2.5 16v Timing Chain Nightmare! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Uk Merc Man · #16 08-09-2004, 07:53 AM

right, the forum going down at that moment didnt help....

I finished off last night, reinstalled tensioner, chain, guide rail. Put alternator, drive belt and valve cover on.

Though it would be wise to crank it over before starting to get oil pressure up.

Was somewhat upset when LOADS of oil came pissing out of the side of the block in the area of the tensioner....I made sure it was correctly tightened, cranked it over again and it lost LOADS more, so, any ideas what would be causing this??

I was so nearly there......

Chris Martens · #17 08-09-2004, 10:13 AM

Steve,

here we go again.
Sorry to read that yesterday was not a complete success.

Quote:

Was somewhat upset when LOADS of oil came pissing out of the side of the block in the area of the tensioner....I made sure it was correctly tightened, cranked it over again and it lost LOADS more, so, any ideas what would be causing this??

Do you remember what I wrote you yesterday:
New alloy rings for the tensioner are a good idea.

It's a bit difficult to get the inner part of the tensioner right into the outer part because of the tension of the spring and the angle the tensioner has to be mounted.
I managed to bend the small alloy ring when I did it the first time. Everything was tightened but lots of oil spilled over the altenator.

So get new rings from the dealer, pull the tensioner and mount it again without bending the small ring.

bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE
1984 2.3-16

Uk Merc Man · #18 08-09-2004, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Martens

Steve,

here we go again.
Sorry to read that yesterday was not a complete success.

Do you remember what I wrote you yesterday:
New alloy rings for the tensioner are a good idea.

It's a bit difficult to get the inner part of the tensioner right into the outer part because of the tension of the spring and the angle the tensioner has to be mounted.
I managed to bend the small alloy ring when I did it the first time. Everything was tightened but lots of oil spilled over the altenator.

So get new rings from the dealer, pull the tensioner and mount it again without bending the small ring.

bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE
1984 2.3-16

hi chris

i was pretty gutted as 5 litres of duckhams finest said hello to the drive....

I noted your comment re the alloy rings. I had purchased the tensioner "kit" from the dealer so it came with the new rings, these where installed but as you said, screwing the assembley together is so hard due to the spring pressure and the angle it sits at. I will take the tensioner out tonight and see if I damaged one of the rings.

I'll report back in the next day or so, thanks again for your help.

Thanks

Steve

Chris Martens · #19 08-09-2004, 10:25 AM

Steve,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uk Merc Man

i was pretty gutted as 5 litres of duckhams finest said hello to the drive....

Oh oh, five litres are a lot on the drive

Quote:

screwing the assembley together is so hard due to the spring pressure and the angle it sits at.

wish, I could express it that way

I should spend some weeks in good old England again to brush up my English.

Quote:

I will take the tensioner out tonight and see if I damaged one of the rings.

One pint of lager that the small ring is squeezed.

good luck for the rest of this "nightmare"
bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE
1984 2.3-16

Uk Merc Man · #20 08-09-2004, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Martens

Steve,
I should spend some weeks in good old England again to brush up my English.

Well if you ever do, I live on the south coast, stones throw from the sea.....I'd happily put you up as thanks for all the help you given me, hell, I could even brush up on my German!! In fact, the longer you spent, we could rebuild my 16v!!!

speak soon, Steve

Chris Martens · #21 08-09-2004, 10:37 AM

Steve,

we are going to be offtopic, but: I will visit England again!

I've been there in 1976 (southcoast) and 1978 (northwest) with my parents and brothers and in 1992 (southwest) with my first wife. It's been a long time since then...

I'd be glad to meet you.

bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE
1984 2.3-16

Uk Merc Man · #22 08-09-2004, 02:05 PM

right, Monday after wok update:

removed the tensioner tonight....seems you were right Chris, the ring was "squeezed" (to put it lightly!) funnily enough, it was the outer ring of the casing, not the inner ring?! It screwed in so easily as well, I feel like a bit of a dork....

Heres the tensioner:
http://www.ballardshaw.co.uk/storage/tensioner.JPG

whats left of ring - excuse poor quality:
http://www.ballardshaw.co.uk/storage/squashed.JPG

I will rebuild with a new ring tomorrow, and see what happens, I checked the tensioner hole in the block and it appears I didnt cause any other damage so it should be ok.

One last thing, the chain skipped a notch during all this. The pic below is the cams when the O/T mark is aligned and the rotor is pointing exactly at the notch in the case. Do you think the left hand cam needs to come down a notch, or do you think the right hand cam needs to come up a notch?
http://www.ballardshaw.co.uk/storage/notright.JPG

Phew, nearly finished......

Thanks. Steve.

joshhol · #23 08-09-2004, 02:53 PM

Quote:

One last thing, the chain skipped a notch during all this. The pic below is the cams when the O/T mark is aligned and the rotor is pointing exactly at the notch in the case. Do you think the left hand cam needs to come down a notch, or do you think the right hand cam needs to come up a notch?

The weird thing is the rotor should not point exactly at cylinder number 1 when the piston is exactly TDC. Remember the timing spec? What is it, a few degrees ATDC?

Of course if the notch Mercedes put in the distributor is supposed to line up with O/T on the balancer, then it is a different mark than where the rotor points to when the spark plug fires.

You sure are working fast though.

Chris Martens · #24 08-09-2004, 03:08 PM

Steve,

Quote:

...seems you were right Chris, the ring was "squeezed" (to put it lightly!) funnily enough, it was the outer ring of the casing, not the inner ring?! It screwed in so easily as well, I feel like a bit of a dork....

It's not allways a pleasure to be right

The sqeezed ring

Yes it looks like squeezed :p

Quote:

I will rebuild with a new ring tomorrow, and see what happens, I checked the tensioner hole in the block and it appears I didnt cause any other damage so it should be ok.

The alloy ring shouldn't harm a cast iron block.

Quote:

One last thing, the chain skipped a notch during all this.

I don't think so. You should complete the tensioner, turn the engine by hand and check again. IMHO the difference is too small that it could be a complete tooth.

bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE
1984 2.3-16

Chris Martens · #25 08-09-2004, 03:15 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshhol

The weird thing is the rotor should not point exactly at cylinder number 1 when the piston is exactly TDC. Remember the timing spec? What is it, a few degrees ATDC?

The 2.3-16 has the EZL, electronic controlled ignition system. The timing is managed by a black box (really

) mounted on the left inner fender and not by the distributor. The distributor only distributes the spark from the coil to the spark plug of the cylinder.

There is a mark on the ring of the distributor where the finger should point to when everything is in spec for installation (1st cylinder UDC).

bis denn,
Christian

1989 300TE
1984 2.3-16

Uk Merc Man · #26 08-12-2004, 08:48 AM

right, latest update.

stripped it all down again, fitted new alloy rings to tensioner, put it all back together again.....I'm getting quite good at this now

Anyway, looks good, everythings aligned (dots/notches)

Have cranked it over a few times, no oil leaking.

Will be fitting valve cover and starting tonight.

Everything crossed!1

Thanks

Steve

wbain5280 · #27 08-12-2004, 09:08 AM

I think you forgot some of the links between the chain halves. The link isn't meant to take all the chain load with only one link. I think you might break it and destroy your engine.

Uk Merc Man · #28 08-12-2004, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbain5280

I think you forgot some of the links between the chain halves. The link isn't meant to take all the chain load with only one link. I think you might break it and destroy your engine.

please explain further?

The replacement chain was a genuine mercedes part, it was one long length of chain and one link to join it together. Both the chain and the link have been used. The engine spins by hand quite happily and I cranked it over using the starter motor and it all seems fine.

You have me concerned now.....

wbain5280 · #29 08-12-2004, 10:30 AM

I don't know the car exactly. Look at the chain as a whole. There are links and pins between every joint. What about the 190evo message board or another 2.3-16 owner?