I thought the ratchet part of the tensioner was behind the timing cover, not the nut part itself.After resealing the upper timing cover on the 90 300ce I put the tensioner back in and started the motor for about 4-5 minuites. Noticed the whine from the over tight chain and shut it off.It sounded fine till i gave it a small rev. then the noise. Well found the problem and corrected it.
MY question is do i need to remove the lower cover and replace all the guides and chain itself. from what i can see the guides are not broken. The chain was really tight with that tensioner fully extended.
and yes i do feel really stupid
Rich

__________________
88 300E White, sold 9-04
88 190E Black 2.3 sold
90 300CE White, Grey sold 12-24-04
92 400E White,Grey Sold 5-06
90 300CE 91K Signal Red,Black Sold 2007
1989 300CE Smoke silver,Tan Sold 1-08
1993 300E 3.2 M104 motor
1991 300CE White,Grey
1994 E420 beautiful car,gone to new home
1994 E320 Smoke an Parchment.Beautiful car

It will be all right. The 104 chain system is overkill. I have never seen a failure. (except when events such as yours aren't caught, the usual failure is a cam)

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Thanks for the reply Steve. Well i looked closly at the guides ,it all looked good,so i put a new tensioner in and reassembled. That valve cover gasket can be tough to put in .no room in back to see .even the mirror has a hard time.
Any ways it ran good at first, good compression,then after about 40 miles started to loose power. thought it was not downshifting when comming to a stop.
Anyways it stopped running.When i looked tonight the intake cam was not moving. kind of strange the chain and gears are moving ok. I think the cam bolts are sheared off. Will finish the tear down soon and plan the next step. at least the cheaper valves bent. 12.50 each for intakes,45.00 for exhaust
thanks for the quick reply
Rich

__________________
88 300E White, sold 9-04
88 190E Black 2.3 sold
90 300CE White, Grey sold 12-24-04
92 400E White,Grey Sold 5-06
90 300CE 91K Signal Red,Black Sold 2007
1989 300CE Smoke silver,Tan Sold 1-08
1993 300E 3.2 M104 motor
1991 300CE White,Grey
1994 E420 beautiful car,gone to new home
1994 E320 Smoke an Parchment.Beautiful car