Lessons learned during my engine swap

While they were still in my memory, I thought I'd post a couple of things that I would do differently or did differently than recommended in the Haynes manual for an engine swap on my '84 300D.

- Oil Pressure sender... after some original problems removing the oil pressure sender from the oil filter housing, I decided to unscrew the sender from the instrument panel, pull it through the firewall, and swap out the sender plate on the back of the housing. Maybe I'm missing something, but the nut on the housing is plastic and breaks/deforms pretty easily. So far, so good.

- Oil cooler lines... if the oil cooler has aluminum fittings (maybe somebody could clarify which models do... my '84 does. my '79 300SD parts car does, but my '82 240D parts car doesn't) do the extra work of removing the cooler lines at the oil filter housing rather than at the oil cooler. This requires removing two mountings screws (one under the motor mount and one under the power steering/fuel filter area) and hoisting the engine a bit before removing the oil cooler, but it could save you $$$$ on a replacement oil cooler.

I'm not totally finished with the job yet. If any more lessons arise and/or others have some good tricks for future jobs put 'em here!

[t walgamuth]

thanks for the tips.

those al oil coolers are really fragile! easy to damage. one must be very careful to reinstall them exactly as designed as any chafing will wear a hole in them very quickly.

tom w

[rhodes2010]

I am working at getting the engine out of my 1980 300D.
Finding it tough to get at two top trans to engine bolts.
Used long extension from underneath, tried dropping the rear
of trans to get at bolts.
Now I am considering taking out the engine and trans as a unit.

Can anyone tell me what works best, I am trying not to add an
unneeded effort.

Thanks folks,
Bob

[boneheaddoctor]

I plan to pull the engine/trans out of my W116 parts car soon.....I plan to do it as a unit.

[rg2098]

After doing a trans in a W123 and entire engine in a W114 (similar in dimensions in the engine compartment) The easiest thing to do is drop the rear of the trans down as far as you can and use about 4 feet of extensions with another set of hands to help steady you but be careful because the fan will catch on the shrouding and the valve cover will be resting on the firewall.

NOTE: If you pull the head off
a) watch for oil and coolant in the block draining back on you when tiped back
b) watch to make sure the engine doesn't fall back on you when tipping back
c) those bolts are super easy to get at with the trans output shaft resting on the floor and the engine at a 45 degree angle. {don't ask how I know all this}

[Tirebiter]

There is a plate that is bolted to the bottom of the fuel filter housing that holds the boss where the oil line for your pressure gauge attaches. If the line nut is damaged or just bejesus tight, simply remove the five 6mm bolts (10mm across the flats).