Looking at "Next" from "daw". Possibly needing new motor. What will install with little difficulty? Wife says no new project cars. I need something that can bolt up relatively quickly and be back on the road.
Are all 617.xxx the same excepting turbo or NA?
Thanks all.

Generally any OM617 will work with that car (it is what came with it), the main differences are either NA/turbo as you mentioned, and some had california emissions, but can be eliminated. 1985 brought some changes to the surrounding systems as well. You'll probably want to stick with a turbo 617 or face the curse of extreme slowness. Should be a fairly straightforward drop-in. You can go with a newer engine if you have the swap cars side-by-side but more things will need to be swapped over and adapted.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Actually - forgot to ask, is the transmission still with the car? It is much easier to mate them up outside of the car and drop in both at once. You'll need to find an OM617 to use the same transmission. There aren't too many differences between the OM617.950 that came with the 79 SD and the 617.951-2s that came in the early w126s and w123 turbos.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

The main differences are emmissions.

The 78-80 300SD engine had the non egr manifolds. They tend to never carbon up, which is desirable. If you take a newer engine, i would probably take the other stuff off the existing engine, if its still there.

__________________
1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

Even some of the 1980 W116 300SDs have EGR manifolds. My 1980 does. But the emissions parts can be removed. 1980 and later OM617 engines have more horsepower than the 1978 and 1979 engines, so it's a trade-off.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

The w116 1979 300SD is complete.

I have three w123 that are pretty much complete --- all have engines and transmissions.

__________________
daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
No longer selling Cluster Needles Paint
No longer selling New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

126 617's have an electric oil pressure senders. Others have manual. There are also different vacuum pumps but they should swap over.

__________________
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

I read that the 1980 w116 300sd had 120 hp. Is that the same or more than the w123 turbo? If more, what was the reason the w123 had fewer?

I don't know at the moment.

__________________
daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
No longer selling Cluster Needles Paint
No longer selling New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

The 1980 OM617.950 has 120hp, the later .952 had I think 123 hp.

Check clearance on the W116 subframe. You may find that a later .952 with the eggcrate-like upper oil pan will interfere with it

__________________
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 (??)

I would bet that there is no real difference in horsepower. Probably just a difference in how it was measured. My 79 300SD has never felt weak, unless i compare it to my rocket 603...

__________________
1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes