GAH !
 

I hopped into my 1982 240D before sun up this morning and barely made it to the freeway before hearing a rapid clicking sound, I turned off the radio and it wasn't loud but I was concerned so I shifted into neutral and the engine died and locked up .

Now, what ? .

Stay tuned .

Locked up?!? Did the chain fail or come off it’s tensioner?

I hope it was your ac compressor.

Oh man... sorry to hear it Nate : /

The time that happened to me, it was the AC compressor clutch seizing. Cut the belt and continued.

Please keep us posted.

240D engines will shear the crank pulley and make all sorts of clanking.

Think is the engine will labor on.

The “locked up” comment is the concerning thing…

Any updates?

Good luck!!!

Yes, sounds like the vacuum pump fell apart and parts fell into the timing mechanism.

Removing the valve cover and looking for broken camshaft bearing towers or broken camshaft.

Next is removing the vacuum pump.

The good news is that rebuilding a 240D is not as costly as a turbo diesel.

When I removed the large timing chain tensioner shoe the bottom end was cracking and falling apart.

You could also drop the small oil pan and see if there is metal fragments in it.

Thanx Fellas
 

As it turns, I'm having my buddy the ex M-B dealer Mechanic take a look at it, I'm still up to my eyeballs in the '59 VW and Ural Motocycle jobs....

I too am very concerned it might be a grenaded vacuum pump.....

Hopefully we'll get time to open it up between Christmas and New Year's .

I'm so far underwater in this car I can't quit now, don't want to either but if the block has damage (I have no idea where internal oil is leaking out yet) I'll probably get another engine and freshen it up .

Stay tuned .

Aww man! You were on the way to the La Canada Mercedes toy drive? I didn’t make it up this time. Just a bad day all around.

That is the pits. I guess it’s time to tear into it and see what’s going on in there.

Missed The Toy Drive
 

No,

It was early Thursday morning before sunup ~ I was headed to Corona, Ca. for vintage VW parts, luckily (?) it failed within a few minutes of getting up to speed .

I'm thinking the high pitched clicking sound was the ball bearings in the vacuum pump beginning to let go .

Yes, it sucks, yes I plan to fix it again .

Was that the original engine at 408k+ miles?

Engine
 

Yes but, I did a serious refresh about 40,000 miles ago when the #1 cylinder exhaust valve tuliped .

At that time I replace all the bearings and pistons ($ Mercedes pistons are $pendy !) , the cam chain followers / tensioners were close to metal to metal,

The timing chain had zero stretch so I re used it, I guess I should have dropped the $1,200.00 (back then) for a new vacuum pump but with all the ancillary things I still dropped $4,500 into it .

In for a penny, in for a pound, knowhutimean ? :rolleyes: .

How I'm going to pay for it God alone knows but I'd rather drive this than a new(er) car......

I'm sure my Sweet would give me her 2016 Honda Civic 4 door, it only has 22,000 miles and everything works okay but our foster boy for whom it was a high school graduation present, thrashed it mercilessly, I finally got the pot smoke and fried food smell out of it but even professional cleaning couldn't un stain the seats and I simply don't like the car much .

My big problem now is : what's actually wrong with it combined with who can I trust to do the hands on works properly....

Another foolish Nate adventure to amuse everyone else and fail to teach me not to buy old cars .

Wow, $1200 vacuum pump?!? Was that from the dealer?

It’s the same lesson we all need to head (regardless of if it is the failure point for you)…

W123 Vacuum Pumps
 

Back then M-B also wanted $1,200 for the HVAC blower....

A few prices have dropped .

I just tried to look up a new vacuum pump and Peach Parts no longer lists them although various repair kits are available .

Gulp .