Major valve adjustment on a 617 ??? 1981 300td

[cswanson]

I heeded no one’s advice not even my fathers and bought me an expensive, inexpensive 1981 300td. Yes I knew it had problems. But growing up around mechanics and garages I learned at a young age to love working on cars and having one that is less electronic gets me all gity inside. Plus I’ve always wanted a diesel station wagon.
So far I changed out the alternator swapped it from a junk yard – the alternator was good but the pulley had gone to…. Called Mercedes they wanted $126 list for it. That’s the pulley only. Crazy!
Next thing you know the ac compressor started making some noise the ac clutch or compressor must have seized up... cut the belt.... No noise… I’ll deal with the AC in the spring.
Two new balenced front tires took care of alot of vibration.
Had some exhaust work done, and then realized that I still had a major leak at the manifold. So out came the intake, turbo, and exhaust manifold. Taking it to dads shop to give it a good cleaning. It took a couple of hours but the Forum Sure helped. Thank you for those who have traveled these roads before me. Bless you all!!
Changing the motor mounts in the next day or two, while the manifolds are out...
I did the valve adjustment today and at times could barley turn the motor over form the power steering pulley nut. After adjusting some valves; turning it over got much easier and when I got done and went back through to check them you could tell a big difference when turning the motor over.
Here are the numbers I started with: engine was stone cold ( all exhust should be .35mm and intake should be .10mm)
Cylinder #1 exhaust .17mm Intake .015mm
Cylinder #2 intake .02 mm shuts .15 mm
Cylinder #3 exhaust .10mm intake .02mm
Cylinder #4 intake NONE (0) zilch exhaust .17 mm
Cylinder #5 exhaust .25 mm intake. 015mm
YOUR THOUGHTS …Have you ever had a valve adjustment needing that much adjustment…and should this help with rough starts when cold? What should i expect?
I bent a 14 mm wrench with MAP gas and a sledge it worked great... after doing them I heated up and changed the angel slightly to move better over the injectors. I plan on makeing another one as soon as i can find a spare 14 laying around.
Last question… anything I should replace or look at while I got the manifolds out of the car?

[vstech]

only one at zero? nahh, that's no big deal. it just means the PO neglected the car before selling it. now you have to drive it 1000 miles and re adjust to see if that 0 valve has damaged the seat. I bet those three tight ex valves will be tight again in 1000 miles. (hopefully not by much)
as far as replacing things, I'd get new turbo drain o-rings (big grommet on tube by turbo) also the air cleaner mounts, PCV connectors, oil separator drain connector o-rings, and any hose down there.

[snookwhaler]

Good advice above.

That is not too bad. All of mine were tight except a couple when I picked up my car. The PO stated that "it ran so good, I never had them adjusted".

Check the exhaust manifold carefully for cracks while you have it off and be sure to get all the crud out of the intake before you put it back on. Be sure to use a new gasket (do not re-use the old one). Good time to do an EGR block kit.

As stated above... This is a great time to replace the oil drain seal for the turbo. That is a common and messy leak. Clean up that side of the block and check the starter connections. I would also check that the Aux. pump is working too (while you have everything out of there). Then pull the battery tray and clean up underneath and fix any rust.

[okyoureabeast]

This is one of the biggest things I need to do that I believe hasn't been done in awhile.

[StaggerLee]

I would replace the short coolant hose by the thermostat if you're that far in to the engine. .02