I had a rebuit engine installed. They installed it without removeing the transmission (1979 300SD) It would not turn over. Even with a bar on the front of the flywheel, it was guaranteed birth control-it would turn only with considerable effort. I take it to the dealer and the MB delaer says there is "too much friction" in the engine. Sprays it with german equiv. of WD-40 for 4, 5 days. MB dealer claims engine is running but there is a bad transmission leak, therfore not driveable. I have it towed to transmission place. They say engine will not turn over, moreover starter is barely threaded into engine-just sort of barely hanging on.

At this point I'm stuck with a nightmare, a bad dream playing over and over,

Has anyone ever heard of "too much friction" in an engine? At one point after it was installed I heard the engine turn over, it just wouldn't start. At that point I thought it might be bad injector pump timing which the dealer also allegedly timed.

Anyone have any ideas, suggestions (besides I've got an expensive boat anchor)?

Make whoever did the crappy work fix it.

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1985 300D Turbo ~225k
2000 F350 (Powerstroke) 4X4, SWB, CC, SRW, 6spd ~148k
1999 International 4900, DT466e (250hp/660 ft/lbs), Allison MD3060 ~73k

maybe they didn't fully seat the torque converter before they bolted up the trans. Hopefully you didn't pay them already for a job done wrong and possibly damaging the transmission. If the engine/transmission bolts are all loosened several turns and the engine "miraculously" cures itself, well then you know for sure.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I had an MGB engine rebuilt once and the guy who did it put the Rod Bearing Caps and Crank Bearing caps in the wrong places and that engine wouldn't turn over even when we tried a tow start (broke a few tow-ropes though ). The engine had to be dis-assembled and the crank bearing caps line-bored to correct the problem.

I would definitely be talking to whoever rebuilt the engine, because something is screwed up. How did the Dealer get it to run but the Tranny shop can't??

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1991 M-B 560SEL Arctic White/Grey 99,000 Miles
1987 M-B 300SDL Ivory/Palomino 229,000 Miles (sold but never forgotten)
2006 Volvo XC70 Blue/Beige
1999 Porsche Boxster Arena Red/Savanna Beige
1986 Porsche 928S Goldweiss/Brown

Everyone claims it's not their fault-the buck gets passed. The installer (not the dealer) had it turning over at one point it just wouldn't start. Hense it went to the dealer for injector pump timing. Dealer said it was frozen up. He said they got it running but transmission had bad leak (which to my knowledge it never had before new engine install). Took it to transmission place, they said it won't turn over and starter barely hanging on. That where it is now. Talking to dealer later this moring after they charged $536 for what?

what if one of those idiots (doesn't matter witch) turned it over backwards and it jumped time?

Personally I start with the first person ...the rebuilder or source of engine as they had to warrant their work......

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I have heard of a rebuild engine not turning due to over tightening of the crank bearing cap bolts.

The torque converter is the first consideration if it was not engaged into the pump correctly there would be no free play in the engine/transmission assembly.
When bolting up the engine to the tran's you MUST be able to turn the T/C with your fingers to align the T/C bolts.
If this is not possible it must be checked for proper engagement .
If this is indeed the case then the tran's leak is due to the crush in the pump and subsequent damage this will cause just by bolting up the bell housing bolts.
The fact that bolts where loose indicated that maybe the engine would not
bolt up properly to the bell housing.
.

PS.......Where are you located gdemoss01 ?
.

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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

springfield, mo---MB dealer in Springfield, Mo

My problem was not overtightening of the bolts but using the wrong cap in the wrong place. ie: Cap #1 on Journal #6. The Caps and Block Journals are line-bored at the factory during manufacture and cannot be interchanged, since they may have a different alignment in another location. It was certainly enough to lock the crank solid on that MGB engine. If only a few are interchanged then perhaps it would turn but not freely.

I'm not saying this is the problem here, but its certainly a possibility.