MY ENGINE IN MY 190E 2.6 1987 WENT OUT OF OIL AND IS MAKING NOISES, SHOULD I GO FOR A NEW ENGINE, REBUILT ENGINE, FIX THAT ENGINE, OR UPGRADE WITH A BETTER ENGINE. PLEASE HELP ME SINCE I AM IN A HURRY!!!!

Well, I predict that this message will get at least 15 replies... :)

Anyhow, you have to ask yourself if you think that the car is worth repairing. If the body and the rest of the car is in nice shape, and if you are satisfied with all aspects of the car, then by all means, get it going again. As far as which route to take, that's all up to you. Repairing the engine could cost near what a full rebuilt exchange would run. Just for comparison, the price for a full rebuilt longblock engine for your car would run $5,100 from Metric Motors in Canoga Park, CA. A shortblock would run $2,600. Shortblock meaning without the rebuilt cylinder head. If you want to give them a call, their number is: 1-800-622-6867. I have dealt with them before and found the quality of their work to be very good. They only do Mercedes engines, so they know what they're doing. Anyhow, good luck with your dilemma! Let us know how it goes!


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Rgds,
Aaron Greenberg
MB technician
Precision Motorcars, Cincinnati, Ohio
'67 250SE Cabriolet
'77 450SL
'80 300SD
'85 380SE
'89 420SEL
'93 300E 2.8
'74 Jensen Interceptor Mk.III
'81 DeLorean DMC12
'85 BMW 745i Turbo

We haven't done any lower end failures on the 103 motor, but based on scores of such failures in other motors, I would say that the failure often can be repaired with only crankshaft related issues.

The motor needs to come apart to see if the block was damaged; spun mains or galled piston bores. If the problem is in just the crank as often is the case then the job should be around 25 hours labor (R&R motor remove head, remove crank, remove pistons and rods where bearings have failed, replace rods where bearings failed, turn crank, replace bearings and possibly oil pump, reassemble. If it needs more than that a used motor might be the savior for those older vehicles which don't have the value to support full rebuilds.

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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician

Herbie:

This kind of question can be answered only by you and you alone. Others can give you answers about the cost of doing this or that, but only you can "value" or evaluate what a fix can mean.

For instance, if you were to buy a replacement car for your 190, how much would you have to pay? How much do you think you will get for the 190 without an engine? Is your 190 "special" enough for you to repair it? How long has it been in the family, and have you put lots of money into it already?

In short, you really ought to"do the numbers" and compare things. Compare the cost of repairs, using short blocks, using remanufactured motors, using repairing only those things that have to be repaired (remember that the rest of your car is "used", and it may make sense to buy "used" parts, unless you think replacing everything will get you a new car). And for how much longer will you want your 190 to last you before you replace it?

So the real question is, do you like your 190 enough to repair it, or are you really looking for an excuse to replace it? Only you can answer this one. Get as much information about the process as you can (costs, amortizations, etc), and then make your decision.......Andras

How did it GO out of oil??

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Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
1981 280GE SWB
1987 16V
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
SERVICE MANAGER FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

Depends on what you want to spend. I know http://www.adsitco.com/ has rebuilt engines for a good price. If the engine can be repaired cheaper, I would do that. If you want to add a bigger engine, the m103 3.0 fits nice and easily as long as you get one that coressponds with the model year of your car. You currently have the m103 2.6 so the its based off the same design. Just get one before 1990 because the feul injection management was upgrade after that.

If you have the 3.0, I found out that I didn't even need a trans upgrade. So those are your options.

Adsit charges $3950 w/ and $800 core exchange.


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Chirag (Charlie) Patel

99 Mercedes-Benx ML 430 V8 w/custom TV, Video, UHF, speaker system
93 190E 2.6 (4-sale) w/ an amp, equalizer, and CD-changer, integrated w. stock stereo for integrated cellular phone speaker system
2001 C-Class - Maybe (if 190E sells :))