The car lot down the steet from me pulled in a 240D this morning. I know the guy, and stopped by at noon. It would not start, and had been towed in to his lot. I told him to change the filters. Still would not start. He looked into the oil filler cap on the cover, and saw that the camshaft is broken in half. He would probably give it to me if I wanted it. It is the same color, but rougher than my recently purchased 240D. It is an automatic, and mine is a manual. Should I even consider taking it??? Apparently it "died" at freeway speeds on the way to being traded in on another vehicle. Would that tear up the engine badly? It seems like it would do a lot of damage.

Thanks for the advice

George

Pull the valve cover and look more closely. Check to see if the cam bearing towers are also broken which usually means that a chain skipped from being too loose. It has probably only suffered a few bent valves and broken camshaft and would be a good candidate for a rebuild. Parts are cheap and available and these are easy engines to rebuild. Pistons are NOT cheap so try to save yours. Even pistons with worn ring lands can be machined to take thicker rings.

I have heard a lot of stories that a 240D engine can easily live through a timing chain break. A broken cam shaft would yield similar results, especially if it broke near the front of the engine.

The good news is the valves sit in the head vertically and the pistons hitting the valves may not bend them. The cam bearing housings usually yield before anything else. A riverboat gambler might simply replace the cam shaft and broken cam bearings and see what it will do? Might not even have to remove the head.

Good luck.

__________________
1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold

Agreed. Do a compression check after these initial repairs to see where you stand.

__________________
1984 300SD 326,997 miles and counting . . . No wait, my odometer is still dead

The cost of pistons for the 240 engine .... or the non turbo 300 is WAY LESS than the turbo...
If he will give it to you... or for little...

TAKE IT !!!

then figure out what it will take to get it going....

They are not making any more of them !!!

I think that he has decided to "tinker" with it for a while. I will keep in touch with him and see what he decides to do with it.

George

DON'T tell him about this forum !!! LOL

Don't worry! He is not a computer kinda guy. He just doesn't believe in that internet stuff. "It is no way to sell a car!", according to him. That's fine with me. Four years ago, I bought my 1992 190E 2.6 from him. Every now and then he gets a car that was traded into a new car dealer, but is a little too old for the dealer to keep on their lot. My 190E was traded in for a new BMW by a federal judge. It was still in great condition.

George