Had an engine swap recently and the new donor motor (a 1983 Euro 300D NA w/ 161K miles) is far better than the old one. Car drives like a dream. Great acceleration. Great compression and burns no oil. Had new motor mounts installed. My concern is the car shakes/rocks while in gear at a stop sign. Worse in DRIVE but still shakes in NEUTRAL and PARK. This is far beyond seeing the motor shake under the hood. The car rocks so bad I see the outside mirrors shake. I had two Mercedes shop owners look at it yesterday and both realized that the M-IP has no idle adjustment screw (which I already knew). One owner said the shakes are due to a harmonic imbalance between the IP pulses and the engine. Think of sound canceling headphones where a sound wave of the exact opposite amplitude will cancel the sound but the two pulses are such that the vibration is amplified causing the shakes. What can I do to smooth things out? I've already done a Diesel Purge with two cans with zero shake lessening. I was told to drive with the high idle cable set just high enough to stop the shakes but IMO this is a band-aid fix. Will adjusting the fuel delivery screw or increasing the timing (it's set to normal) smooth things out? If not what are my options? The car is so close to running perfect that I'm determined to get it perfect.

Been there,usally 2 things can cause the shakes. Air in the fuel line (not correct German hose clamps),or fuel restriction( filters,screen in tank,fuel pump).
Start by taking fuel hose off and blowing into line going to tank.Bleed the air and start it.If its better there you go tank screen.If not look for air leaks.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Gotcha with the fuel lines. Will inspect and replace them soon. Can the lift pump on this new engine be sucking in air? How do I verify it isn't? I still have the Euro lift pump from the old engine but don't want to swap it just yet.

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1984 Mercedes Euro 300D NA
1997 Ford F-350 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

Remove the return line that exits the relief valve on the injection pump. Immerse the end in a small container of fluid. The fuel level should slowly increase with no air bubbles coming out. This proves or disproves any air issue. you also might see a stream of bubbles flowing through the pre filter. Have a look.

I assume you did check the valve clearances.

Does the engine have engine shocks? Apparently they are required at idle for some engines.

Now I am going to introduce a wild one. The north american engines have a cigar hose. Your pump type does not usually I believe. I do not know what enables this difference to exist but it does. I would temporarily replace the cigar hose with a piece of fuel line temporarily. Not personally expecting any difference but not sure either.

Next I might check for equal power pulses across all cylinders. You could do what I consider a crude test now of backing off each injector nut fitting it turn. Listening for equal revolution drop.

Or employ the milli volt method. This is more likely to identify the cylinder if any and it could be a marginal injector. This is easily verified if found. Just switch suspect injector locations. Check again. I too like all my engines to be as smooth as possible at idle.

First of all though make sure the engine is not ideling below factory recomendations.

Valves were adjusted on donor motor just after the swap.
Engine shocks are brand new with the swap
Yes mine has the cigar hose on the return. The removed motor did not shake at idle like this one does so I can eliminate the cigar hose as the cause of the shakes.

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1984 Mercedes Euro 300D NA
1997 Ford F-350 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

Hmmmmmmmmmm... wasn't aware of any without engine shocks --cept this 83 cd parts car i got-----Im wondering if this has something to do with some 617's being neutral balanced and some having a matching off balance flywheel???????????

I had a euro 240d with the M IP. There is an idle adjustment screw that sticks out on the back of the pump. You'll have to loosen a little lock nut and then should be able to adjust it. Second, is it my understanding that you have a US version lift pump on your euro injection pump?

I had similar shakes after buying my car and replacing the motor mounts, shocks etc - you could feel the car rocking from side to side. A valve adjustment helped, but running biodiesel helped too.

Checking and cleaning the fuel delivery system may provide some relief.

More clean fuel, changing the fuel lines, cleaning the drain screen in the tank, and general maintenance seemed to clear things up.

Swapped engine has a Euro M-IP and the lift pump with a white plunger.
Removed engine had a Euro M-IP and the lift pump with the black plunger.
I believe the white is the old style but don't know if it's Euro.
The black one is a Euro fer sure.

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1984 Mercedes Euro 300D NA
1997 Ford F-350 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

With this swap: new motor mounts, new engine mounts, valve adjustment just after the swap, shocks are year old Bilsteins and yes I'm running on B100 currently.

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1984 Mercedes Euro 300D NA
1997 Ford F-350 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

More info: My car is an '84 Euro 300D NA automatic (722.405) and the donor motor came out of a 1983 Euro 300D NA with a manual transmission. My mechanic transferred the flywheel from old to new motor but had to use the flywheel bolts from the automatic old motor as the manual tranny bolts were different. Does this sound right? Could I have a flywheel balance issue?

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1984 Mercedes Euro 300D NA
1997 Ford F-350 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

Those white handle pumps are known to leak. When I first joined here it was one of the most common mysteries. Everything seems to be fine but the engine won't start because the lift pump is leaking air.

Whether it is the cause of the shakes or not (probably not), you should still change that lift pump for a black pushbutton one.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Yes this could be a problem if the FW`s were not match balanced. the auto FW should be matched to the balance of the manual FW. should have been marked before removing from the engine, then he would know where to remount it.

I have read here some are neutral balanced, but you never know.

The FW bolts should be replaced, as they are stretch/yield bolts. that is what I have read as far as the manual FW bolts go. they are pricy new.

What did you do with the old manual FW and driveline?

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I'm trying to contact the mechanic to find out if he matched the flywheel but if the flywheel was not balanced wouldn't I notice an imbalance/shaking while driving? Once the high idle knob is turned up a bit at idle the shakes calm way down and it's real smooth while driving.

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1984 Mercedes Euro 300D NA
1997 Ford F-350 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

All the other stuff has been mentioned.
The idle speed needs to be set within the normal rpm range.

When mine shook at hot idle it was the stock Injector Nozzles that were causing most of the problem.

They were apparently the Originals and what I found is that the Central Drilled and cross Drilled Holes in the Spray Nozzle Pintels were completely pluged solid with Carbon.
All most all of the ones I have pulled at the Junk Yard werr in the same state.
Rebuilding the Injectors with new Nozzles cured the major part of the shaking.

The Central Hole is where the Fuel is supposed to come out of during idle and low speeds.
Holes #14 and #15 in the pic.

Ounce the holes are plugged solidly I do not believe a Diesel Purge is going to clean out the Carbon as the chemical will just pass around the obstruction.
However, a Diesel Purge may keep the passeages open if done before they are completely plugged.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel