Got the head off today and what a mess. Someone has changed this head before as the r/h head has hydraulic adjusters and the l/h head has mechanical (strike one)! One timing chain guide is new, the inner is about beer-bottle brown, and was only retained with the upper pin, and the hole was so hogged out that I pulled the pin out with my fingers. I lined up the timing mark on the l/h cam and read about 12 degrees on the balancer scale (strike two).

But wait, it gets better! I got out the big a$$ breaker bar and lever to take off the cam sprocket bolt, got my lever jammed through the sprocket so it won't turn, jump on the breaker bar and damn near break my neck! The bolt was barely finger tight. Right about then I started looking for my 30 round magazines...

OK, I finally get the head off and see no break in the head gasket on the #6 hole, strange... I look at the rest of them and the outboard lower portion of #7 looks/feels like the surface of the moon. I see about a 2" portion of the sealing ring dark and pitted so I immediately assume that this thing had been leaking years and years before I got it, water laid up in the #7 cylinder, and rusted the hell out of it. I'd say at least an .040 bore would be needed to clean it up (strike three, you're outa here!!!). This still doesn't explain why I had 0 compression on the #6 hole but I suppose that's all academic right now.

Gonna try to "shame" the bro-in-law into giving me a refund and taking the car back, I'm even gonna toss in new brakes, injectors, and all the rest of the stuff I did, and try to cut my losses. If he won't do that it might languish in the back yard for a few years till I get around to putting in a Chevy 350 w/Turbo 350 trans I have laying around. Or, it may go to the boneyard, I haven't decided yet.

I guess what this boils down to is the car is either gone, or will be non Mercedes powered in another life. That said, this means I have no more need for the Bosch D-Jet Test Set, or 74 FI computer w/MAP sensor. If anybody wants/needs any of these gimme a yell or they'll most likely wind up on e-Bay.

Thanks for all of the help, particular thanks to Peter, without his prodding I would have never made it this far.

Regards,

Justin B.

That's a bummer man.
I feel for you....after earing horrer stories here, I'm afraid to get the valve cover off the Monster

Shame your B-L to the ground....refund + expenses

Good luck

__________________
http://w3.uqo.ca/gravelle/images/250S/flood.jpg
DAN
1967 250s The Monster Project a.k.a "The Monster" a.k.a "Rolling Coffin" --sold--
The photographic ART thread
+++Price Guide+++

I haven't been reading all the tomes on this subject but I think a collective bowing of the heads is in order in honour of your struggling against the last gasps of life of an old MB.

__________________
63 220S W111
76 300D W115
2013 VW JSW TDI M6

previously-
73 280 SEL 4.5
86 300E 5 speed
2010 VW Jetta TDI M6

Justin:

If it ain't one thing it's another -- the AC on my 300D seems to have given up the ghost -- I'm hoping for a stuck expansion valve or monovalve like my brother had last year.

As to the W116, those are lined bores, all you need (if you want to keep the engine) is to have that one removed and a new one installed and honed. However, I'd just get one of the junkyard engines and play swappo with the heads (as has been done to yours already anyway). Unless the yard one also has had water sitting it in, they are nearly indestructable. Ealier model cams are "hotter" than later model, too. A W108 cam would be even better.

It might guess you also have valve problems with 12 degrees stretch, or a dead cam lobe causing no compression on #6, unless you just blew the gasket and it isn't marked yet.

Those injectors will deliver 200 CC in 30 sec, but I'd not think that woud be enough to hydrolock the engine, I'd bet it was water killing the spark first.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Hi Justin:

I have followed your posts all thru this saga and feel as bumed out about this as you are.

I definately would want to buy the tester If you would call me or e mail me with a price i will get you a postal money order ASAP

Regards
Bob 1-978-887-9109 or my300se@hotmail.com

Hmmm, discrepancy between lifters right and left..... finger tight camshaft gear bolt and missing pins for chain guides??

Sounds to me like you been wrestling all this time with booby traps left by previous wrenches working on the car.... like maybe 20 yrs of piss-poor maintenance at the hands of amateurs, kids drinking beer and throwing car project parties.

If it was me, I'd just scrounge a solid junkyard engine that had not been hacked - then do an easy engine swap, keeping the old engine for miscelaneous parts.

Did your B/I/L tell you anything about the history of the car, like maybe who'd been working on it??

Reminds me of someone named "Guddy" who owns BMW motorcycle shop outside Atlanta. Bought one of his bargain used bikes once ('67 R69S), and the thing was seriously hacked with missing suspension bushings, metric bolts and american bolts mixed all over. Finally sold it for a song, after it began falling apart a year later.

Thanks for all of the words of consolation, it's been quite depressing looking back on all I've tried to do for this thing over the past few months.

Going fishin' for the next few days (with bro-in-law) so if I don't wrangle a refund then I have pretty much decided to mothball it for a while and freshen up the 350 I have and drop it in. The physical body and foundation are just too good to junk. Should make for a good conversation piece if nothing else!

I thought about junkyard engines but the ones I've seen have been there for years and probably aren't in much better condition than what I've already got. If I was to get a replacement engine from a specialty yard it would most likely cost quite a bit more than I can stand.

I'll keep in touch...

Justin B.

Justin:

The 350 is a no-go -- oil sump and subframe will occupy the same space, alas. I'd personally go for a junkyard engine, the exchange is quite straightforward. Remove frome above with tranny, pretty easy. A Ford 302 would fit much better, as would a Chrysler 318.

As I said, unless you see tons of blowby in the air cleaner, and no one left the oil filler cap off with the hood up, the engine in the yard should be OK. Certainly better than yours with a blown head gasket.

If you replace the fuel pump and lines (to hold the higher pressure), you can also replace with any of the newer engines with K-jetronic (save the old cams, more power), and if you also snatch the computer, you can use the KE- jetronics as well, same block. Might be fun to stick a 5.6L W119 in there.....!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Justin

Bummer on the bad engine. I've been following your trials and tribulations and I'm really impressed with your work. I think I'd have thrown in the towel long ago.

I hope you can find a replacement engine and get her running.

Good luck!

Regards

__________________
Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

I didn't realize a Monza used that style of oil pan, I was mulling over the idea of a Chevy II oil pan. I bought a 1975 Monza new and I didn't realize the oil pan was different. All I did was to throw on a 4 bbl, fat tires, and flog the crap outa it!

Justin B.