Some other notes:

1) The FSM specifies measuring the head bolts. If in spec, they can be re-used. If not, buy new ones. If they're not stretched, I don't see the point in spending another $50+ for something that's not a wear item. But given the total cost of the job it's cheap insurance.

2) Yes, might as well fix any leaks while it's apart. The oil pan gasket is a huge nasty job that I have yet to tackle (it's not leaking enough yet.) The oil filter canister doesn't normally leak on 603's, ditto for the oil cooler lines. The 617 cooler lines always leak, but I don't think I've ever heard of 603 lines leaking, and definitely have not ever seen any 603 lines leaking!

3) The PS low pressure hose is a common leak just because the rubber gets old. VERY messy to replace - bt, dt. Might as well spring for all new fuel hose while you're at it. And all new Tecalan vacuum pipe, and rubber vacuum fittings/splitters. This stuff is cheap but takes a number of hours to R&R.

4) New style (inclined/angular) PC's will require new style lock rings and injectors as well, making the whole setup a $1200 proposition. Forget it - unless you buy a used head that happens to include all that stuff free!

5) I installed my new head untouched - I was told the surface isn't supposed to be *too* smooth, or the gasket may not "bite" properly. Another long-time (30-year) Mercedes mechanic swears by coating the new head gasket with Hylomar on both sides before installation. YMMV...

Dave,

Could you provide additional clarification on this? Where can you get the Tecalan hose? How much PS hose is needed, one meter?

Also, regarding the lifters, would it be wise to just replace all of them and not just the one's that are bad? Will the good one's eventually fail? Thanks again!

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

I just ordered one meter of p/s hose (low pressure side) to replace the weeping hoses in my '87 300DT. I'll let you know what the dealer charges when it comes in.
As for the lifters, I replaced all in mine at GSXR's suggestion when I had the head work done, they were noisy esp cold. The cost at $21 per isn't so bad considering how many $ you will save by not having to do a valve lash every 15K.
DDH

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Side note about the lifters. If noisy, try using Mobil-1 15W-50 or 5W-40. This cures most noisy lifters, but not all. I had been using M-1 and a couple lifters remained noisy so I replaced all 12 with the new head. I tested the old 12 and 5 tested bad, but only one or two were making much noise. It made sense to trade them all out while the head was apart though.

Point being - if you have noisy lifters, try synthetic oil first!

Woops - I almost missed your questions - sorry!

1) My car had 5 of 12 lifters replaced by the dealer in 1993. When I did the head job in 2002, 5 were bad (some original, some of the 93 vintage). So yes, if you replace only the bad ones, the others could fail in the not-distant future. The only drawback is cost, ~$300 for all new lifters. You could probably recoup a few bucks by selling the old 12 on eBay to someone who's on a tighter budget.

2) The amount of PS hose needed is quite short, less than a foot, IIRC. I used McParts store generic hose when I did the job and it seems to be holding up fine - there's almost no pressure. The OE stuff is preferable, of course.

3) You need to get the Tecalan pipe, and rubber fittings, at the dealer (or Rusty, or Caliber). Or, FastLane should be able to order it as well. I posted the part numbers a while ago on MBZ.org, here it is again:

http://engine.mbzarticles.org/diesel/hoses/

Here's a list of some of the more useful part numbers for rebuilding the vacuum system on an OM60x, and/or most 85-up MB's. (I think the older cars used more solid colors, I didn't experiment with ordering those.) I found on the EPC that the same part number can have a different description depending on what chassis you look up. Some chassis have more info than others. For a list, go to the "Intake & Exhaust Manifold" group in the engine section, then look at the general parts diagram. Try this with several chassis (123, 124, 210 for example). I also found out that the pictures don't always match up, and some may appear identical but can have widely differing sizes - which is often NOT mentioned in the EPC! So I've been ordering select items (1 each) to figure out what's what. Unfortunately some parts have rolled to generic replacements, so we can never return the car to "original" condition. For instance, gray pipe was replaced with black, the brown/blue (for I/P shutoff circuit) has also been superceded to generic stuff, as well as the black w/white stripe to the transmission. The hassle with this is that the colors actually MEAN something, and when you use plain items instead it can be confusing. Black is normally a vent line to the interior, and MB has seen fit to supercede some p/n's to black. OK, enough rambling, here's the currently available p/n's that I've confirmed:

Vacuum line ("plastic" Tecalan pipe, 4mm OD, 1mm ID)
=====================================================
000-158-14-35 - Transparent (sort of white)
000-158-89-35 - Transparent with red stripe
000-158-91-35 - Transparent with blue stripe
000-997-39-52 - Brown
001-997-81-52 - Black
116-276-06-30 - Black with white lettering
123-276-16-30 - Black with red stripe


Rubber stuff (3.5mm ID)
=======================
117-078-02-81 - 90-degree "L" shaped fitting
117-078-05-81 - 45-degree "V" shaped fitting
117-997-09-82 - Rubber hose (order by the meter)


Black "loom" (looks like heat shrink tube)
===========================================
040621-008200 - 8mm ID
040621-010200 - 10mm ID (most useful on my car)
040621-012200 - 12mm ID
040621-014200 - 14mm ID
(notice the pattern here? Larger & smaller are available too...)

the boost pressure line on the OM617's is larger than the vacuum stuff. The OM60x engine boost line is the same as the vacuum stuff (4mm OD). Anyway:

617-070-07-81 - Line from intake to s/o valve
617-070-06-81 - Line from s/o valve to ALDA

They're under five bucks each, and I think they include the metal fitting on the end.

601-078-06-45 - "F" shaped 2-port branch fitting - (great to replace the 4-port fitting after you yank the emissions stuff off a 124 diesel!)

Most of the pipe & loom is $1-$2 per meter. The "L" and "V" fittings are $2-$4 each, the "F" fitting is ~$6. (All prices from Rusty.) If you haven't replaced them in your car, it's a good idea to just do it. Total cost is probably less than $20. It's amazing how much of that stuff snaps like twigs when you start removing it!

Dave Meimann

Well, I finally got the SDL into the indy this past Tuesday. What a rollercoaster. To make a long story short, I had the following problems: bad #1 fuel injector; blown exhaust gasket at #1 cylinder; blown head gasket between #1 cylinder and front of head; and, head cracked at #4 and #5 cylinders. Here's a few pics:
#5 crack

oil basted #1 valves

blown head gasket

baby in the bay (on the right;-)

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

Wow, any idea on what caused the head gasket and exhaust gasket problems? Are you going with a new head or a used one?

Btw now would be a good time to replace all of the lifters and doing the timeing chain couldn't hurt. While your in their...

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Honestly, I believe the dealer did a crappy install when the replaced the gasket just over 3 years ago. The gasket was supposedly the new and improved one. I'm getting a brand new #22 head with all new lifters. The timing chain doesn't even have 1 degree of stretch.

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

After a month without the car, I picked it up last night. It's great to have it back; I really missed it. It's got a new #22 head, timing chain, lifters, and some other items gsxr recommended. At idle, it seems a little rough right now, but I'm hoping some driving will take care of that. My indy wants it back at 800 miles to recheck the work. I assured him that I won't be satisfied until it purrs as it used to.
Here's a pic of the finished work:

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

I'm so jealous of the entire condition of the engine and the engine compartment that I saved the photo in one of my personal files so that I can always dream of what a 603 should properly look like.

I think it would take me a year to get mine to that condition. It really looks fantastic.

BTW, Chris, you would not want to share any secrets on how the top of the IP and the bottom of the oil filter housing stay in pristine condition, do you? Hell, that engine looks like it just came out of the showroom.

BTW, you're not running EGR on the SDL, are you?

No, it is plugged off, as is the ARV. Also, you can view more pics here: http://www.cdcphotos.com/mercedes/. The first four are of the old head and work, the next 5 were taken last night.

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

Wow - that is a great looking engine. Congrats on getting it back together, Chris! The 'rough' idle hopefully will go away. If not, I would want to have the injectors pop tested at a diesel shop (like Becker Diesel in Sac). And also if the motor mounts are old, I'd replace them - that is a leading cause of 'rough' idle on MB diesels!

Brian - I think the trick to the great looking IP is a few things. One, you need a CA car that has zero corrosion. Two, you need to pull the IP and replace all the leaky seals (side, bottom, rear, etc). And finally, clean it all up before re-installing. Even mine isn't quite that clean - but hey, let's see photos of his after 10kmi.

Look at this photo - see the red tamper-proof seal on the side plate screw? I've never seen that before. I wonder if this pump is a recent new/rebuilt unit from Bosch?

The only thing left to make it perfect would be to replace the brown-ish fuel lines:

__________________
Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

Yes, it is. The pump was brand new 60k miles, 3 1/2 years, ago.

Sorry, Brian, I overlooked your question. I make a habit of keeping the engine compartment clean. In general, every exterior wash includes popping the hood and a quick wipe down with my favorite car care product, Leatherique (www.leatherique.com - no afiliation).

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

Dave,

Of interest to you may be the fact that my indy used new prechambers and glow plugs. Everything fit perfectly and required NO bending of the fuel lines.

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold