valve guide clearance
 

Capn C,
Sure did. don't remember the actual clearance, but it was the typical just out of bounds number. I guess what happens is since the stem height is a bit small, the area gets too hot and wears the guide to a certain point and then stops. At that point, the oil flowing through the worn guide cools it to the point that it no longer wears. The seals replacement reduces this for a bit, but that's about it.

Joel

There's a reason for my curiosity. I getting my valves ground soon and I'm concerned about the guides. I will replace any guide that needs it but I want to make sure the tolerances are correct. My fear is that after all this trouble the repair would only be temporary and Castrol would have to increase production again to handle my consumption.:rolleyes:

guide tolerances
 

While I don't disagree that out of tolerance valve guides drink a bit of oil, I do happen to think that if the oil consumption is not a problem and the seals do a fair job at reducing this - the cost of a valve job in this engine is simply too high for the benefit.
I would check to see if the new valve guides are a different materail too, otherwise in 50 - 100K miles you will end up the same problem.
Hope this helps.
Joel

M103 valve guides
 

Any M103 motor with 160,000 miles is going to have valve guide wear to some signifiant degree. Doing seals alone at 160,000 miles (assuming that the guides have never been done) is like putting a Band Aid on a bleeding artery. It may buy you 10,000 to 20,000 miles of reduced consumption, but the guides will need to be done. At our shop, we rarely do valve guide seals alone on any M103 over 100,000 miles.

Thanks for the inputs Ed.

The so-called bandaid only cost me 20 bucks! (seals + valve cover gasket)

When it comes time, I'll do the guides. For now, everything is great. There definitely weren't any valves loose in the guides.

Last weekend I pulled the vale cover and striped the cracked buildup of paint. Spent 4 hours cleaning and sanding and three coats of gloss black engine paint. I made up a extension with a cutoff valve for the cylinder pressure. Pressurized the first cylinder and heard a hissing sound coming from the crankcase. # 1 and 2 are leaking down and # 4 intake cam lobe is wiped out. I put it back together and it runs fine but the oil at 3k smells like 50k. My guess is the head gasket is leaking into the oil passage and the breakdown of the oil cause the cam to go. I just got this car in October and knowing what I know now I doubt if it was serviced regularly. 87 300E 128K

I though I got a good deal at 5K with a 6month warranty. Then 20days later the transmission went and I found out the dealer never sent the money to the warranty company. 2k for the transmission and 7 hundred to the lawyer. Add another 5 hundred for parts and a hundred hours of my time cleaning and servicing The car is ivory and looks great from 5 feet way but closer it’s not a cream puff (the color hides many sins).
Let this be a lesson to nubees I owned my own shop for 12 years.

I found a rebuilt head complete with cam and lifters. The question is do I continue throwing money into this or should I start over now that I know what a good 300e looks like. What is my old head worth as a core?

Sounds like you're upside down in this car already. To get your money out of it you will most likely have to "drive it out". :( I've been throwing money at mine since I had it but I can't get back what I have in it. When people comment that I "drive a Benz, I must have money", I don't say "it's an old one" anymore. It takes as much to keep an old one up as it does to buy a new one! Somebody out there needs that head, put it in the swap shop.

Here's an M103 engine for sale....
 

...not mine. 82k miles is quite low if you're willing to do the work to put it in.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=600834028

~Paul

__________________
'91 300E, 206k miles

Thanks Paul,

Grand for the whole motor is a good deal but I’m not that energetic... head job yes... I'm too old to be rolling around on the floor…

What do you think I should ask for my used head?

Re: M103 valve guides
 

On the M103 engine -- that is not the message I got from Mr. Brotherton. He said that post 1988 engines had much improved valve guides and that replacing the seals tended to fix the problem for an extended period of time.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/34708-where-my-oil-going.html


See quote below -- brookspw



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M103 valve guides
 

brookspw,

While it is true that the valve guides that M103 motors came from the factory with improved after April of 1989, no valve guide is going to last forever. While the old M103 valve guides could wear as early as 70,000-100,000 miles and the newer ones may last 100,000-120,000 miles, ANY M103 valve guide with 160,000 miles is going to be worn enough to cause serioius oil consumption.

M103 valve guides
 

brookspw,

While it is true that the valve guides that M103 motors came from the factory with improved after April of 1989, no valve guide is going to last forever. While the old M103 valve guides could wear as early as 70,000-100,000 miles and the newer ones may last 100,000-120,000 miles, ANY M103 valve guide with 160,000 miles is going to be worn enough to cause serioius oil consumption.