I was researching these cars, and came across an article that stated the 1984 & 1985 turbodiesel engines have an alloy cylinder head (versus iron) and that they don’t need valve adjustments. Plus, they have a serpentine belt drive for the accessories – is this a preferable setup compared to the earlier conventional V-belt setups?

Or is this information even correct??

Thanks again!

By the way, here is a link to that article:

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/nov98/techtips.htm

I notice that he refers to the 1984 & up diesels as a “601, 602, & 603” engine family – is this guy just off on the years they were made? I know that the diesel engines in the 124 cars are different than the 123 &126 cars.

I think this guy is off on his model years. I'm no expert, but I've always been under the impression that the 617 engines all have iron heads. Also, I paid my independent shop to adjust my valves, which they recommend every 15,000 miles.