Take it from someone who has had timing after head rebuild WAY off, you would at least have some indication of ignition. I can't remember exactly (it was over a year ago and my short term just ain't what it used to be), but I want to say I was off by 10 or 12 teeth on the cam. It was a disaster figuring it all out. But even with that I was able to drive it down the road--ran like crap, but I was still able to drive. As long as you don't have valve to piston interference, I would think it'd at least give you a little ignition. As suggested, I would look at glow plugs. After that, I'd consider testing compression just to make sure you didn't adjust valves opposite of their stroke. One thing that I do remember helped me alot in getting timing back was taking off the #1 injector line and rotating the motor to see when the valve would spit. Then look at the cam lobe on #1 to see if you're on the right stroke. I would also look to make sure that vacuum shutoff on the ip didn't get bumped around during the head r&r.

Good luck!

__________________

1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

If it's not the glow plugs, set the engine to the zero degree mark on the damper and take a look at the #1 set of valves (thorugh the oil fill). Can you see the cam lobes pointing upward to some degree............or do you see no lobes and the lobes are pointed downward?

It was me
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=198092&highlight=head

All i can say start from the basic,damper cam shaft marks shoud be aligned,rotate by hand ,if valves dont hit piston you are good.

Good luck.
PS . Car runs great after head rebuild.

thanks for the replies, guys.

glow plugs are good.
man, at TDC the lobes of #1 definitely aren't pointing "UP."

how in the hell did i manage that?
and what do i have to do now? any advice on what's the best/quickest way to fix?

__________________
-lee
'83 300CDT (286k)

former proud owner of:
'85 mercedes euro 300TD
'80 mercedes 300TD
'77 mercedes 280e
'80 mercedes euro 250
'82 mercedes euro 250

The engine has two times it is at top centre indicated at the crank in the otto cycle. On the power stroke initiation both valves are closed and the injector has just finished squirting. The lobes are pointing upward. The next time it approaches top centre it is just finishing its exhaust extraction from the power stroke and the inlet valve is starting to open to admit fresh air for the forthcoming power stroke. So the lobes are generally pointing downward to activate the valves.
So if you where to rotate your crank one more turn the lobes will be upward. Your real problem is to find out if the number one injector is spraying on the right stroke.

So far you have just got the engine up on its exhaust and intake stroke. You do not yet know if the injector is spraying at that point or where it should be really activating at the initiation of the power stroke. You have a little more work to do. If you find this confusing another way to express it is one rotation of the crank will place the cam timing mark 180 degrees from the next turn of the crank. The injection pump turns at half the crankshaft speed as well. The relationship between the cam and injection pump can be easily disturbed when removing and installing a head.

Thats why you should make sure the cam mark is on before removing the head just before you removed it. Then after the valve job install the head again in a fashion that duplicates what you had. Paint marks on the cam sprocket and chain are also a good refference to use by the way. Otherwise you run a fifty/fifty chance of getting the cam relationship to the injection pump wrong.

You still have to verify what stroke the injection of fuel on number one cylinder is occuring. You can use the line with the injector in the open air or the welling up method in the number one injection pump element. The welling up method you can read about in the archives should be good enough for your purposes. Easier to manage as well in my opinion.

I may have misunderstood your post but think not. If you want to see your cam lobes pointing generally upward just rotate the crankshaft one more turn to top dead centre indicated. Also ask any questions that occur to you so members on site can attempt to clarify anything. There is yet no proof that you are out of sequence just because you see the cam lobes pointing down.

Let's be careful here.

One out of every two rotations, the lobes will be down and both valves will be open. This is normal. Rotate the engine 360 degrees and the lobes will be up and the valves will be closed.

The question is whether the camshaft is in time with the IP. Does the #1 cylinder get fuel on the proper compression stroke and not on the exhaust stroke.

You'll probably need to remove the delivery valve and spring from #1 and see if it delivers fuel on the compression stroke (as determined by the current cam position).

well, i'm working THREE jobs right now, so i haven't been able to get back to wrenchin' until today.

the head gasket is definitely on.
the injector heat shields are definitely in.
the glow plugs are definitely wired and hot.

i went to test the 'start of delivery' by removing the #1 injector spring and valve and connected my home-made drip tube. i wired the IP linkage into the 'up' position and disconnected the vacuum hose to the IP, and:

i can't get the drip tube to drip anything when i rotate by hand. when i turn it with the key, i get a stream, but obviously no way to tell when it's squirting when using the ignition. i can't turn her over by using the PS bolt, so i've been underneath turning the crank and waiting for the drip tube to drop some in my eyeball. so far, no luck!

__________________
-lee
'83 300CDT (286k)

former proud owner of:
'85 mercedes euro 300TD
'80 mercedes 300TD
'77 mercedes 280e
'80 mercedes euro 250
'82 mercedes euro 250