Going to dive in head first tomorrow morning. Do I ABSOLUTELY need those funky angled wrenches...??????

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I want to hear the answer to this. I've been putting off valve adjustment for just that reason.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

I used to do the valves on the 240D with standard "Craftsman" wrenches. It can be done but it is a bit of a pain. Not much clearance when loosening and tightening the nuts. I finally broke down an purchased the angled wrenches---makes adjusting much more pleasant

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Elliott Fager

1977 240D Hell Blau (Verkauft)
1981 240D Weiss (Gestorben)
1984 300D Dunkel Rot (Verkauft)
1982 240D Dunkel Blau (225k) "Panzer Wagen"
1981 300SD Beige (175k) "Kampfwagen"
1981 300SD Beige (205K) "Panzerkampwagen"

What I did is to bend by my self common wrenches. You can heat them with a gas burner or torch and then bend with a hammer. They worked OK to me

"What I did is to bend by my self common wrenches. "

Thats what I did and added a welded on pipe handle to each wrench. I should have started with at least 'Craftsmen" quality but I wasnt sure if they would turn out. It was easy once I got going.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Just did the job and used the funky wrenches bought from ************** (?) .com. I really don't see how all you can do the job on those back couple of valves with a straight wrench. Be careful of the hoses and crap connected to the injectors. I took 7 hours the first time i adjusted the valves but only an hour and a half the second time when I went back to check my work. The crooked wrenches make it easier I think.

I'm in the middle of my valve adjustment and guess what, I'm waiting for my bent wrenches to arrive. I tried doing it with regular wrenches, but the main problem I had was their width and I just couldn't loosen the locknut without messing with the adjusting nut as well. One of the bent wrenches is supposedly thinner. Of course the fact that they're bent will make the job easier too.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

IMHO, there's no point in trying to adjust the back cylinders on an OM617 with regular wrenches. You might be able to on a 4 pot 240 but it would be a gin-yoo-wine PITA on the 617.

I'm a fool for having the right tool for the job.


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Both of my Hazet valve wrenches were originally the same thickness.

They didn't work very well because sometimes the bottom wrench would lap over onto the cap nut and inhibit proper movement of the bottom wrench so I ground the bottom one so that it was slightly thinner.

How do you know which is the top wrench and which is the bottom?

Simple, they will only nest together one way!!

I also recommend purchasing the Hazet valve-holding wrench. The little 'furniture' leg on the wrench makes it a breeze to hold the wrench in place and keep the valve from rotating.

R Leo

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

R Leo, thanks, I have the Hazet spring holding wrench too, though the fench thing was to hold it and the crooked wrenches together in the tool box :-)

Where did you get the hazet 3 piece set? I think I saw them available from performance products.... is that the best place?

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~shell
As of 2/2010:
2001 CLK55 0o\=*=/o0
13.6 @ 106mph
10K mi
1984 300SD
260K mi and going and going...
97 S600
46K miles
1991 Sentra SE-R (extremely dorked with)
www.se-r.net

I have adjusted the valves on my 81SD, my 78D and my brother in laws 1981 300D with the same old wrenches. Use a Craftsman to loosen the top nut and tighten it back down. Use some made-in-India 14mm wrench I fouind in my old stuff to get under the adjusting nut. I is slimmer than the Craftsman and seems to work just fine.
I could probably save some time with the proper tools, but I took Larrys advice to go over them carefully TWICE. So far I am finding very few to correct the second time around. Just plan on spending some time, and maybe getting a sore back form it all.

I did valve adjustments on both 240D (4 cylinders) and 300SD (5 cylinders) using 2 cheap regular 14 mm wrenches without any problem. It's an easy job.

Eric

So where do we get the 3 piece set and how much?

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I bought the bent wrenches from **************...I wish I had that 3rd wrench, a couple valves were a PITA- kept slipping. If I had it all to do again I would prol'ly get the Hazet 3 piece.

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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

I never had any problem using run of the mill wrenches to adjust the valves on my 300SDs. No modification were done to the wrenches and I never needed the third wrench.

P E H