Latief,

Dont fret....

The timing is meant to be set correctly. So don't lose faith that you will get it right. Believe me it is a good feeling...

For the crank bolt, yes the recommended torque is approximately 300 foot pounds. You can easily acheive this torque by adding a steel pipe to your breaker bar. Just remember that if you have a 1 foot breaker bar, you are torquing with your body weight exactly. So if it is an 18 inch breaker bar, you are torquing with 1.5 times your body weight. So if you extend your breaker to 4 feet, you will be working with 4 times your body weight.

Also, dont worry about the reseal, this is really an easy job.

You already put this engine together once, so everything will be much easier for you. Did you take off the lower cover before?...to change the chain guides?

Also....have faith that your chain is fine!
These cars have timing chains for a reason. And the engineering has been refined over 60 years of mercedes advancement. Unless your engine has over 300k on the clock, chain stretch is probably not your problem.
Basically, the chains dont stretch unless they are improperly tensioned.

A good Mercedes mechanic who knows the M104 would take an hour to pull the top cover and inspect the timing. The dowel holes should both align with the top surface of the head. If they do not, one of them is one tooth off.

So dont even worry about the crank at first. Diagnose your problem by checking the cam dowel holes relative each other.

If they do align, then you move-on to the crank and check where the OIT is relative to the marker on the left of the sensor hole. If it is off by more than 1.5-2 cm either direction, you are one tooth off on the crank.

So once you remove the top cover and isolate the problem, you can detemine the amount of work you are in-for.....

Thanks dhaghighi, you have been extremely helpful and encouraging so far. I will take the cover off this evening and post pictures and we will go from there... check out my thread by the end of the day...you are going to help on this (for no fee!!)

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

You're very welcome.
These cars should run WONDERFULLY...not just average...
And you've already done enough work to enjoy a proper timed new-smelling engine.

Cheers to making it right!

Ok, I think i am good enough....

what do you think?

Timing mark



Intake seems ok, ever so slightly higher





Exhaust, a bit lower, but i guess due to the tensioner pulling





This shows how much before they are perfect..and yes both, aligned perfectly relative to each other......







thoughts ?? is it worth it?



on a side note, i found a couple of disturbing things...
1-My new Graf waterpump, makes a bearing noise.....this was not a cheapo pump, but this is the second time i hear this complain about the same manufacture. it has been running since september...

2-found a slight leak at the front of the upper timing cover, nothing seriuos....

3-this is disturbing, on the can advance/retard solenoid, the connector is a bit oily! so something is leaking from the inside out....

other than that, all is good. those dirty crank pictures are because i never really cleaned that area. engine is squeaky clean from the inside and the outside other than around the crank

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

So it looks like both your intake and exhaust cam dowel holes are slightly below the surface of the head...Is this true?

I also see your OIT mark in two different locations.

Can you get both cams to line-up perfectly? Or does one get worse when you adjust the other perfectly?

relative to each other, both cams are correct. i can get them both to align with the surface correctly when i advance the timing mark slightly (as appears in the second timing mark picture- the tdc mark is covered by the bracket). in the first picture, the timing mark is exactly at TDC with the pointer exactly at the TDC mark. in that case in the intake cam is slightly higher than the head surface, and the exhaust cam is slightly lower than the head surface, indicating some chain stretch. the question is if it is worth fixing that via a new chain or not?

what do you guys think???? how many degrees is this off? i will take better pictures if that is helpful...

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Less than 5deg stretch is normal & OK.

More than that & you would want to replace the chain.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

thank you,

by looking at my second timing mark picture, can you tell me how many. in that picture, both dowels are aligned perfectly with the surface, and the OIT mark is slightly forward of the pointer as appears in the picture (the picture before the last). can you tell me how many degrees forward that would be roughly? i don't really know....

Thank you for the answer ....

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

Maybe 3 deg.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

Thanks for the great advice, i will try and take better pictures today to make a final judgment on this

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....

So i looked at this one more time closely. I am exactly 4 degrees off. so it is decision time, should i do it or not (i.e change the chain)? more importantly, will i see any performance difference? and could this be the reason for the exhaust smell?

advice please guys, thanks for everyone who contributed untill now.. you guys have been really helpful !!!

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1993 300E, 2.8 M104 .....