M104 Head Gasket Replacement

[latief]

Hey guys,

My first post on this forum ...

I just bought a 1993 300e 2.8 M104 engine ....the car is in the need of a head gasket replacement and i am in the middle of the job.

I took most of it apart and i am ready to take off the chain to remove the head..

2 problems:

1-I am having a hard-time determining accurately the location of TDC. my car has a bit different indicator on the Crank since i don't have a front TDC center, and the MB CD shows the location of TDC with a sensor...

2-When i rotated the engine to where the TDC is supposed to be, i think that the cams (holes) are a bit off. they are not on the level of the cylinder head as shown by the MB CD. so is this normal? i want to mark the chain before i remove the tensioner and the head ..so i am a bit confused....am i missing something?

see the pictures

the closest to TDC i could get it: the 0IT mark is in the center of the circle



the locations of the holes in the cams are not level with the head surface as the should be ....




what is wrong? has the car skipped a tooth or something? this is how it currently stands and i want to mark the chains so that i could take it apart. i think it has had a head gasket done before since there is some paing on the cams and the chain, but the don't align properly ....

Opinions needed please!

thanks,

latief