Hello all, New to the forum here and new to Mercedes. Ive recently picked up a 84 W123 from a buddy for a certain project of mine. The OM617 at the heart is still running strong, transmission is not always willing but I dont really mind.

Now this certain project of mine is my 1984 Hilux off road truck. The stock 22r is not a powerful motor. The extra torque of the diesel will greatly help turn the 37" tires. OM617s are a decently popular swap.

Its not exactly a low mileage car. 358K miles does a toll on everything. What are some things i should be looking for? My buddy did injection lines, pretty sure the timing chain and a few other things. Engine hits 13-15lbs of boost no problem.

I'm getting ready to pull the engine in a few weeks. Just trying to get some things in order while I can still run the engine.

Thanks in advance guys.

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Travis
1984 W123 300D OM617
1984 Toyota Hilux on 37's 'Albedo'
2003 Ford F-250 Powerstroke 'Saber'

Valve adjustment.

Re-time the Fuel Injection Pump. But, before doing the timing look up the 2mm Method to check the Camshaft Timing that will say for sure about the timing chain.

If the injectors are the originals and have never been rebuilt they ought to at least be checked to you can find out if they are OK.

Repair Links Fast navigation.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diy-links-parts-category/146034-fast-navigation-do-yourself-links.html

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Greazzer on here is Da Man for injector reconditioning and he's ABSOLUTELY honest. Great resource.

Also do a compression test AFTER you adjust the valves. Harbor Freight has a compression tester that's good enough though it might not be accurate to 3 decimal places. You're looking for a cylinder that's a LOT lower than the others. Mine are in the range of 285 or so PSI (617 with somewhere over 220K) and I see that as marginal though they are pretty even. The point is that if you have a really low cylinder or two all the tuning in the world won't help. Sooner or later I'll rebuild my back-up engine and get lots more compression that'll translate to lots more HP.

Remember that in a Diesel if you have fuel and compression you have power. Nothing more to it.

EDIT: Should have added that of course everything needs to be adjusted right - pump timing, cam timing, etc.

Dan

If this engine has not had a valve adjustment and has been neglected by the prior owner/s, you may have to do a couple more.
Do the first adjustment, put a 100 miles on it. do another etc...
If it has not been done in a long while. carbon builds up in the seats, and as the valves rotate, the carbon wears off and throws out the adj.

They are suppose to be done once a yr or every 15K miles.

Here is the list of DIY, it`s in the OM617 section.
PeachPartsWiki: Do It Yourself Articles - Mercedes Vehicles

Here is a good thread if you really want to get into replacing the chain and other related parts.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

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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

Pedal to da metal!!

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Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

Compression check is best, not easy so best to combine w/ injector removal & test. At a minimum, check ring blow-by at idle (many youtube).

Don't know of alternatives to the M-B tranny. You can bolt up a later 700.4xx tranny (86+ cars?) since 85 CA uses that.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

There are adaptor systems available but they're not cheap. IIRC, Jags That Run is one source. Pretty sure this will get you to any GM-pattern trans. Of course you can always go the way the several of us have gone and add a 3rd. pedal along with the 4 speed from a 240D. Probably the cheapest way to get a stick and (at least from my experience) not too hard. This is more or less a blot-up though the guys will have to give details in putting it in a Mercedes body - mine's in Mutt the S-10.

I did my compression test thru the glow plug holes (the HF kit has the adaptor for that) but if you're pulling the injectors anyway you can certainly do it that way, too.

Dan

Actually there's a guy that cnc's his own adaptor plates and flywheels to bolt right up to the Toyota transmission, which takes a lot of the confusion out of it. With his parts is almost a drop in installation with some minor adjustments. And it's not too pricey considering everything that goes into it.


Thanks for all the info guys, I feel like I have a decent starting place.