For Sale 1995 E300D-W124.584 OM606.910
 

I Just decided today that I could not put any more money or time into my 1995 E300D W124 with OM606.910.
I recently broke off two glow plugs during an attempt to replace all 6. The broken plugs will not come out of the head, the electrodes are buried deep and drilling and reversing out failed and they now have damaged threads as well.
The car needs a head only. The engine, transmission, A/C, Heat, and fuel system is all in excellent condition, it has apprx 235,000 miles and reads 3 bar of oil pressure at idle when hot!
This has been my personal car for almost 10 years. The oil was changed religiously, and the car was maintained very well. I hate to see it go, but can not sink anymore time or money into it at this point. It needs a head and that is all. Everything works. It has a new glow plug/engine wiring harness that replaced the old harness that was made of biodegradable wire insulation. The interior is fair, and the body has a few small dents but overall is not bad. The car spent its life in South Carolina and Georgia and has no rust at all. It is located in the Atlanta area right now. This W124 came with the sport package which was upgraded wheels and upgraded bilstein shocks/struts. Car is in all original condition. Call if interested 803.three zero eight.one five one five.

Which 2 glowplugs are broken off? Do you have any ballpark price in mind? Thanks.

Pics?

Pictures and price will help you sell the car

Alright let's do this :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Pictures?
Price?

Also, the threads aren't probably damaged and could easily be fixed. Just take it to a machine shop, you don't have the knowledge of a machinist to know that they are "damaged" are probably just guessing. Even if they were, they can be rethreaded again for cheap $$$$.

OM697 glow plugs = the Achilles heel of the W210 diesels!
 

By all means follow that advise, have the car towed to a machine shop, call them first to be sure they will work on the engine in the car. And hope they are good at drilling a delicate head like this, you know they won't be liable for a new head if they do have an "oops!"

As has been said before, the long thin glowplugs in the late diesels tend to freeze in the head - factors include dissimilar metals, carbon build up on the shank, whether they were installed with anti-sieze on the threads and how long they have been installed.

Removing the head and sending it to a machine shop is the safest way to have it fixed, obviously not cheap but if the engine is over say 250K miles then its probably not a bad idea to have it reconditioned (ie valve job) if you intend to keep the car a long time.

Drilling out the old plugs with the engine in the car is cheaper by far, provided the mechanic does a careful job when drilling because any tendency of the drill to go off center can damage the threads big time.
If that happens you will be looking a two expensive choices, a new head or a good used head and the latter is very rare.

One car owner I know of in Las Vegas was trying to sell a '98 E300 turbo with 2 damaged ports, he had tried fixing it in his driveway. Must have grabbed a drill and a 1/4" bit and started drilling. It was then determined the head was unusable because the drill wandered and a re-thread wasn't going to work. You need enough material to fit the new threads, I believe they are like helicoils, into the head and the retappng has to be perfect to screw them in. Oh well, gamblers luck goes with the territory I guess. I passed on buying the car, I figured let someone else have that headache!

Finding a machine shop that will drill out the plugs is the issue, most shops I know of want the head off the car to service it. Maybe there are some that do under-the-hood work but I've not found any.

The head shop I use (Ellsworth in Mountain View) was repairing a 607 head when I dropped off a 603 head some 5 years ago, they do work for the MB Dealer, a sign they know what they are doing. It was the first time I saw a diesel 4V/cyl head up close and was amazed at its design, not knowing I would own one in a few years when a shopforum member put his '99 up for sale.

Last plug that failed on my '99 (#5) was removed easily because it was only a couple years old and despite being a Beru plug (some place Beru as being of higher quality than Bosch but those are the only 2 brands anyone should ever consider!) anyhow I have a good mechanic for this so I don't wind up with a bad back I take the work to him. I'm retired now and let a younger man earn his back ache!

The man described his procedure, first he loosens the plugs then applies a copious amount of solvent (Kroil?) and lets it soak overnight then he works the plugs out very carefully using a back-and-forth process, out a turn, back in a full turn, apply more solvent repeat, alternating the in and out using a hand wrench until the carbon that is on the plug is ground down. This is not where you use an air tool!
I heard of a good mechanic who works on motorcycles mostly but is on call if one has to be drilled out he will travel to do the work. Haven't needed that yet!

My philosophy is to replace all glow plugs whenever one is defective I change them all, this is the only way to prevent the stuck plug syndrome in the 607 engine. My mechanic recommends changing them all every 3 or 4 years even if they are still working, not a bad idea come to think of it. In about 3 years I'll consider that.

OK, why my interest in this car? well I would definitely buy it if was local and I'd drop a 603 into it. and have a nice running car!