What M116 in the '86 420SEL?
 

Does anyone know what M116 is in my '86 420? M116.964 or M116.965? :confused:

I myself often wonder that at 2:00 in the morning.....:D

shouldnt u be able to tell from the identification plate? or vin number?

I scoped the ID plate, 126.035... I figure it's the .965 aluminum block. :D If so, means Euro 500 cams will bolt to my 420. :D :D :D

m116
 

hit man your engine is 116-965

Excellent news! :)

fyi

if u put the vin # into the russian vin decoder it will tell you the engine

like my SD

VIN WDBCB20AXCB021778
Model 300 SD
Chassis 12612012021778
Engine 617951 12 021046
Transmission 722303 02 161756

Why don't you simply look at the engine serial number on the block?

Why would euro 500 cams not fit in it if it were a 116.964? I've heard of 4.5 cams being put into a 560 with just replacement of the hydraulic ball studs with mechanicals. And I know 3.5 cams work fine on a 4.5 - I've done it. I am pretyt sure they'd fit either way.

But wouldn't 420 cams already be more agressive than 500 ones, regardless of euro or not?

Maybe because I don't know where it's located...





I figure since the Euro 500 is a larger motor with more power, the cams have to be larger than the US 420 ones... Now I figure US 420 cams are larger than US 500.

Documents I found show that all these motors will swap cams:
M116.964/965 und M117.961/963/964/965

There's a chance the cams are the same.

Also, because an engine is bigger doesn't mean it has "larger" cams - for example, duration of 3.5 cams is longer than those of a 4.5 (m116 vs m117). I would assume the same to be true of 500 vs 420 cams, since the 420 has less displacement, it has a longer duration to compensate for that.

Hrm, I figured they were setup for that certain motor. I know where some Euro 380s ones are at too, if they're larger yet?

Is there anywhere I could find the duration (.050" and .006"), lift at valve, LSA, and the ICL?

The duration needs to be derived from the openings and closings which should be listed in the engine manual (m116/m117 service manual, I believe seperate ones were made for the 3.8/5.0 and then the 4.2/5.6). There is also at least one posting on this forum that lists the openings, closings, and durations for common 3.5/4.5 cams; your best bet for power in a 420 aside from stock cams would probably be 3.5 cams with matching mechanical studs.