Well, I finally got around to tearing my donor motor down completely. Everything looked pretty good inside with the exception of the rings (haven't taken measurements yet). The one major problem: Some jack@#s be it previous owner or previous owner's mechanic decided it would be a good idea to weld the balance disc to the crankshaft. Not something I'd normally check for since the pulley's and harmonic balancer have to be removed first. Back to the yard for a donor crank now. Maybe someday I'll actually get the pleasure to drive this car

You are going to get way to deep in that engine. Junk it now while you are ahead, (I know you paid good money for it), and get a good engine, a different one. Needs rings, needs a crank and balancer - what else does it need?

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

I wonder if the guy had to lay on is back with a file while the engine ran to "balance" it

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

I really didn't pay all that much --129 with IP. I had already planned on doing a complete rebuilt (the reason it's torn apart) and have planned for about 900 or so for parts. I think what I'm going to do is go crank shopping at the yard this weekend. I can mic them there and use dye to check for cracks that are obviously abnormal (magnuflux would be best but not doable there). Will be able to have the crank and block magnafluxed next week when I get back to the shop. The other side to this is that this engine is also a project for me at school----so I believe it's tax deductible as learning materials (need to double check though, any tax attorney's on here? )

Good question. The wonderful thing about stupidity is that it never ceases to amaze.

I've often wondered who would be the first person on the forum to weld the balancer to the crank on here, given the repeated problems with see with the crank pin slots failing. It's not a bad solution if all else has failed since the other alternative is to pull the engine and put in a new crank.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

$900 for parts? If this includes pistons, I would like to know where to get parts, especially it you are talking about a turbodiesel...
I doubt that it will be possible to rebuild an OM617 for less than $3K these days. I don't know the whole story- sounds like you may have "free" labor?

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

My pistons are fine no scoring, melted parts and measure within spec. If I needed pistons I would be looking at other alternatives since I really wouldn't care to spend $300 a piece on them. I do have "free" labor since I am a diesel mechanic and access to valve grinding equipment. (I may just replace the exhaust though--don't really want to mess with the sodium).

Your entire school is deductible IF you already have the skills for your job AND are simply increasing your knowledge. Its not deductible you are studying to get the skills for a job you don't already qualify for. Better yet, start a related business, generate some revenue & get larger benefit from the deduction because self employed get hit for both sides of payroll tax (employer and employee).

I do have some questions about how Mercedes does their balancing though. The manual states that all crankshafts are zero balanced from the factory. When replacing the balancing disc the new one must be statically balanced with the old one. I understand how that works. The same is said about the flywheel as well. The manual also states

"The engine is fully balanced, that is, the complete engine has been balanced on a balancing machine. Since in the event of repairs this type of balancing cannot be performed, while on the other hand the balanced condition of the engine should be maintained as much as possible, a new flywheel must be brought to the same balancing condition as the removed flywheel."

So I guess that basically means if pulling a new crank I would also need the flywheel, pistons/rods, harmonic balancer unless I were to have the assembly balanced at a machine shop. Has anyone on here had their engine balanced before? If so how much did it cost you? Let me know if I read that wrong, just don't want to end up with a broken crankshaft down the road.