After getting new head and carefully installing I went crazy today and tried to move my cam chain gear 1 tooth because it looked out of alignment with my original mark. Needless to say ended up dropping chain down into engine about 2 inches and now chain is bound up somewhere in the engine, the cam gear is stuck in the top of the head with very little play and I am ready to finally admit that this was a bad idea . I am usually very patient with mechanical work but occasionally I get inspired-with the usual result... Does anyone know how to fix this , I know its boneheaded; however, this is my only car and I have to fix it soon... Manual is useless - doesn't anticipate mistakes, LOL...HELP!!!!

I can't see that shifting the chain one tooth would ever be a good idea.

I imagine that it is now time to remove the front cover. Your chain is likely bound up in the tensioner.

A 617 has no front cover.

Remove the tensioner so that the chain has free play. Then, fish the chain out of the abyss and get it positioned over the camshaft sprocket. You may need to remove the sprocket to do this because there is not enough slack in the chain. Once the chain is back on the camshaft, then reinstall the tensioner.

Check for the marks to align on the tower when the engine is at 0 degrees with at the top of the compression stroke.

Make sure you can rotate the engine two full turns by hand before considering hitting the starter.

Removing the vacuum pump will also give you limited access to the chain.

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My Truck.. 2007 DODGE, 5.9 Cummins, 6spd stick, 4X4. My car..1977 240D, OTHER WHEELS...1955 VW Oval window bug, European Delivery (Holland) with a 1700cc, 2 barrel, Porsche drum brakes. 1939 WILLYS Pick-up. 1967 Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub. 1976 Honda 550F 4cyl Motor Cycle.

Pull the vacuum pump and see if that helps. You may have to wiggle the IP drive after the vp is out of the way.

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Jim

Pulled tensioner, no slack, will try to use wire to fish chain up from below. Will removing vacuum pump give me more slack or idler gear on head? Cam Chain gear is really stuck, chain has pulled it down into head and it is jammed into the head, can't seem to get any slack at all to remove chain guide or anything else.

I feel your pain, man, I was there recently. The chain wasn't pulling as hard for me as it seems to be for you, though. I doubt your chain is bound up to the point where you need to pull the motor. I think it must be something associated with the IP that pulls some slack out of the chain every half turn or so on the motor. So, don't panic, but take caution and carefully consider what I recommend. I would apply as much upward energy on the cam gear and chain as I could hoping that the chain would give some slack, just a little is all you need. Then I would try rotating engine forward first, but if it didn't go very far, then (and this is the part where I'd carefully consider the ramifications) try backwards--only from the crank bolt of course. It could be that the chain is kinked a little right in front of the bottom gear or ip gear. Everyone I talked to who rebuilds these motors swears up and down that you simply can't skip teeth on the bottom or ip just by doing what you're doing. Good luck, man, like I said, I feel your pain. But don't worry, I don't think you've done anything that can't be undone.

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

For all who replied to this thread and especially GRIESL, thank you! I did not pull the vacuum pump, thank God, I tried to pull up on gear and chain-still no luck, then I started working the crankshaft backward about a quarter of a turn and that freed the chain; however, now I'm not sure the crank and cam timing are good, but that's a problem for another day!!!!! Will be back at it tomorrow, starting to rain here now and had to button car up! Again, thanks everybody!

Awesome! Way to go. Cam timing may be off, but I guarantee ip and crank are still good. So you may have to remove the little innards of #1 delivery side of the ip and turn the engine to make sure you're on the compression stroke and then line up the timing marks on the cam tower. Then put her all back together and you're good to go. Keep us posted.

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.