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  #1  
Old 08-06-2007, 05:42 PM
klataklatacoupe's Avatar
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has anyone ever blown up a 617 engine?

i hav a 300cd-t w/ a 617 motor. i drive my car very hard on a regular basis. it has over 300k on it and seems to take the "abuse" just fine. i was wondeing if anyone has ever blown a head gasket or spun a rod bearing. if so, under what conditions? (i.e. overheated, out of oil,etc.)

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  #2  
Old 08-06-2007, 05:47 PM
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You can drive it as hard as you wish. It won't blow a head gasket due to your driving habits and it won't spin a bearing either.

Head gaskets wear out with time.........not much you can do about it.

You will cause a bit more ring and groove wear with the heavier combustion loads.........how much more is uncertain.

The engine is very heavy compared to it's power output..........there's a lot of margin there for almost unlimited high power operation.

Personally, I think you can drive it as hard as you wish, but, that doesn't mean you can rev it to 4400 on an unlimited basis. If you keep the rpm's down below 3500, it will likely last until a chain or a guide lets go. Very few people actually wear these engines completely out.........usually a peripheral takes them out when they get old.
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  #3  
Old 08-06-2007, 05:54 PM
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thats what i figured. thanks 4 the info. i just wanted to make sure i wasn't hurting my car. i like it a lot.
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coupes are cooler than sedans
84 300cd-t 305k
84 caddilac eldorado 43k
87 shelby GLHS 84k
86 dodge daytona shelby 112k
77 buick lesaber sc 74k
all coupes
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  #4  
Old 08-06-2007, 11:43 PM
Diesel Head
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For what it's worth, my 83 300SD has 2 positions for the throttle.....on and off. I run this thing in the 3500 to 4000 rpm range almost daily and routinely put 1,000 miles per week on her. Currently it has just over 337,000 miles. I run the s**t out of it, I'm sure it will fail someday but they are cheap to fix and replace. Just keep the oil changed every 3,000 or so, adjust the valves once a year or so, add whatever diesel injector clean is on sale every few thousand miles or so and keep the throttle hammered.

Oh yea....this will probably piss a few people off but who cares!! As far as oil and filters go buy whatever is on sale at walmart or local parts house. As long as it is 15-40 and diesel rated IT DOES NOT MATTER NO MATTER WHO TELLS YOU DIFFERENTLY. Oil is oil is oil is oil, prove there is one superior to another and you will be a VERY wealthy man. I say show me one person who has had a failure due to "inferior" oil and can prove it was the oil.

Thats my rant and 2 cents worth............let the remarks begin.
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  #5  
Old 08-06-2007, 11:46 PM
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i killed one... but the timing chain broke.

i believe it is like brian says. i think a guide failed then broke the chain.
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  #6  
Old 08-06-2007, 11:48 PM
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yea.. its usually the T-chain or a failing vacuum pump runaway situation that kills these..

not a rod through the block like on a sled pull truck
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  #7  
Old 08-06-2007, 11:50 PM
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Run one with out oil and you spin bearings fast. I have an example of where an earlier owner of my 300D did this. All the rod bearings looked like potato chips.
It wasn't seized but probably could have been if it had been run longer.
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  #8  
Old 08-06-2007, 11:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel Head View Post
Oh yea....this will probably piss a few people off but who cares!! As far as oil and filters go buy whatever is on sale at walmart or local parts house. As long as it is 15-40 and diesel rated IT DOES NOT MATTER NO MATTER WHO TELLS YOU DIFFERENTLY. Oil is oil is oil is oil, prove there is one superior to another and you will be a VERY wealthy man. I say show me one person who has had a failure due to "inferior" oil and can prove it was the oil.

Thats my rant and 2 cents worth............let the remarks begin.

There's quite a bit of evidence that certain oils will allow you to run them longer and the resulting wear metals will be less than other oils.

If you are a person who changes oil at 3K religiously, I'd agree that any diesel rated oil will do just fine for you.

You'll never have a "failure" due to "inferior" oil. The only possible outcome is increased wear..........a very difficult task to prove.

BTW, what "inferior" diesel rated oil do you use?
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  #9  
Old 08-06-2007, 11:54 PM
ForcedInduction
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Mine has a piston pin knock. It's still running well 4 years after the noise started, although it's been getting worse in the last 6 months.
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  #10  
Old 08-07-2007, 12:03 AM
Craig
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Actually, I agree with Diesel Head regarding oil. If you are going to change your oil every 3000 miles any diesel rated oil of the correct weight will be adequate. The main advantage of good synthetic oil is longer oil change intervals (I go about 5000 miles) and the availability of 5W40 which provides easier cold weather starting and better cold lubrication.

No one is going to prove an engine failure due to inferior oil, any effects will be subtle and may show up after many miles (maybe more timing change stretch or shorter bearing life). Certainly, "running the s**t out of it" will affect the engine life more than the quality of the oil. If you abuse it long enough, you will eventually have a non-oil related failure anyway.

However, oil is very cheap and driving around at 4000 rpm is pointless.
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  #11  
Old 08-07-2007, 12:08 AM
Craig
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Regarding the original question, I came close to trashing mine by having debris from a broken vacuum pump get into the timing chain. Fortunately, the chain did not completely fail, but it was an expensive mess.
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  #12  
Old 08-07-2007, 07:35 AM
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I have used my 81 300D like a truck.
Pulling a trailer with a Camaro on it across two states.
Pulling a 82 300SD across town.
Taking stuff to the dump, etc, etc...

And I have put a lot of hard, fast miles on it.
Especially right after I bought it.
I wanted it to blow sooner rather than later when I had a bunch of money in it.

The car actually liked the abuse.
It seems to like a good hard Italian tune up.

Somewhere around 300,000 miles now, and she still sounds great.
Except for that loose A/C belt.
Need to fix that today.

Have Fun
RichC
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  #13  
Old 08-07-2007, 07:45 AM
t walgamuth's Avatar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel Head View Post
For what it's worth, my 83 300SD has 2 positions for the throttle.....on and off. I run this thing in the 3500 to 4000 rpm range almost daily and routinely put 1,000 miles per week on her. Currently it has just over 337,000 miles. I run the s**t out of it, I'm sure it will fail someday but they are cheap to fix and replace. Just keep the oil changed every 3,000 or so, adjust the valves once a year or so, add whatever diesel injector clean is on sale every few thousand miles or so and keep the throttle hammered.

Oh yea....this will probably piss a few people off but who cares!! As far as oil and filters go buy whatever is on sale at walmart or local parts house. As long as it is 15-40 and diesel rated IT DOES NOT MATTER NO MATTER WHO TELLS YOU DIFFERENTLY. Oil is oil is oil is oil, prove there is one superior to another and you will be a VERY wealthy man. I say show me one person who has had a failure due to "inferior" oil and can prove it was the oil.

Thats my rant and 2 cents worth............let the remarks begin.
Oil is not oil, but probably any good diesel rated oil is fine. And they surely are not cheap to fix.

Tom W
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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.
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  #14  
Old 08-07-2007, 10:10 AM
Anders
 
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1984 300D spun a bearing in 1992

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Carlton View Post
"... it won't spin a bearing either."
In February, 1992 I purchased a 1984 300D with 108,000 miles from Autowerkes in Hampton Falls, NH.

In May of 1992 I was driving home with a coworker from Boston to Manchester, NH when a series of loud noises started banging under the hood.

Long story short, the engine spun a bearing. The oil had been changed every 3000 mile since I had purchased it (two oil changes). It had the maintenance books stamped at regular intervals. I checked the oil level at every fill up. MB of North America said tuff *****.

Autowerkes installed a used engine for $2,100 that was still running strong when I sold the car three years and 140,000 miles later.
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1995 E300
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  #15  
Old 08-07-2007, 10:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andersbenz View Post
In February, 1992 I purchased a 1984 300D with 108,000 miles from Autowerkes in Hampton Falls, NH.

In May of 1992 I was driving home with a coworker from Boston to Manchester, NH when a series of loud noises started banging under the hood.

Long story short, the engine spun a bearing. The oil had been changed every 3000 mile since I had purchased it (two oil changes). It had the maintenance books stamped at regular intervals. I checked the oil level at every fill up. MB of North America said tuff *****.

Autowerkes installed a used engine for $2,100 that was still running strong when I sold the car three years and 140,000 miles later.
Do you attribute your hard driving habits to the cause of the spun bearing?

If so, where's the data to support the conclusion?

I think that it's more likely that the bearing was defective from the factory, or was damaged by a PO due to lack of oil for a brief period.

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