I have purchased a 1985 190E which was run previously in Mercedes Club Racing. I am converting the car to run in SCCA. Unfortunately, the previous owner has removed a lot of what used to be under the hood, particularly electronics. Needless the say, the car doesn't run very well.

So on to my question:

I am planning to remove the cylinder head and have a valve job done professionally. In the process, I moved the engine to TDC by aligning the pointer on the timing cover with the mark on the crankshaft pulley. When I removed the camshaft cover, I noticed that the notch on the camshaft flange does not align with the cylinder head.

Should both the crankshaft and camshaft be aligned with their respective marker at top dead center? If not, which (the crankshaft or the camshaft) is a better indicator of TDC?

 

The crankshaft TDC mark should match exactly with the mark on the camshaft. If not, the chain is elongated and should be put right with the help of an offset key on the camshaft pulley. These keys come in various offset sizes. Determine how many degrees the crankshaft is out--plus or minus-- from the TDC mark, say 10 degrees, your offset key must be 1.3mm. Also keep in mind that by jumping the chain by on tooth is equal to 18 deg. on the crankshaft. The job is not all that difficult, I just did it last week on my 615 (220D). Good luck Hein