Hi all,

New member here and just found this great site. I just acquired an 82 300d for real cheap. The car is in good shape for it's age, problem is I got it from a towing company and the PO smoked the engine, has no water in it although the oil doesn't smell cooked or look milky. I thought I would get lucky and get it running thinking maybe it would just have a popped head gasket.
Well after changing the primer pump and both filters, bled out air and nada, zip,zilch. I checked compression dry and wet and found out what I needed...toast.
dry wet dry after mmo/seafoam soak
#1 240 300 240
#2 160 270 180
#3 160 160 120
#4 120 200 210
#5 120 260 220

Ok so after all that I know will be plucking the motor but I would like to fire it first to see how the trans works and just to hear the clangin, bangin, clatterin and smoke belching diesel come to life as this is my first benz...

I checked all the GP's and they glow red in a hurry when hooked to my jump pack and getting 12v to all connectors... I did the wd-40 trick, nada...shot of ether and a faint hiccup and then nada... I know the consequences of using ether but motor is toast so whatever... Checked valves and a hair tight but adjusted anyway, chain looks good and tight... I know the compression is way lower than spec calls for but figure it should attempt to maybe just give a popcorn fart out the exhaust... Any ideas from you benz aficionado's would be great before I pluck the motor out. One more thing, is there anything I should know pulling the engine, I just found one at a pick a part complete including injectors for cheap. I would hate to be in the middle of pulling it to find I forgot some weird random tool... Thanks for reading if you got this far... One last thing, what should cranking fuel pressure be? I get maybe 2 to 4 psi while cranking...pulled pump, cleaned, check valves held vacuum and cylinder and bore look great but that seems a bit low to me and book specs are running pressures... Also outside air temp is in the 60's, here in central Ca. Thanks guys...long winded I know...

 

If you're pulling the engine by itself, the torque converter bolts are a royal pain to get to. You need a light to see them, and you access them through a hole at the rear of the oil pan casting where it bolts to the transmission. Starter comes out with a pair of 10mm allen head bolt that come in from the rear, and don't expect to get the exhaust nuts loose, just cut the pipe below the flex pipe. It's some sort of stainless, so you'll need a good hacksaw.

 

Hey Ford, thanks for the info... I haven't even been underneath the car yet to look it over but its a slimy mess and my pressure washer died... Ill just take my cordless sawzall for the exhaust, great for junkyards... I noticed there are lots of allen heads on this thing and just noticed my 10mm long ball end is missing. Hate when a $30 tool grows legs and walks away! BTW do you know what the TC bolts are, hex or allen?

I have been quoted $750 to $1000 for a running engine or about $150 complete from a pull yourself place on a half off day. Only thing is pulling a bad one... found a complete engine in a clean car and one engine that has been rat picked on but car is wrecked. There is always a reason they were junked and the clean car worries me. Think I will tote in a battery and few jump packs and check compression first.

One more thing, I am wondering why in the hell pistons are so much... I built my entire 383 short block including machine work for the price of 5 617 turbo pistons.

 

T/C bolts are 13mm hex. There's six, in three pairs.

 

Cool, thanks for the info... But since it's a pick a part place, think I'll just yank it with the t/c hooked up as now I will be getting 2 motors that day as I just found an 81 300sd, pretty clean that the PO ran low on oil and now has a rod knock...maybe lucas will fix it.. haha. I think I got him chiseled down to $200 but he seems flakey ...
Now since I'm going to freshen up the bottom end and have an excellent machine shop nearby, what kind of bottom end mods are there for future mods like bigger turbos and such? I'm sure they are built pretty stout but since I'm already there, might as well do it now. I have searched around the net to find pretty much no info on it and since I have yet to pull this one apart and see what I'm dealing with, I'll see what all you merc aficionados know from experience. I like doing things right the first time.

I already have the gears turning after going to the LA auto show over the weekend and checking out all the flat blacked out newer junk. I'm glad I chose the old school real merc back when the krauts knew what the hell they were doing... Tap the bumpers and body panels on these new cars and it's either plastic or tin can material. Think this car is getting the black out treatment since the earl scheib paint job has seen better days although the body is straight as an arrow. This is going to be a fun couch on wheels...

 

So I got the thing running finally... Found IP timing severely retarded although cam timing is spot on... What could cause this? The IP marks were lined up as set by factory... Anyways as I thought, it has a popped head gasket or cracked head as my pressure tester climbs to 10 psi within a minute at idle... But it drives good although didn't get far as it was getting hot and thought it decided to become a steam car... Also found out worldpac is going to be my new best friend, my uncle used them 30 years ago when he had his shop in the bay area and told me about them...no wonder he made 150k a year in a one man shop working on the big 3 back in the 70's and 80's, these things are gravy to work on... Now if I can get his OTC pop tester...