Well I pulled the injectors and sure enough... water... out of the third cylinder. Looks like I'm gonna be pullin the head. I've never done anything like this before, on any car. I've never even taken off the valve cover.

My point is, is that I'm gonna need all the help and info I can get. What tools do I need to pull the head? What do I need to buy to complete the whole job? What things require replacement after disassembled (gaskets, etc.)? Anything I need to be particularly careful of/avoid completely/remember specifically? Anything I should look into or take care of while I've got everything apart? Trouble areas?

Hopefully I'm gonna be able to get someone who actually knows engines to help me out. I only have a couple weeks to complete the whole job, so hope I can do it.

__________________
1992 300D OM602

Ben

Search this forum first... there are a lot of threads about the 60x head replacement, including this recent thread. You'll need the factory manual, head gasket set, injector deep socket, 12-pt drive tool for the head bolts, a rail pin puller like this one is recommended, plus assorted hand tools. Some assorted parts should be replaced while it's apart, nothing super expensive though... upper chain rail, turbo oil drail O-rings, valve cover gasket (if it's not fairly recent), injector return hose, things like that.

Trouble areas - make sure you have ALL the bolts removed, and the oil feed hose removed, and brackets below the turbo... before trying to pull the head off the engine! If it doesn't come loose, don't force it - you probably missed something. You'll need to chase the head bolts (and measure them), and tap all the holes in the block, and dry them, as mentioned above. That alone takes a couple of hours.




It's about 20-30 hours for a first-time DIY. Nearly half that is cleaning the block surface, chasing the bolt & block threads, general inspection, and basically getting it ready to re-install. If you don't have the tools to mess with the head, have a machine shop check it for flatness, and have them replace the valve stem seals. Hopefully there is no damage to the head.

__________________
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

I'm tired of using old nuts and bolts, so I've just bought one of these too.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

I'm located in Utah, a small place called Eagle Mountain. I have some neighbors who have lots of experience with cars and engines (and lots of things) in general, not Mercedes but... you know. As for the miles... I can't be sure, odometer says about 70k right now, PO said it was replaced at 70K and my title says the odometer reading is "exempt" :\ I would guess that it has more than the 140k but... I just don't know.

What factory manual do you suggest, a CD? Or Book? I dunno where to get it...

Is relaping the valves changing the valve stem seals, and if not should I do that? What about replacing the valve guides, valve keepers, cam follower, or prechamber. Are there valve springs, and should they be replaced?

Do these cars need valve adjustments and should I do a timing adjustment?

There's a lot I don't know about all this, and right now I'm shakin in my boots but I hope to get someone to help me.

And thank you for the help so far. Guess I need to start ordering parts and get this show on the road. Hope I blow up my car

__________________
1992 300D OM602

Ben

If they are willing to follow directions in the factory manual, they may be helpful. If they just want to "wing it" based on their knowledge of other cars, I'd keep them as spectators, lol.



The printed manuals are no longer available new, only used via eBay, book stores, etc. It's nice to have them, but NOT cheap to pick up all the manuals separately (there are a half-dozen total). The CD is posted online here.



Re-lapping the valve seat may not be needed, the machine shop can determine this when the valves are removed for inspection. The valve guides should also not need replacement (it's common for the gas cars to need guides by 200kmi, but not the diesels). Prechambers do not need replacement unless physically damaged. Ditto for the valve keepers and springs. The cam followers (hydraulic lifters) should probably be replaced if you had a "ticking" lifter or two... but they're expensive, about $20 each, and there are ten of 'em. If you had quiet lifters, you can probably skip this. The valve stem seals look like this... make sure you get the style shown on the left side.



No valve adjustment is needed, the hydrualic lifters compensate automatically. You should check chain stretch and replace the chain if it's beyond spec (limit is 4° of stretch), as shown in this TSB. When you're done with the job and the engine is running again, I'd check the IP timing, that's basically the only adjustment to worry about.