John M...So would putting a new head on not be a good idea either? I found a place out here that sells remanufactured heads for $950.00. Would the gasket protect the bottom of the engine from anything that had been done previously or that I may have done?

sptt, before deciding whether to buy a reconditioned head or a used engine determine the condition of your existing engine. Pull the head yourself and examine the head gasket, cylinder walls, head and valves. If everything looks OK, except for maybe a blown head gasket at the 2 cylinders that lacked compression, take the head to a reputable indie or a machine shop so it can be checked for flatness, and the valves inspected. Experienced techs will be able to advise you whether to spend the money to recondition the existing head or move on. You may want to have an indie inspect the cylinder walls/block so you have a professional opinion on that also. Be sure to confirm that there is no coolant in the oil.

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Fred Hoelzle

Guys...one other question. If I do swap out the engine, can the transmission friction discs that cause the delayed drive and reverse engagement, be replaced without removing the tranny at that time? Was wondering if I could kill two birds at the same time.

Ferdman...I wish I had the time and resources to do what you suggested but, unfortunately, I'm at time's mercy. Considering all of the issues I've had with this engine since I bought it, am considering just doing the swap. I found a tested, used engine online with 78K. Contemplating it at this time...

That would be super if you can come up with an engine with only 78K on it. You could get some serious service out of that! Where is the transmission at for that motor? Can you get it, as well? That would be an ideal swap if you could all at the same time.

Ferdman...yes! That was the strangest thing. When I opened the hood I wasn't losing any coolant through any hoses anywhere and I had no knocking or pinging but the engine still overheated. I thought that was perplexing as well and when I opened the hood, the coolant was still in the expansion tank but squirting out of the overflow hose like crazy so I loosened the cap and of course it started bubbling out, but not the normal symptons one would expect. The waterpump is new. I filled it back up with coolant I had in the trunk and cranked it and you could hear the coolant circulating through the dashboard but no start and it cranked very easy with little to no compression...???

Update...I found an engine here in So Cal that I'm having installed. The guy I ended up buying it from told me that if there is an engine out there with less than 100K on it, someone is either lying or they should be charging upwards of $1400.00-$1600.00. One guy through the internet told me he had one with 63K for $950.00...really? After 21 years? How could someone realistically prove that on an engine of that age? I hope being a healthy skeptic pays off for me.

I recently bought my daughter an 89 190E 2.6 with 75k original miles. One owner, dealership maintained to 67K. I found it locally on Craigs List. I looked at a lot of cars, most in the 140K range, before finding on this one. they were asking $2800 and I got it for $2300. They're not falling out of trees, but they're out there.

I found one for $800 through my local salvage yard. Mechanic said it was in pretty good condition. It had 110k on it. It runs good but I think valve stem seals will be in order soon. Here's a pic of what happened to my old engine. Pretty much every lobe of the cam looked like that.
It went into the red more than once but I didn't have the funds to fix it at the time.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1987 300E

You replaced the whole engine or just the cam and rockers? I hope the later!

Pre 89 models have the older style camshafts that score as shown in the photos -- even moreso if you don't run diesel-grade oil with the zinc additives that our cams REQUIRE.
That is why it is imperative that you keep oil changes 3-4k and use of diesel-grade oil such as Rotella-T 15-40.

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Make sure your tranny gets the front pump resealed and b3 bands replaced, once that is done, the 722.3's are bulletproof. They rarely fail. Since it shifts fine, leave it alone other than the pump + B3!

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

Awesome. Thanks ps2cho. And no, it is the whole engine