I just changed the oil in my 1984 380sl (500 euro) and when I went to get rid of the old oil I found 3 or 4 pieces of plastic in the bottom of the bucket that appear to be brown/orange pieces of plastic about the sise of a stick match head. Anybody have any thoughts on this and how much of a problem could this be.

Could be a timing chain guide coming apart.

Does this engine have plastic oil tubes for the cam and rockers?

Sixto
93 300SD

Does it make a ziiiiip sound when starting before the oil pressure comes up? Might want to remove the valve covers and take a peak.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

This engine does have the plastic oilers for the cams. I would say it is either pieces of the chain guides or the oilers, most likely the guides. I would not start the engine again until you pull the covers off and inspect them. You might have dodged an expensive bullet by finding the pieces before one of them broke and the chain jumped.

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I really gets fun when they all don't run

84 500SL
99 Jeep XJ
93 Jeep YJ
03 Custom Softail

are you talking about the valve covers or the front of the engine?

Remove the timing chain covers (upper and lower) to inspect the condition of the plastic guides. If they break and cause the timing chain to jump position the engine would likely self-destruct. Remove the valve covers to inspect the condition of the plastic oilers. After inspecting both the guides and oilers you should be able to determine the origin of the plastic pieces you found in the old engine oil.

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Fred Hoelzle

I know the valve covers are easy to get off but how much of a job is it to get at the timing chain covers, and is this a diy job. Also does the water pump have to come out?

Removing the one front cover is a massive job. The lower guides rarely cause problems. You can inspect the top chain guides and the oil tubes by removing the valve covers. If you don't find any broken guides, you may want to go ahead and pull the cover and do the whole nine yards.

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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

Thanks for the help. Is there any special tools needed to pull the upper guides

jimsclub, A friend of mine had a timing chain jump on his 380 because of a broken chain guide. It bent MANY valves!! It busted through a valve cover. We ended up having the whole engine rebuilt. I wouldn't drive it until you fixed it..... It is too costly!

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My Truck.. 2007 DODGE, 5.9 Cummins, 6spd stick, 4X4. My car..1977 240D, OTHER WHEELS...1955 VW Oval window bug, European Delivery (Holland) with a 1700cc, 2 barrel, Porsche drum brakes. 1939 WILLYS Pick-up. 1967 Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub. 1976 Honda 550F 4cyl Motor Cycle.

You need a tool to pull the pins that hold the rails in the cylinder heads. Here is and example.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Benz-Guide-Rail-Pin-Puller-Remover-Tool-1712_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35625QQihZ015QQitemZ250020805123QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

There are also slide hammer versions, but they don't work as well.

There are lots of posts on how to do this.

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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

I bought this puller when I did my chain replacement. It worked very well, priced right, and I did not have to go screwing around at the hardware store looking for bolts and trying to pull the pins out thru a socket. Another reason to use this style or the slide hammer is the front of the head is not flat. You can position this one so it will pull the pin straight instead of on an angle as with a socket.

The other advice I can give you is to get a set of good quality hex sockets. If you use some of the cheap hex sets, you will undoubtebly round out some of the hexs in your bolts holding on some of the parts. I use only snap-on and still managed to round out a couple of them.

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I really gets fun when they all don't run

84 500SL
99 Jeep XJ
93 Jeep YJ
03 Custom Softail

Good point. The lower bolts that hold the alternator bracket to the head are particularly prone to rounding

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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

Does anyone know of a link that would walk me step by step to replace the upper chain rails.

mb.braingears.com

Look for 380SE in the W126 collection.

Do a search for that Pindelski fellow. He has a great set of pictorial how-tos which might include M116/7 timing chain work. Used to be in the open but now it's a subscription service.

Sixto
93 300SD