Just wanted to say "Thanks" to everyone who offered help and advise during this head removal/replacement project. All the help was indispensable as this was the first time I have turned wrenches on a MB, and I didn't have any manuals yet.

The operation was a complete success and the car runs great now. I still have to remove/reset the timing chain tensioner, which now that I have the manuals to see how it is constructed, I know is no big deal to do. I will get that done this weekend (remember, I backed off the bottoming ring just a bit to reverse the tension change temporarily).

It might be of interest to some that following the head change, I decided to put my faith in the claims of the engineers at Exxon and convert the engine (with 126k miles) over to full synthetic Mobil 1. I'm happy to report that it took the change just fine, and I have no sign of oil leaks anywhere that were not there before the change, and those that were have not gotten any worse. So much for the old wives tales about converting a high milage engine over to synthetic.

Turns out that the hard shifts I experienced once the head was fixed are not the flex disks at all, and I'm convinced that a simple 1/4 turn adjustment of the modulator will straighten this out this weekend.

Next up will be a coolant system flush.

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Andy_M
'98 W140 S320 Black/Black
'06 W164 ML500 AMG White/Grey
'03 Porsche 986 Midnight Blue/Grey