its time! the pistons are ready to come out. my problem is this. i do not know which direction the pistons should be taken out. out of the top or the bottom? i'd like to pull them up out of the bottom of my inverted engine. but, the only way i have heard of doing this is to sand down the ridge in the top of the cylinder and pop them out of the top. it seems to me that it would be easier to pull them out carefully by the connecting rod through the bottom. is there something i am missing? is this a bad way to do it? am i going to foul something up by doing it this way. i am trying to avoid sanding down the ridge. thanks guys
william gum

drive them out through the bottom. When you redo the cylinder you will remove the ridge at the top.
engatwork
'95 E320
'97 Honda CRV

Even with the crankshaft removed,I don't think the piston will come out the bottom. If you have a ridge at the top of the cylinder,this is called taper(wear)and depending on the amount of taper, you may need to put in new sleeves and maybe new pistons. You need to check the specs for permissable wear limits.I always install new pistons/new sleeves, or if possible, bore the original sleeve and install new oversize pistons. Either way is permissable.
Good luck. If I can help you in any way, just let me know.
Glad to do it.
Bill Lewallen Lex.Ky.

William,
Driving them out the bottom is easiest. Use a wooden broom handle or other stiff wooden pole of reasonable thickness. This will take them out with minimal trouble and no damage to the piston heads.

I would think that if there is enough ridge for this to be a problem, the engine will be a candidate for fresh pistons and reboring anyway. Of course, you will need to mic the cylinders to know for sure.

Good luck,

To whom it may concern;
Pistons will have to come out the top. The manual says so and besides,the main bearing holders protrude enough and will not allow the piston to be removed from the bottom. If you think the pistons can be removed from the bottom, then you evidently have never rebuilt a Mercedes engine. I called a friend in Falmouth,Ky. and he agrees with me. I even checked a couple of blocks in my shed. There is no way that piston is coming out the bottom.
Larry is right about the ridge at the top of the cylinder.If its enough of a ridge that you can feel,then you will need to have the sleeves bored for oversize pistons, or replace the sleeves and install new standard size pistons.If you do all this,you will wind up with a rebuilt engine that is good as a new one.Costly? Yes.
If I can be of more help,just let me know.Glad to help.
Bill Lewallen Lexington,Ky.

I was not going to argue with anyone, because I've never personally gone into the bottom of one of these engines. But I have never seen an engine in which the pistons could come out the bottom.

Good luck,

Larry I'm glad you agree with me about the piston removal. You say you have never worked on the bottom end of a Mercedes engine? I would have believed you to be an old pro on MBs. Rebuilding Mercedes engines has sort of been a hobby with me,although I have been paid to work on other owners MBs.So I should know which end to remove the piston. I have rebuilt engines on many Mercedes;180,190,200,220,230,240,250,280,and 300.These are all the early years up to about 1983. I did work on a 1951 170, but I didn't rebuild the engine. Also did minor service on a 1938 540K(now there was a car).
Bill Lewallen Lex.Ky.

No argument here at all.... just a slip of my gravitational field... forgot which way is up. Removal should be from the topside... no room below. Sorry about that.

Just for info, with the crankshaft removed on my old Mitsubishi 1.4L, the piston removal was preferred, as per manual, to remove pistons through the bottom and replace through the top. And, yes, they did come out fine that way.

You learn something everyday. Sorry for the error everyone.
thanks for the correction.
engatwork
'95 E320
'97 Honda CRV

To all;
I'm glad we got the piston removal question solved.
Bill L. Lex.Ky.

from the man who started it all:
thanks for all the hard work guys. i can tell that you all put much effort into this post. thanks again, and wish me luck.
william gum

I take it back. I completely rebuilt the engine in my '68 230 with stick shift. This was many years ago. But I've never completely rebuilt an MB diesel. I did replace the short block in my 240D, but did not have it apart.

The modern MB engines, and even other makes seem to live longer as far as the short block goes. So doing the head only, seems to be more of a common cure these days.

I have rebuilt several other engines in my life including building hot rod small block chevy's, six cylinder Chevy(my first car)Ford 400M(in my four wheel drive) , six cylinder Mustang, V8 Mustang, Ford diesel tractor.

I have never made my living as a technician, unless you count the work that Dad made me do around his independent garage when I was a kid. I guess that since I've never had to make my living as a tech, that's why I enjoy messing with cars.

Have a great day,