Diesel cylinder head "glued" OM617

[DieselGuy]

Hi All,

Info:
1984 300SD (California)
316,000 miles (no engine work other than valve adjustments)
Engine No. 617 951 12 056 650

History:
My dad drove the car a while back and the accelerator pedal got stuck to the floor. The plastic piece behind the pedal broke and jammed it. Instead of immediately pulling off the road, he "forced" it back home (1/4 mile) in that condition. Pedal to the floor, he used the brakes to try and keep the car from moving...it continued to creep no matter how hard he was on the brakes. Front wheels were skidding. Needless to say, the engine overheated, and the brakes were smoking through the rims and the rotors were turned blue. The brakes I had just done at the time and had new Balo rotors. The rotors to my surpirse are still perfect even with that happening...been 25,000 miles.

It started leaking coolant and oil to the outside of the block next to the transmission dip stick. The oil and coolant are not mixing. The car still runs strong averaging almost 24mpg. I didn't want to push my luck though and decided to do the head gasket. I'm going to take the head to a machine shop. I'm also replacing the timing chain since I'm in there.

Problem:
I removed everything in the way. I got all 22 12-point 12mm head bolts out plus the 4 small 6mm bolts in the front out. The head refuses to budge. It appears 18 yrs and 316,000 miles glued it on. I also removed the rocker arms and blocks to gain access to the head bolts under the rocker stands. The only thing I left behind was the hold down nuts for the cam towers. The chain and sprocket are off the cam. I tried giving some light to moderate blows with a plastic hammer. I didn't want to be too aggressive with it. I would appreciate any advice on how to free it.

It just me and a friend. No engine hoist available. Thanks in advance.

Nolan

[DieselGuy]

My friend and I managed to muscle it out with two 2x3s running across the front fenders(perpendicular to the head). We used heavy rope on two of the rear eye hooks and the one front eye hook. We coaxed the rear end up first, then lifted it up and out while a 3rd set of hands held the timing chain taut. We had to remove the camshaft sprocket from the chain but marked both before taking them apart. It didn't want to fit past the idler gear in the head.

All I can say is WOW!