So, after a few weeks of people being away/busy, the variable cam timing issue was finally resolved and tonight the car hit the rollers for tuning.

Good times




Good news is the engine didn't blow up but the gearbag is making noises that are the cause of concern and wonderment. Too me, it just sounds like "cha-ching"!

It did get some basic tuning done though and so far has made a lazy 300rwhp at 6 psi at 4800rpm and very conservative timing. It revs out to 6ish no probs (The twin turbo V12 Legacy hated more than 5k). Got nowhere near doing any power tuning due to nasty noises but the fuel map is pretty well sorted up to 6psi. Lot more to do yet.

My initial guess, based on my non mechanic background gut feel, is an input shaft > crankshaft misalignment problem that is maybe starting to flog out the front bearing? It was going alright for a while, but then the noise started to appear and was getting worse. Al will get the car back to his shop and start the searching anyway.

Initial diagnostic report:

Latest news:

Precision measuring things indicated that "centralness" was not sufficiently central. Seems when the gearbox case, adapter plate and bellhousing were machined to allow the input shaft to meet the engine, the dowels that located the gearbox to the adapter went missing. The bellhousing was located on the adapter by a large machined spigot.

Partial disassembly of the gearbox didn't reveal any damage from misalignment. Dowels inserted and all put back together, the precision measuring things then indicated that the "centralness" was now a lot more central.

A reverse lockout solenoid was loaded into the gearbox and it was all fitted back into the car again yesterday. The solenoid was missing in the original install and meant there was no discernible difference in feel when going from 4th to 5th or 4th to R! And with a synchro on reverse as well, it could have been a gear mashy trap for young players.

Back for testing again soon

So the gearbox issue got fixed and last week the car was finally able to get back on the dyno.

On Tuesday afternoon this week I had a voicemail message from Al on my mobile when I got home from work. I called him up and he was pretty up front in telling me that it appeared a conrod had broken and punched a hole in each side of the block. I don't have any photos yet apart from this one which shows how small the rods are in this engine.



That is one of the pieces of rod that ended up on the floor of the dyno. For players outside of Australia, that is our smallest coin - about 20mm across.

So I spent about 24 hours sulking and licking my wounds and seriously considered just bringing the car home, stripping it and selling the parts.

But the car guy in me prevailed and talking with Al we agreed the best way forward was to get another engine and put it in naturally aspirated with a nice set of headers and re-use some of the intake already fabbed. It'd be crazy to put another stock engine in with the turbo gear knowing what we now know and I don't have $15k for a proper forged build right now.

Then another guy from a forum I frequent contacted me and offered to sell me his V12 engine which he wouldn't be using for awhile yet and would take my hotside and turbo gear as part payment.

So hopefully should have the "new" engine next weekend and get on with it again!

Well that seriously has to be the worst. Have you even driven the car yet? I hate to see that much work go in and have something like this happen. I keep telling myself if/when my motor lets go it is ok because I can just stuff a stocker in in the mean time.

Wow, that is bad luck, but such things happen (look at me, I'm on my third engine), don't give up and better luck with the new engine .

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190E 3.0-24v (M104 980) turbo @ 0.8 bar
1/4 mile: 2.483 / 13.540 / 175.17 km/h (street tires)

Haven't driven the car yet. I was waiting to have my first drive once it was all tuned!

Some more pics of work to be done and destruction.

That really hurts, first time ive seen your car, i really sorry

I did quickly pick up another engine and it was installed and new NA headers made. There's been a few hiccups with this engine, but finally some results!

So, this:



+ this:



+ this:



= this!

Putting it away for the night - YouTube

Trying to capture the sound - YouTube

Great to see the car up and running again ! Nice headers .

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190E 3.0-24v (M104 980) turbo @ 0.8 bar
1/4 mile: 2.483 / 13.540 / 175.17 km/h (street tires)

Finally made some more numbers today!

300rwhp with a little more tuning to go on Monday morning and the rods are still inside.

I'm happy with that.

Ok, for those of you playing at home, here is an interesting dyno graph comparison - not often you get to dyno the same engine (well nearly the same engine ) in turbo and NA forms on the same dyno:



The yellow lines are turbo V12 with 6psi boost. The red is NA with pipes . In the top window, the top pair of lines are tractive effort and the bottom pair are rear wheel power. The bottom window is revs.

6psi made ~280rwhp and gargantuan low down torque
NA made ~295rwhp and adequate torque

Couple of dyno videos when I upload them tomorrow.

Interesting, looks like ~ 4800 rpm the turbo setup hit some kind of flow issue . Nice power on the NA setup, nice hp/tq curve

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190E 3.0-24v (M104 980) turbo @ 0.8 bar
1/4 mile: 2.483 / 13.540 / 175.17 km/h (street tires)

Yeah, looks like a flow or turbo efficiency problem perhaps? Who knows, but the turbo experiment is behind me now, no going back.

Some long awaited dyno vids!

Mercedes 190E 1GZFE Dyno Front - YouTube

Mercedes 190E 1GZFE Dyno Rear - YouTube

After 256 days, I finally bought this home yesterday.



Now I have to pull the headers out to get them ceramic coated.

Put the interior in.

Make a dash panel for the Racepak and some warning lights and get that all configured.

Brake upgrade.

Wire up muffler valve and reversing lights.

Tidy up engine bay. Paint inlet and cam covers.

Mod plate

Wheel alignment

Probably lots more.

Here is a vid that best captures the sound

Merc 190e V12 - YouTube

That's awsome I really like the NA setup!,good work man.

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Turbo 202 history:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/735658