Hi all, I'm a new member here. I have recently gotten my hands on a 91 300TE with the Mosselman twin turbo intercooler setup. I'm no stranger to Mercedes as I have been a M/B technician for 8 years. However this is the first one I have owned. It has a combustion leak into the cooling system. So the head has to come off. I'm really leaning towards pulling the whole engine out to put lower compression pistons in while I'm at it. I'm also contemplating ditching the mosselman I/C for a frontmount I/C and relocating the the a/c condensor.

Any thoughts, ideas, experience from those who've been down the M103 twin turbo road?

Thanks
Duck

That sounds like a interesting car you have, what is the intercooler like at the moment, is it a charge cooler or just a small conventional air to air type.Have you looked at the superdiesel post the guys in Finland have managed to squeeze large I.C.s into the front of 201s & 124s. any pictures?
Regards Linds

The I/C on the car originally came with the Mosselman setup. It is an air to air type I/C but it just sits on top of the engine and mounts directly over the air horn assembly. It is not in the air stream at all. Seems to me that it is more of a heat soak than anything. Hence the want to get a real I/C out in front. Sorry, no pics yet. Hopefully soon. Do you have a link to the superdiesel? site?

Sounds like you need a nice water to air unit. It should be easy to find. Just do a word surch on google and you should get some nice hits. The air to water will allow remote mounting of the heat exchanger. The air to water heat exchanger is considerably smaller than a comparable air to air unit.

please do post some pictures

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198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

I grabbed the keys and popped the hood today for a closer look. The I/c is actually connected to the air scoop for the original air filter from underneath. It hardly seems adequate. Especially considering what I want to do with the car. I have a weakness for boost. My daily is a 97 900SE with 20psi. So I'm really thinking I might go nuts here. I'm thinking somwhere around a 600 hp target. That of course is gonna take a lot of I/C squeezed in between the headlights. Unfortunately, that is not gonna happen until next spring. I'm gonna fix the top end for now and drive it over the winter. It is a 4-matic after all and they're predicting a lot of snow for the Rocky Mtns this year.

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but with 600 HP, everything from the bell housing back will turn into paste.

Thanks for the heads up, but I am aware of the driveline and what it can handle. I'm an experienced M/B technician of 8 years. To get that kind of power to the ground I've got a few mods planned for the trans. The diff will be 86'd for a much stronger unit. I don't know what to expect for the front diff but at the very least there will be much less sticky tires on the front to sacrifice traction instead of the front diff. My biggest concern is the second gear band. I'm thinking of using a timing retard to lower power during shifts and HOPEFULLY get a few extra miles between rebuilds.
Before all that though I've still got the engine to worry about. I pulled the head off of it last night. Found that excessive oil getting past the rings was causing detonation. Though not severe, the det. "pecked" out material of the cylinder head from under the fire ring of the gasket. That is where the combustion leak was coming from. It also "pecked" the crown of the pistons in roughly the same locations. So it doesn't look like I'll get it back together anytime soon. Boy, I sure was hoping to drive it over the winter.

Tragedy But keep us posted on your progress!!!

I'd consider scrapping the block and sourcing a whole "new" (used) M103 3.0 motor for $500-600. Then use the Mosselman setup on that. Mercedes junkyards should have some of these motors around.

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Mike
-W126C 560SEC 040 Black
*6.0L AMG M117 32v Hammer
-W163 ML320 Brilliant Silver
-W124 300E Pearl Black

I was thinking about going the used longblock route to sell the car but decided against it. I was quoted 1000$ from the local european wrecker. I decided that the car is too unique to sell and I want to keep it. For me keeping the car means pulling the engine out, tearing it down, and putting it back together the right way. I'm going to bore the block to 90mm and put some lower compression pistons pistons in. I've been drooling over at Swain Tech's website. Their coatings on the pistons and chambers would be cheap insurance against a repeat performance with detonation. I still need to come up with a cyl head or at least get a guote from my machinist on a repair of my core. The exhaust ports look as though they could be opened up a bit for better flow.
The compressor wheels on both turbos look fairly chewed. I'm considering running 2 garrett T-25 turbos instead of the beat KKKs. I'm gonna pull one of the turbo's off the manifold next week to check the flange and see if it is do-able.
As it turns out there is a 350SDL towed into the shop today. Busted timing stuff. Likely candidate for an engine. If it does get an engine I'm planning to pull the crankshaft out of the core and check it's fit in my 103.985 block. That would be sweet if the crank swap is do-able. I'm pretty sure the 603 diesel crank has the same size rod journals, and uses the same thrust bearings as the 103 but has an 84mm stroke,. I don't know about the main bearings yet. The firing order is the same and I'm willing to bet the bore spacing is the same as well. It would give me 3.21 Liters out of a 103 block with the 90 mm bore. I'm sure there are plenty of people wanting to know how that turns out. I'll keep you guys posted.

first off, ur not gonna want t25's. Those are the turbos that came on stock mitsubishi eclipse gsx/gst and the talon tsi. Yea they will spool fast, but they have absolutely no top end. They will be cheap though. Go with t28's. Depending on how much boost your running, a front mount will make alot more power and decrease the risk of detonation. You could also consider duel side mounts. If your only running 6 ibs of boost, that intercooler is probably adequate and there is not much to be gained from a front mount. Theres always the bling factor of a front mount though.

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1993 400e
Charlotte

The T-25 also came on the NG Saab 900, which I have as a daily driver. I can push 20 PSI with it on my 2 liter all day long. Compared to the KKK turbos that came with the moselman kit they're huge. Though by conventional turbo standards they are a pretty petite package, which is why I'm leaning towards using them. There isn't a lot of space to fit 2 turbos with inlet, outlet, and oil pressure lines on a 4-matic car. With the T-25s I can add cooling lines to the center sections as well. Gotta admit I'm a big fan of water cooled turbos which the KKKs are not. Another advantage I see to using the T-25 is the availability of good used ones. Everybody with a Saab or Mitsu is looking to pull theirs off in favor of something bigger. Having a pair of them lets each one feed 1.5 liters instead of 2 liters giving a better high end threshold than stock applications on 4 cylinder engines.
I havn't settled on specific boost numbers. The short term goal is to build the shortblock to handle anything I throw at it. When I get it back in the car I'm gonna keep the modified CIS injection at first. I'll limit boost to what the CIS can safely supply fuel for. Meanwhile I'll be working on a programmable speed density EFI system to support a lot more power. Which once complete I can swap onto the car and raise the boost accordingly. From there it's a matter of limiting boost to just below detonation or what the drivetrain will take.
I figure I'll keep the moselman I/C for the first incarnation and put a fan on it. I have several PIC12F675 microcontrollers. I'd like to use one to build a fan controller for the I/C. That would be easy enough to transfer to a frontmount I/C when I do get one in. Right now though the budget is going to be spent on the shortblock. I'm gonna try to get it out and on a stand early next week. That way I can get a firm asessment of what machine work is needed to get this project underway.

You might want to investigate one of the more sophisticated water injection setups to augment your IC. This could virtually eliminate your detonation issues and boost HP figures as well. Check out this forum:
http://www.aquamist.co.uk/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=6

I'm currently acquiring parts and in the research and development stage for the installation of a small side mount IC from a Saab turbo along with water injection for my OM603.

Here's a video of those crazy Finns and their 400+hp OM603 with a massive FMIC and Holset turbo from a 9 liter Scania truck engine.
http://www.ejzcars.com/liukasta.mpg

Cool video clip!!! Turns out I've got a 603.970 on the engine stand and down to the shortblock. It broke it's timing chain and tore up everything in the front cover. I was hoping to get it's crankshaft (91mm) but the reciprocating assembly is ok and the customer paying to put it back together.