1976 240d w115 has been sitting and is locked.

[Tony H]

I think you will be $$ ahead with a good used engine.

[Todd Miller]

That might wind up being true. He still has to remove this engine no matter what, and since his labor is free and a great learning opportunity, he might as well take those 2 pistons out and see what he's really got.

Also, sourcing and potentially shipping, an unknown condition 40yr old engine, may not be easy or cost effective (yet), and that money could go toward repairing what he's got...unless what he's got is totally douched.

[Frank Reiner]

Originally Posted by C4rest

Any tips on what not to do when removing the engine, or just loosen the bolts and pull it out? ��

Please resist the suggestion of pulling the engine forward while leaving the transmission in the chassis. Remove the transmission first. Why? Because it will have to be removed & reinstalled when the engine is put in the chassis. It is nearly impossible to correctly align the input shaft with the clutch disc when the trans is still in the chassis, and you are trying to tip the engine in three planes simultaneously. The usual result of such an endeavor is a damaged clutch disc.

[Idle]

A hot tip on installing the transmission when the engine is still in the car....

This is not an unusual job since clutch burn out more than engines do. But lining that thing back up when it weighs one million pounds is not easy if you don't have gravity working for you.

I always try to jack up the car so that the transmission has to be at a slightly downward tilt when stabbing the clutch. It balances out better when you are trying to manhandle that transmission into the tiny hole the shaft has to fit into the pilot bearing.

No extreme angle is needed. Just a little bit goes a long way.

[Todd Miller]

Originally Posted by Frank Reiner

Please resist the suggestion of pulling the engine forward while leaving the transmission in the chassis. Remove the transmission first. Why? Because it will have to be removed & reinstalled when the engine is put in the chassis. It is nearly impossible to correctly align the input shaft with the clutch disc when the trans is still in the chassis, and you are trying to tip the engine in three planes simultaneously. The usual result of such an endeavor is a damaged clutch disc.

Frank, I've done a bit of engine R&R in my decades spinning wrenches, both professionally, and as a hobbyist. It's never been a problem to leave a trans in the car, whether manual, or automatic. It has the benefit of not having to install something that's 5' long, which can be really nice, plus the trans shift linkage and the driveline don't have to be disco'd. The engine isn't being forced onto the transmission input shaft, it's simply balanced there, on the engine hoist chains, at an angle that will mate nicely with how the transmission is sitting, and then moved rearward in increments. It's not that big of a deal. Obviously if a clutch has been R&R'd, a clutch alignment tool is used to center the disc, so that the trans shaft will mate up nicely.

[C4rest]

As of now I have removed all linkages and hoses and bolts except for the top two on the transmission. As Todd suggested this weekend I plan to support the transmission with wire, pull out the two bolts and carefully pull the engine out. I have a hoist and stand now, old but functional haha.
I’m at least going to try what several people have suggested and gone the cylinders. Something that I do not think I have said is that both the rusted pistons are very near to TDC, on cylinder 2 it is about 1/2 inch from the top and 3 is 1/4 inch from the top. I don’t know if this changes anything but to me that seems really helpful.
I looked around locally and I didn’t see any of these engines for sale. If worst comes to worst where is the best place to find them? Thank you everyone for your posts, i’d be lost without them.

[Todd Miller]

You're making good progress. Nice job! Don't sweat an old engine stand, or an old engine hoist. They don't need to be pretty.

Leaving the 2 bolts in is perfect.

When you begin the actual removal process, pay close attention to the angle that the engine and transmission are currently sitting at. You'll lift the engine just enough to get it to float JUST above the engine mounts. Watch out that the top of the transmission doesn't start pressing against the tunnel, or that front area of the firewall. If you have good clearance, you can lift the engine just a little more, and then tie off the transmission.

Then remove the 2 remaining bell housing bolts and the ground strap if it's still there. This ground strap is HUGELY important to the safety of the car, SO MAKE SURE YOU REINSTALL IT!!!!!

There will probably be metal rings, pressed into the transmission bell housing, where the bell housing bolts pass through. These will be stuck, either in the trans, or in the back of the block, so even with all the bell housing bolts removed, the engine may not separate. You'll just have to grab the block and flex the rear of it up and down, and side to side, sort of shaking it, until it starts to separate.

Once it begins to separate, you can use a screw driver to carefully slide into the crack between the block and bell housing, and give little prying actions.

This is the part where you pay attention to your angles, because once the block comes off those mounting rings, the input shaft of the transmission will be SOLELY still inside the back of the crankshaft, where the needle bearing called a "pilot bearing" is located.

You want to avoid the block leveraging at some weird angle, because that put that input shaft into a prying position, against the needle bearing. Pilot bearings are inexpensive and easily R&R'd, but if you can avoid damaging it, that's best.

So at this point, you simply begin bringing the engine forward, and slightly up, because you're going to fly it off that input shaft, as best as possible. Once it's free of the input shaft, out it comes.

Try to look all around the engine as you do all of this, so that you can make sure everything has been disconnected. There's nothing worse than missing something, and then wondering why things are moving, applying more force, and then discovering you just snagged and broke something on the firewall, or forgot an electrical connection and wrecked some wires, etc.

Taking your time, is the fastest way to do this.

[Frank Reiner]

Originally Posted by C4rest

both the rusted pistons are very near to TDC, on cylinder 2 it is about 1/2 inch from the top and 3 is 1/4 inch from the top.

This seeming inconsistency may warrant a bit of thought....and investigation!

[Sugar Bear]

Piston height difference may be a bent rod or broken piston, keep looking until it is found.

#'s 1 and 4 should be exactly the same height as one another and #'s 2 and 3 should be exactly the same height as one another.


Good luck!!!

[Todd Miller]

I'm looking forward to this coming out and apart, and seeing what's going on!

It'll be interesting to know the real story behind what finally caused the car to be parked. I can(with my small brain) only imagine 2 scenarios where you bend a Mercedes Diesel conrod:

1) Head gasket failure or crack in the head that lets in a bunch of water while sitting, and then engine gets cranked over and started.

2) The engine won't start and someone gives it a fat shot of ether instead of WD-40.

[C4rest]

I just measured the the height of the two center pistons and they are actually exactly the same at about 9mm from the top. I was guessing based on memory ��. Todd what do you mean by “ground strap” Do you mean ground as in negative wire or some other mount. I see a single mount holding the transmission up?

[Todd Miller]

Glad the pistons are the same height!

Apologies for using the term "ground strap." Too many years of British car ownership. (How's earthing strap sound? lol) It means: The large ground cable, that goes from the transmission bell housing, to the firewall. The battery will have a ground cable that goes to the body.

It's been a loooooooong time since I was under the hood of a 220 Diesel, so take a look at how your car's battery ground cables are routed and connected. What I describe above is a typical connection style, where the battery connects to the body, and then the body connects to the engine/transmission assembly, via one of the bell housing bolts. The reason why the ground cable from the body to the engine/trans is important is because, when you use the glow plugs, the current draw is extremely high. In a gasoline car, it would be the starter cranking that's the highest draw. Without that large ground strap, the current flow to ground will seek out anything metal that's grounded, like throttle cables, speedometer cables, temp sensor wires, etc. It will turn them into glowing red-hot wire, and guess where those all go.......inside the dash, setting the car on fire at a location that can't be extinguished.

[C4rest]

Haha, alright I will definitely make sure I do that. I saw that wire. I can’t wait to find out the condition of the engine internally.

[Todd Miller]

You're almost there!

[indybenz]

Keep us posted on the progress.

I will, in the coming months, have a 216k mile OM616 mated to a 4 speed manual that will be for sale. I imported the car from the UK late last year, so am assuming it has the desirable fuel pump and a tiny eensie bitsy bit more power than the US version. It's a 240...does it matter?!

I have done a lot of work to it recently, tracked here on this forum.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/419236-1982-240d-head-pulled-now-what.html

The main thing I'm NOT selling is the pedal box.

Good luck!!!!

(I'm in Indianapolis 46220 for a geo reference)