Since these engines can be timed with the injection pump on the wrong stroke. I think this is what occured here. Actually it is a pretty common error. Or certainly is with a lot of non mechanic types.

I think your independants insurance company is going to owe you whatever the bill is from the dealership less anything that is not related to this.Such as the oil change. It could be related as well and perhaps is but hard to say at this point.

So make sure the bill is well written and very specific in nature on what they found and done. Why the bill has jumped from 1200 to 2700 is going to be interesting as well. There are just not that many hours in the job nor is it all that complex if you know what you are doing.

It might not hurt to involve the independants insurance company now as they may be able to moderate the bill somehow or other. You give them no chance to do it once you pay it yourself.

Nobody wants to repair someone elses mess is a given. To charge like this though is somewhat extreme in my opinion. Especially when they know the problem occured with a timing chain change. That narrowed down the possibilities of what to look for a lot.

What it seems to be is primarily all labour. I am not a working mechanic but if you brought that car to me and told me the car would not run since the timing chain change. Checking a few things and retiming the pump perhaps two hours time. You could stretch it somewhat further by rechecking everything I suppose.

I am afraid the fuel oil in the base oil may be because of something the other mechanic did as well. Or there was only a trace of it from continiously trying to restart the engine far too much that got past the rings. Enough to smell it in the base oil is possible.

Now if I was not really knowledgeable this could go on a long time. I also wonder why they dumped the oil prior to getting the car running well. The smell of it is my guess when examining the dipstick.

For arguments sake say in retirement I still clear a thousand a week or more for income. Someone is still going to small claims court if the independants insurance company or independant does not come across if it were me. That is another reason you want the dealerships bill to be very specific.

This could be one of the worse cases posted on our site overall. Why I thought the bill might grow was if whoever worked on the car did damage to the valve train as well or that is why the bill has already hit 2700. If they had to change cam towers or anything like that as well the bill is perhaps not that extreme. I hope they did not send out the injection pump unless the independants mechanic did something to it. From your general description there was nothing wrong with it prior to the timing chain change.

I guess one unanswered question is did the engine have fuel oil present in the base oil when you last had the car in service?

There has never been fuel oil present in the base oil. I get my engine oil tested at Blackstone Labs often and it has never tested positive for a presence of fuel oil. This is really good information. I feel bad about going back to my buddy's shop and asking for them to get their insurance involved. But, the charge at the dealership is really a lot of money and it seems to be the fault of of indy mechanic that replaced the timing chain.

__________________
Ed
-1984 Mercedes 190D 2.2 5-speed gray market(bought@30,000 miles) (Sold back to original owner@170,000 miles)
-1999 Mercedes E300DT (245,000 miles)
-1999 Mercedes S500 Grand Edition (80,000 miles)

This post was a God-send. I purchased a 95 e300D in New Jersey and drove it home to Detroit. I figured it needed IP timing and a purge.

I opened the port on the IP and rotated the engine until I could see the blade.. it read 12 degrees.. adjusted to 14 degrees, and did a purge and it still ran like crap.

Well. One more look and it was 194 degrees ATDC, not 14 degrees ATDC.

I would never even think it could run at 180 degrees.. so I didn't even think I could have been 180 out...

Special thanks to barry12345

__________________
Tim Wheeler

Current:
2011 E350 Bluetec
2008 R320 CDI

Previous:
2009 E320 Bluetec
1995 E300D
1983 300D
1978 300CD
1988 300SEL
1983 300SD
1975 240D
1990 300 2.5 Turbo
1987 300SDL
1981 240D
1990 300 2.5 Turbo
1984 300SD
1980 240D

to
barry1234

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

I'd like to know what ever happened with this story.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250