I am trying to help someone diagnose an engine on a 1987 300D that will not start. I havent seen the car physically. My first thought when he asked me was that it suffered a Cracked head.
A month before it failed a deer hit it and the water pump pulley was dented,
Just before the engine failed, it lost all coolant and the Temp Guage hit "0". The driver found a puddle of about 1 qt oil near the front passenger side of the engine.
My feeling is that perhaps the timing chain cover broke when the chain snapped. My theory is that if the head cracked, you might still be able to start the car, but if the chain or timing cover snapped you might lose chain functionality and the engine would not start at all.
Engine turns over but doesnt start.
Driver of this car uses the car at hi speeds and the chain wasnt serviced for at least 250K miles after he bought it at 50K miles, the chain may have had 340 K on it!
Could any chain last that long?