.

2. Remove valve cover. 8 X 10mm bolts. Pull breather tube from rubber intake tube and lift cover.

3. Position the engine so that cylinder #1 is at TDC. If anyone knows a good way to do this on the 603, let me know. I did lots of starter bumps.

Photo #2 - Picture of engine with valve cover removed. I had never seen this so thought I would post this.

4. Install several wire ties to hold the chain snug on the cam sprocket.

5. Remove valve chain tensioner. This will leak a bit of oil, so be ready with rags to plug the hole from which it comes and immediately flip the tensioner to put the outer side of the tensioner down so it does not leak oil everywhere.

Photo #3

6. Remove the cam sprocket bolt. The exact style of this bolt and its washer changed during the manufacturing run of this engine; you may need a 12-point socket for this. Mine was the early style and used a standard hex-point bolt. You should put some sort of bar through the cam sprocket to keep it from turning--I used a 3/8 socket extension. Pull the cam sprocket off of the cam and just let it set in the chain well.

7. Make a mental note (or take a picture) of exactly where the camshaft was positioned before you pull it, you will need this later. Remove the camshaft. The FSM has very specific instructions about this...follow them. When you read the FSM, note that there is confusion about the dark and light colored arrows in the drawings. You want to follow the cap number removal order.

8. Photo #3 is what things look like when you have pulled the two lifters from cylinder #1. I was replacing all of the lifters, so I just used a very large pair of pliers to slide the lifters out--they are coated in oil and very slippery.

Photo #4

9. The FSM talks about using compressed air to blow out the lifter oil supply passages in the cylinder head; Photo #4 shows where these are located and how I directed the air into them.

Photo #5

10. I filled a small container with the type of oil that I use in this engine and plunked the new lifters into the oil upside down. Then I used a 3/8 extension to press firmly down on the center of the lifter a few times to try get oil pumped into the lifter body.

I have more photos but can't upload them with this posting, so I will continue in another posting...part 2 coming soon.

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
Mike Frederick
1986 300SDL, 240K+ miles
1985 300D KaliKar, 270K+ miles