400E timing chain question...
 

I found a 400E locally at a used car lot and they say it needs a "timing belt". :rolleyes: Since I know these use double row chains, can I assume it's probably the wiring harness as this car is a 1992?

It has 140K on the odo only.



Thanks for any input! :D

No comprende - can you assume what is the wiring harness?

Why the car is In-Op at the moment. Sorry about that... :o

Well, if they say it needs a 'belt' I would assume it's jumped time and a few valves/pistons have become good friends.

Personally, I wouldn't go near that car..hell, they should pay you to take it :-P

Jonathan

If someone managed to blow the chain on an M119 at only 140k miles the rest of the car is probably trash. I'd run away as fast as possible.

I'll take a closer look tomorrow at the vehicle, I didn't see how at that low of milage it'd be able to throw the chain off as they're double row units... but anything is possible. It's sitting for some reason.

Easy,

It broke the upper guide and the broken guide lodged and the chain snapped.

-How nice does the car look?

I think you can find good running examples for $5k, so 1-1.5 k . You'd be looking at a minimum of a valve job with a full timing chain and guides. New valves b/c the stems wearout on these plus new guides- I'm guessing $4,000 for a shop to do the work.
I'd be looking for somesort of service records with the car. I'd feel more comfortable finding oil change reciepts from a shop or dealership with some regularity.

Be careful!

Michael

Guides break at 140K? :confused: Seems quite soon to me.

Pretty clean, it'd probably fetch $5-6k on the market if it was running. No records are with it, it's hanging out at the back of a lot. Reason I'm doubting what they say (and know) is the fact they said it needs a "timing belt" and it's just sitting. Most people in my area are scared out of their minds about any Mercedes mechanical work.

Is there any easy way to tell what could be up with it just by looking at... no teardown? I'm going to head out in a few hours.

Not at all. They are plastic, they get old and brittle. They actually should be changed out well before that, but they very often aren't. If it's a timing chain issue it is very likely that that was the problem.

You should be able to pull the valve covers....

Assess damages. If you do venture here- you should not use aftermarket guides or chain. Buy MB guides and a OEM chain.

You'll see how clean the engine is inside. Noting that cams and lifters could be added to the bill easily.


Michael

Body was very clean as was interior, it's a light champagne color... they also have a black one with 181K on it. Not sure what it needs, I'll ponder which would be a better deal. The black one is just very dirty.

One of the MB mechanics on this site told me this about evaluating an M119's health.

Pop the oil cap off and look for sludge or blow-by. If you find either walk away these are very tough engines and you have to try and hurt them.

A member on this forum had an S500 that the PO did 30k mile oil changes on. :eek: It was actually still healthy so to hurt one...

If news of that gets out it will hurt the oil companies :)

Sixto
87 300SDL