Friend's car. Has leaking injectors. We got as far as removing the crossover intake manifold and it was a bear; almost never got the passenger side tube out of the metal tube going to the air filter. And getting it back with the double rubber ring connector was nearly impossible (we stopped temporarily and put it back together fearing we could not put the entire manifold back together without some guidance). Had to cant the connector and use a rubber mallet; this cannot be right.

So to get to the injectors (and to unhook the wires on the starter - we also were not able to remove the starter because we could not get to the wires), how the heck do you get that mammoth intake manifold off? What's the secret? For example in the middle a rod mechanism protrudes from the bowels of the engine and it is not certain that the manifold will pass over it.

And do you have to remove the entire black plastic cover - is there anything inside it - or can you just unscrew the manifold hex nuts hidden partially by the black plastic? What are those black tubes which go from branch to branch of the manifold - are they hooked up to anything under the black plastic cover or do they just come out when you take off the mammoth intake manifold? I am just lost.

Good gravy; what happened to the MB engineers when they designed this one?

The second from front injector is leaking badly; the bottom of the engine is covered in diesel fuel. Assume we can replace some viton O rings?

I think you had difficulty with the crossover pipe because it was dry, rubber "O"ring was not greased.
The hard part is over, now just remove the bolts holding down the manifold and it should come right off!
May require a light tap with a rubber mallet to break the seal if some idiot used gasket sealer to glue it on!!!

The secret to getting it back together is to loosen the aluminum intake assembly on the passenger side of the head, so you have some wiggle to get it all lined back up. This is the part that the short connector with two big o-rings is seated into.

Why do you need to get to the starter?

There are two flaps in the intake manifold that change the effective length of the intake runners (poor man's turbo). 10mm nuts hold the valve assemblies in place, just remove the valve assemblies and leave all the vacuum and wires and rods hooked up.

Hex-bolts hold the intake manifold to the head - don't forget to replace the gasket!

Once the cross-over pipe is removed, take off the throttle linkage assembly, and IIRC there are six hex-head bolts that hold the black plastic cover in place. Underneath is access to the injectors. Note that a special socket is required to remove/install injectors, they are far different from OM603/2/1 or OM61x injectors, which require the deep 27mm socket.

That "octopus" is the crank-case breather stuff, feeds the crank case gases back into the intake. More than likely all that rubber will disintegrate and you'll need to replace with new parts from dealer. They are not terribly expensive. Save the hard plastic tubes, replace all the rubber.

I think there are about six or eight o-rings on the various fuel lines around the IP, replace them all while you have access. There's also a section of rubber fuel hose on the suction side of the fuel pre-heater that likes to age-out and start to leak.

__________________
Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

Maxbumpo - thank you; good info. We also wanted to replace starter. No way to remove the wiring because we could not get to the wires from beneath.

Injectors look to be a massive job. They are leaking diesel fuel all over the floor.