i got the head off my 300d tonight to find that at least one of my cylinder walls is toast. there is pitting and some noticeable scratches. the motor knocks quite a bit but from a different piston, which is almost perfect, and other wise starts and runs fine no matter the weather. i believe the walls rusted while the car sat for 15 plus years under a tarp in the back yard of the guy i bought it from. there is also a ton of carbon build up on the head. ill take pictures of the head in a bit and will have to wait until tomorrow for the walls.

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

__________________
84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

Well, there are sleeves in the engine that can be changed so perhaps it is salvageable. A good used engine is a good alternative if you can find one.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Indeed sleeves can be changed but then they should be bored to size to fit the pistons you have.

This isn't the end but many people will advise a replacement engine. I'm contrary - I say better the devil you know - but "my" way isn't necessarily the cheapest way of getting back on the road ASAP. I hope that my take it to bits examine and repair everything approach buys me time in the long run...

...that that remains to be proven.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

A search for a good used engine is area dependant by now. As soon as things Get really bad with these engines a used replacement is sane if sensibly available.

Providing you can find and evaluate one properly before buying it. A total proper repair tends to be expensive even if mostly done by the owner. You have to use a machine shop.

Usually before these cars have reached this state at the current time they are not worth the heavy cost of a total rebuilt engine.

More then a few Members of this and other Mercedes Forums have bought an Engine on a Pallet. Meaning not in side the Car where they could test it and have found the bought another worn out Engine.

Better to buy a whole Car with a wrecked exterior or interior that you can test drive to see if the Engine is OK. As a bonus you get the rest of the Parts on the Car.

However, the cheapest way to go is to pull the Engine and take it apart and see if the all of the Pistons and the Other Cylinder bores are OK and decide from there.

If only the one Bore is the issue you can look at Pelician Parts to get some idea what a new Liner Costs. They used to be around $30.
The old Liner is easy to remove. One of our Members has a way to crack it off in little pieces insead of pressing the Liner out.

Installation of the Liner and the Boreing can be left to the Shop that will do the Job.

I did not notice how many Miles were on the Engine.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I have bought an engine on a pallet before, its the one that is going to shortly go into my 240D. I have seen it run though through video of it running and driving before the powertrain was pulled.

If you want to get it back on the road soon, I would look for a replacement engine. They arent too difficult to find and drop right in if you find the right one. You can get one from a W123 or a W126 (you knew this already) so that opens up possibilities.

If you do get a new motor, you can have the old one to rebuild and sell or just to play with. I'm going to do the same thing with my old 240D motor when its done.

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http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps988ecb84.jpg

1980 240D "Haley" - 266k mi | OM617.952 | 4-speed | Euro Propshaft | 2.88 Rear | Motor Out of Car
1994 E320 "Lauren" - 115k | As stock as they come
2010 Mazda Axela "Grace" - 32k | H&R Lowering Springs | K&N Air Filter

1981 RX7 - Sold and not really missed

Looking for a paint color suggestion for my 240D with Palimono MB-Tex interior!

Used engines are still relatively plentiful, although I've lately seen signs that they are starting to become less so. I don't know how things are in Idaho, but in SoCal (San Diego where I'm at) there are typically a dozen or so 123/126 diesels in the junk yards at any time.

A couple years ago, I paid $750 for a donor car whose engine has provided over 40k miles of trouble-free service so far. Last year I picked up a spare engine/trans for $400 that runs well and has good compression. If/when the primary fails, it will be a weekend of wrenching to toss in the spare one.

If you were to go the junk yard route, the engines typically have a 30 day guarantee. Hypothetically, if you were to come to SoCal and pull and engine you could easily put it on a palette, throw some oil in, and start it. Checking compression would give a pretty good indication of engine health. Worst case, you'd need to pull a second one, but you'd be pretty well assured of a good runner before you headed back...just a thought.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

I never buy an engine on the ground. People will lie all too often. So unless I know the person really well and they also really know good from bad. I consider an engine on the ground a boat anchor.

It is just too much work otherwise to install an engine and find it is a bad one. Some really clapped out older Mercedes have either factory rebuilds or quality rebuilt engines installed at some point before they were scrapped.

same here i bought a couple "good rebuild-able" motors when i was a kid, never again, that being said, also when i was a kid i was given more running motors than i bought. dang i need a time machine.

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

I'm planing in buying one when I finish college. I've decided to just replace the head anyway since I have all the parts already. I've been trying to clean up the walks with some 320 grit paper. So should I time the motor now that I've lost timing? Does the injection pump need to be timed with the rest of the motor? Also. Can I get away with using a 400 grit ball hone to clean the walls up if I only run it for a few seconds?

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

Great news guys! I cleaned up the old head and it turns out that it's been rebuilt! I pulled the valves because they looked kind of off and they are perfect! Different part numbers too. The per injection chambers kind of look like they may have been making contact with the pistons however and that could have caused my knock. So I'm going with my other head, but will swap the valves out

__________________
84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

__________________
84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

__________________
84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800