Rebuilt Engine Break-in

[[e-mail]]

I am in the process of breaking in a newly rebuilt OM617 in my W123
300D. I have followed a pre-planned break-in schedule faithfully, and
am wondering when I should expect to see the engine begin to develop
normal power. At present, I am driving on the hilly streets of the
city, and the engine will only make the tops of the hills in 1st gear,
and then only barely. It is extremely slow to accelerate from a
stop. At present I have approximately 200 miles on the new engine,
and have seen a slight improvement over the way it performed when I
picked up the car from the overhaul shop.

Also, when stopped at a light, I notice quite a bit of blackish-blue
smoke; however, at idle in Park, very little smoke, if any. Is this
normal?

Thanks!

[Paul Fretheim]

This does not seem right. Are you sure your PCV valve is closing? I
may have the name wrong. The valve I am referring to recycles part
of your exhaust through the turbo so the nitrogen is more completely
burned. It is a pollution control feature, and if it is not closing
your engine will have no power at low RPMs and will be hard to start.
The recycling is only supposed to kick in when the engine is warm and
over a certain RPM.

Who rebuilt this engine?

I had the 617 in my 1982 300 TDT remanufactured by Metric Motors in
Cayugah Park, California and it never lacked power the way you
describe once I got that valve closed, but it did when that was not
functioning. It's mounted on the right side of the engine (passenger
side) on the exhaust manifold and has vacuum lines going to it from
the switching box on top of the valve cover.

Something is wrong beyond breaking in if your engine lacks power to
the degree you mention.

My engine has about 25,000 miles on it now and it runs great. I would
say that it reached peak performance at about 15,000 miles. But even
when it was brand new it had more power than it did before the
rebuild.



On Aug 24, 4:54 pm, "***@mac.com" <***@gmail.com>
wrote:
> I am in the process of breaking in a newly rebuilt OM617 in my W123
> 300D.  I have followed a pre-planned break-in schedule faithfully, and
> am wondering when I should expect to see the engine begin to develop
> normal power.  At present, I am driving on the hilly streets of the
> city, and the engine will only make the tops of the hills in 1st gear,
> and then only barely.  It is extremely slow to accelerate from a
> stop.  At present I have approximately 200 miles on the new engine,
> and have seen a slight improvement over the way it performed when I
> picked up the car from the overhaul shop.
>
> Also, when stopped at a light, I notice quite a bit of blackish-blue
> smoke; however, at idle in Park, very little smoke, if any. Is this
> normal?
>
> Thanks!

[Ximinez]

Paul Fretheim wrote:
> This does not seem right. Are you sure your PCV valve is closing? I
> may have the name wrong. The valve I am referring to recycles part
> of your exhaust through the turbo so the nitrogen is more completely
> burned. It is a pollution control feature, and if it is not closing
> your engine will have no power at low RPMs and will be hard to start.
> The recycling is only supposed to kick in when the engine is warm and
> over a certain RPM.


You mean the EGR valve:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egr

X.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 25, 10:27 am, Ximinez <***@myown.mailcan.com> wrote:
> Paul Fretheim wrote:
> > This does not seem right.  Are you sure your PCV valve is closing? I
> > may have the name wrong.   The valve I am referring to recycles part
> > of your exhaust through the turbo so the nitrogen is more completely
> > burned.  It is a pollution control feature, and if it is not closing
> > your engine will have no power at low RPMs and will be hard to start.
> > The recycling is only supposed to kick in when the engine is warm and
> > over a certain RPM.
>
> You mean the EGR valve:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egr
>
> X.

I did check the EGR valve and it functions OK, so this is caused by
another problem.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 25, 6:25 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> This does not seem right.  Are you sure your PCV valve is closing? I
> may have the name wrong.   The valve I am referring to recycles part
> of your exhaust through the turbo so the nitrogen is more completely
> burned.  It is a pollution control feature, and if it is not closing
> your engine will have no power at low RPMs and will be hard to start.
> The recycling is only supposed to kick in when the engine is warm and
> over a certain RPM.
>
> Who rebuilt this engine?
>
> I had the 617 in my 1982 300 TDT remanufactured by Metric Motors in
> Cayugah Park, California and it never lacked power the way you
> describe once I got that valve closed, but it did when that was not
> functioning.  It's mounted on the right side of the engine (passenger
> side) on the exhaust manifold and has vacuum lines going to it from
> the switching box on top of the valve cover.
>
> Something is wrong beyond breaking in if your engine lacks power to
> the degree you mention.
>
> My engine has about 25,000 miles on it now and it runs great.  I would
> say that it reached peak performance at about 15,000 miles.  But even
> when it was brand new it had more power than it did before the
> rebuild.
>
> On Aug 24, 4:54 pm, "***@mac.com" <***@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I am in the process of breaking in a newly rebuilt OM617 in my W123
> > 300D.  I have followed a pre-planned break-in schedule faithfully, and
> > am wondering when I should expect to see the engine begin to develop
> > normal power.  At present, I am driving on the hilly streets of the
> > city, and the engine will only make the tops of the hills in 1st gear,
> > and then only barely.  It is extremely slow to accelerate from a
> > stop.  At present I have approximately 200 miles on the new engine,
> > and have seen a slight improvement over the way it performed when I
> > picked up the car from the overhaul shop.
>
> > Also, when stopped at a light, I notice quite a bit of blackish-blue
> > smoke; however, at idle in Park, very little smoke, if any. Is this
> > normal?
>
> > Thanks!

This sounds very much like a probability in this case. I will have
that EGR valved checked today. The engine has very low power upon
accelerating away from a stop, and very weak all through the gears. I
would have expected it to be improving by now.

Thanks for the advice.

[w***@gmail.com]

[randallbrink]

On Aug 25, 6:25 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> This does not seem right.  Are you sure your PCV valve is closing? I
> may have the name wrong.   The valve I am referring to recycles part
> of your exhaust through the turbo so the nitrogen is more completely
> burned.  It is a pollution control feature, and if it is not closing
> your engine will have no power at low RPMs and will be hard to start.
> The recycling is only supposed to kick in when the engine is warm and
> over a certain RPM.
>
> Who rebuilt this engine?
>
> I had the 617 in my 1982 300 TDT remanufactured by Metric Motors in
> Cayugah Park, California and it never lacked power the way you
> describe once I got that valve closed, but it did when that was not
> functioning.  It's mounted on the right side of the engine (passenger
> side) on the exhaust manifold and has vacuum lines going to it from
> the switching box on top of the valve cover.
>
> Something is wrong beyond breaking in if your engine lacks power to
> the degree you mention.
>
> My engine has about 25,000 miles on it now and it runs great.  I would
> say that it reached peak performance at about 15,000 miles.  But even
> when it was brand new it had more power than it did before the
> rebuild.
>
> On Aug 24, 4:54 pm, "***@mac.com" <***@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I am in the process of breaking in a newly rebuilt OM617 in my W123
> > 300D.  I have followed a pre-planned break-in schedule faithfully, and
> > am wondering when I should expect to see the engine begin to develop
> > normal power.  At present, I am driving on the hilly streets of the
> > city, and the engine will only make the tops of the hills in 1st gear,
> > and then only barely.  It is extremely slow to accelerate from a
> > stop.  At present I have approximately 200 miles on the new engine,
> > and have seen a slight improvement over the way it performed when I
> > picked up the car from the overhaul shop.
>
> > Also, when stopped at a light, I notice quite a bit of blackish-blue
> > smoke; however, at idle in Park, very little smoke, if any. Is this
> > normal?
>
> > Thanks!

The engine was rebuilt by a reputable M-B shop, by a Stuttgart-trained
Mercedes technician. The cylinders were bored and oversized pistons
installed.

[Paul Fretheim]

This sounds like the rings did not seat properly. Did you have them
resleeve the block and put in standard pistons, or was the block bored
out and oversized pistons used?

My engine has new sleeves and standard pistons, so it really is just
like new.

Did you use a shop that specializes in Mercedes diesels? Metric
Motors is such a place. My remanufacture included a new turbo and
injection pump and cost about $6000.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 25, 6:34 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> This sounds like the rings did not seat properly.  Did you have them
> resleeve the block and put in standard pistons, or was the block bored
> out and oversized pistons used?
>
> My engine has new sleeves and standard pistons, so it really is just
> like new.
>
> Did you use a shop that specializes in Mercedes diesels?  Metric
> Motors is such a place.  My remanufacture included a new turbo and
> injection pump and cost about $6000.

It is of course possible that the rings did not seat properly;
however, I did everything necessary to ensure that they did, in terms
of the initial run-in. Although there are varying opinions as to how
to properly break in a diesel engine, I followed a deliberate and
valid break-in schedule thus far, in order to ensure proper ring
seating. Still, it is something of a crapshoot on any rebuild, I
suppose...

[Chas Hurst]

"randallbrink" <***@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:464c4ed9-46f4-4be1-bca7-***@f20g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 25, 6:34 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> This sounds like the rings did not seat properly. Did you have them
> resleeve the block and put in standard pistons, or was the block bored
> out and oversized pistons used?
>
> My engine has new sleeves and standard pistons, so it really is just
> like new.
>
> Did you use a shop that specializes in Mercedes diesels? Metric
> Motors is such a place. My remanufacture included a new turbo and
> injection pump and cost about $6000.

It is of course possible that the rings did not seat properly;
however, I did everything necessary to ensure that they did, in terms
of the initial run-in. Although there are varying opinions as to how
to properly break in a diesel engine, I followed a deliberate and
valid break-in schedule thus far, in order to ensure proper ring
seating. Still, it is something of a crapshoot on any rebuild, I
suppose...

It's not a crap shoot. If the engine is done properly the rings will be
seated by the time the engine is up to operating temperature.
However, I think your problem is injection pump timing, and/or cam timing.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 25, 8:11 pm, "Chas Hurst" <***@comcrap.not> wrote:
> "randallbrink" <***@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:464c4ed9-46f4-4be1-bca7-***@f20g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
> On Aug 25, 6:34 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
>
> > This sounds like the rings did not seat properly. Did you have them
> > resleeve the block and put in standard pistons, or was the block bored
> > out and oversized pistons used?
>
> > My engine has new sleeves and standard pistons, so it really is just
> > like new.
>
> > Did you use a shop that specializes in Mercedes diesels? Metric
> > Motors is such a place. My remanufacture included a new turbo and
> > injection pump and cost about $6000.
>
> It is of course possible that the rings did not seat properly;
> however, I did everything necessary to ensure that they did, in terms
> of the initial run-in.  Although there are varying opinions as to how
> to properly break in a diesel engine, I followed a deliberate and
> valid break-in schedule thus far, in order to ensure proper ring
> seating.  Still, it is something of a crapshoot on any rebuild, I
> suppose...
>
> It's not a crap shoot. If the engine is done properly the rings will be
> seated by the time the engine is up to operating temperature.
> However, I think your problem is injection pump timing, and/or cam timing.

That does seem like a possibility. And I would say, something to hope
for, as opposed to a bad overhaul.

[Paul Fretheim]

Thanks for the reminder - Yeah it's the EGR valve.

Certainly the shop must have some sort of guarantee on its work. If
the rings didn't seat, they have to do it over. If it's not the EGR
valve, and the compression is good, I agree that the timing is the
next thing to check.

[runbiodiesel]

On Aug 26, 7:38 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the reminder - Yeah it's the EGR valve.
>
> Certainly the shop must have some sort of guarantee on its work.  If
> the rings didn't seat, they have to do it over.  If it's not the EGR
> valve, and the compression is good, I agree that the timing is the
> next thing to check.

I don't mean to hijack the thread but this is a related question for
both Randall and Paul (or anyone who knows): What is that made you
decide to rebuild? Excessive smoke - if so when hot or cold or both?
Low compression? Low power?

[randallbrink]

On Aug 26, 11:16 am, runbiodiesel <***@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 26, 7:38 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the reminder - Yeah it's the EGR valve.
>
> > Certainly the shop must have some sort of guarantee on its work.  If
> > the rings didn't seat, they have to do it over.  If it's not the EGR
> > valve, and the compression is good, I agree that the timing is the
> > next thing to check.
>
> I don't mean to hijack the thread but this is a related question for
> both Randall and Paul (or anyone who knows): What is that made you
> decide to rebuild? Excessive smoke - if so when hot or cold or both?
> Low compression? Low power?

In my case, the engine failed prematurely as the result of wrongly set
valves. This lead to valve burning, no compression and engine
failure. The engine only had 215K on it and would not have failed at
that point without some external factor. My initial impulse was to
replace the engine with a factory new one, but found out that that is
no longer the option it once was. COnsequently, rebuild was the next
best solution.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 26, 7:38 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the reminder - Yeah it's the EGR valve.
>
> Certainly the shop must have some sort of guarantee on its work.  If
> the rings didn't seat, they have to do it over.  If it's not the EGR
> valve, and the compression is good, I agree that the timing is the
> next thing to check.

Yes, the engine is under warranty. I am having the engine checked for
compression on Monday, and if that's OK, they will retime the
injector, which more and more, I am thinking makes sense as the reason
for the low power. There is very little likelihood that the rings have
not seated properly.

[Paul Fretheim]

My engine had 394,000 miles on it. I didn't understand the EGR valve
and it had stuck open, making the engine extremely difficult to
start. I didn't know it at the time, but the head was cracked in 6
places, reducing compression. The lower end of the engine was
probably fine. The oil consumption was about a quart every 2000
miles, and the new engine consumes oil at approximately the same rate.

I think I got cheated a little bit on the rebuild because I was
supposed to get a new camshaft, but I think the same camshaft was
reused because some pitting that was present on the edge of the lobe
for the #1 cylinder exhaust valve appears to still be there.

But the engine runs great and has significantly more power than it did
before. A new head would probably had the same effect and saved me
$5000, but I am still glad I went with the remanufacture, especially
getting a new timing chain, injection pump and rebuilt turbo.

[Paul Fretheim]

On Aug 25, 6:34 am, Paul Fretheim <***@inyopro.com> wrote:
> This sounds like the rings did not seat properly.  Did you have them
> resleeve the block and put in standard pistons, or was the block bored
> out and oversized pistons used?
>
> My engine has new sleeves and standard pistons, so it really is just
> like new.
>
> Did you use a shop that specializes in Mercedes diesels?  Metric
> Motors is such a place.  My remanufacture included a new turbo and
> injection pump and cost about $6000.

Actually, the turbo was not new, but a rebuild from an L.A. shop that
specializes in rebuilding turbos.

[Cordy]

***@mac.com ha scritto:
> I am in the process of breaking in a newly rebuilt OM617 in my W123
> 300D. I have followed a pre-planned break-in schedule faithfully, and
> am wondering when I should expect to see the engine begin to develop
> normal power. At present, I am driving on the hilly streets of the
> city, and the engine will only make the tops of the hills in 1st gear,
> and then only barely. It is extremely slow to accelerate from a
> stop. At present I have approximately 200 miles on the new engine,
> and have seen a slight improvement over the way it performed when I
> picked up the car from the overhaul shop.
>
> Also, when stopped at a light, I notice quite a bit of blackish-blue
> smoke; however, at idle in Park, very little smoke, if any. Is this
> normal?
>
> Thanks!

I presume you're concerned by the quality of the job done to your
engine. I'd suggest to check compression. Or ask to the shop to run a
compression check while you're there.... It's hard to say from Italy
what's wrong in your engine, based on your description. It's only easy
to say that something is wrong...

[Tiger]

Long thread...

There is definitely something wrong. There are several possibilities...

1. Vacuum pump dead. Easily checked with gauge.

2. Valve adjustment off... unlikely but possible.

3. Turbo not kicking in is real possibility.

4. Poor compression... very unlikely.

Bring the car back to them and have them recheck everything... it is just
not right to have so weak of an engine.

[JCH]

Tiger wrote:
> Long thread...
>
> There is definitely something wrong. There are several possibilities...
>
> 1. Vacuum pump dead. Easily checked with gauge.
>
> 2. Valve adjustment off... unlikely but possible.
>
> 3. Turbo not kicking in is real possibility.
>
> 4. Poor compression... very unlikely.
>
> Bring the car back to them and have them recheck everything... it is just
> not right to have so weak of an engine.
_____
I agree completely.

After any engine overhaul the mechanic is obliged to make an extensive
test run. Only after it passes objective performance metrics shall the
repairs be considered "completed". Then the customer can be invited to
collect the car.

I once had a used engine installed in my 1981 300 SD. When i retrieved
the car the gear box was shifting very harshly. The mechanic did not
test the car thoroughly enough. In an ideal world this small error
would have been caught. I knew that the tranny relied on throttle
position dependent vacuum. Sure enough, the mechanic had mixed up some
of the nylon vacuum connections. After i corrected the error, the gears
shifted smoothly again.

In the case of poor power after rebuild i believe the most probable
cause is incorrect injection pump timing. Cam timing could be off a
bit, but this is unlikely.

/ JCH

--

[randallbrink]

On Aug 27, 11:51 pm, JCH <***@nowhere.at.all> wrote:
> Tiger wrote:
> > Long thread...
>
> > There is definitely something wrong. There are several possibilities...
>
> > 1. Vacuum pump dead. Easily checked with gauge.
>
> > 2. Valve adjustment off... unlikely but possible.
>
> > 3. Turbo not kicking in is real possibility.
>
> > 4. Poor compression... very unlikely.
>
> > Bring the car back to them and have them recheck everything... it is just
> > not right to have so weak of an engine.
>
> _____
> I agree completely.
>
> After any engine overhaul the mechanic is obliged to make an extensive
> test run.  Only after it passes objective performance metrics shall the
> repairs be considered "completed".  Then the customer can be invited to
> collect the car.
>
> I once had a used engine installed in my 1981 300 SD.  When i retrieved
> the car the gear box was shifting very harshly.  The mechanic did not
> test the car thoroughly enough.  In an ideal world this small error
> would have been caught.  I knew that the tranny relied on throttle
> position dependent vacuum.  Sure enough, the mechanic had mixed up some
> of the nylon vacuum connections.  After i corrected the error, the gears
> shifted smoothly again.
>
> In the case of poor power after rebuild i believe the most probable
> cause is incorrect injection pump timing.  Cam timing could be off a
> bit, but this is unlikely.
>
> / JCH
>
> --

I agree, and frankly, I hope this bears out, as it seems as though it
will be easy to correct and the engine will then perform as expected.
It has been broken in thus far, strictly in accordance with the break-
in schedule, and I believe has good compression. This seems to leave
the injector as the most likely culprit.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 27, 8:54 pm, "Tiger" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Long thread...
>
> There is definitely something wrong. There are several possibilities...
>
> 1. Vacuum pump dead. Easily checked with gauge.
>
> 2. Valve adjustment off... unlikely but possible.
>
> 3. Turbo not kicking in is real possibility.
>
> 4. Poor compression... very unlikely.
>
> Bring the car back to them and have them recheck everything... it is just
> not right to have so weak of an engine.

Well, it goes back into the shop tomorrow morning to have all these
items checked. This is a non-turbo, but everything else will be
checked. I have a suspicion that this may be due to a badly-timed
injector pump, but time will tell. The engine is very flat from a
standing start, and is flat on the top end, but seems to have more-or-
less normal power in between.

[Tiger]

Non turbo...

1. Valve adjustment... if too tight, you lose compression and power.

2. Fuel injection timing is off... it goes on one way but if timing chain is
off on the injector pump, it is real possible.

3. Timing chain is off... very unlikely if this is done by the pro.

4. Vacuum pump... non turbo diesel still uses vacuum to control a various
functions that does affect engine performance.

Let us know what was the problem.

[randallbrink]

On Aug 31, 8:37 am, "Tiger" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Non turbo...
>
> 1. Valve adjustment... if too tight, you lose compression and power.
>
> 2. Fuel injection timing is off... it goes on one way but if timing chain is
> off on the injector pump, it is real possible.
>
> 3. Timing chain is off... very unlikely if this is done by the pro.
>
> 4. Vacuum pump... non turbo diesel still uses vacuum to control a various
> functions that does affect engine performance.
>
> Let us know what was the problem.

Will do, and thanks for this list.

As of this afternoon, the shop informs me that it is changing the cam
shaft. I would have thought that the cam shaft specifications would
have been checked during the engine rebuild, but at the moment, I am
trying not to second-guess the M- B technicians. It does make sense,
that if the cam was out of tolerance, then it would be difficult to
time and to time the injector.

I should have another report in the ongoing saga tomorrow.

[Tiger]

Keep us up to date. I would like to know what was the real culprit.

If the camshaft was worn, the valve would not open as much as it should have
and less power. But you gotta have a really badly worn cams to get to that
level of performance you described...

Before you had it rebuilt, was the engine that bad in power? You know what I
mean... performance wise?

[randallbrink]

On Sep 2, 7:50 am, "Tiger" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Keep us up to date. I would like to know what was the real culprit.
>
> If the camshaft was worn, the valve would not open as much as it should have
> and less power. But you gotta have a really badly worn cams to get to that
> level of performance you described...
>
> Before you had it rebuilt, was the engine that bad in power? You know what I
> mean... performance wise?

Actually, no, not that bad. (It had a hell of a lot more power than it
does now.) It wouldn't start--that was the problem. This shop
claimed that the valves were all set tight, and that as a result,
there was no compression. Then we went into the rebuild. What irks
me is that the cam wasn't replaced during the rebuild, especially if
it turns out it was that far out of tolerance.

[t***@gmail.com]

On Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:54:14 PM UTC-5, Tiger wrote:
> Long thread...
>
> There is definitely something wrong. There are several possibilities...
>
> 1. Vacuum pump dead. Easily checked with gauge.
>
> 2. Valve adjustment off... unlikely but possible.
>
> 3. Turbo not kicking in is real possibility.
>
> 4. Poor compression... very unlikely.


>
> Bring the car back to them and have them recheck everything... it is just
> not right to have so weak of an engine.

Greetings-- a resurrected thread,I guess
Just had my 617 rebuilt by Thunderbolt Engines Houston Tx, after the old one seized w an oil pump malfunction. Mechanics are completing the reinstall this week. What is the best way to break the rebuild in? What do I look for? The manufacturer suggests 500 mi at normal speed ( what is "normal speed"), then an oil change, adjustments etc. Anything specific beyond that?
Thanks and Best Regards

[Commuter]

I diagnosed a no start problem on a newly rebuild head for a Mercedes gas
engine to valves that would not allow the valves to close.
He was assured by the rebuilder that the valves were adjusted correctly.
With this he assumed that the problem was in the block. Sadly,
he pulled the engine bought another and put it in before he talked to me.


"***@mac.com" <***@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ac49a1ad-3a53-48b6-bd93-***@k6g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
>I am in the process of breaking in a newly rebuilt OM617 in my W123
> 300D. I have followed a pre-planned break-in schedule faithfully, and
> am wondering when I should expect to see the engine begin to develop
> normal power. At present, I am driving on the hilly streets of the
> city, and the engine will only make the tops of the hills in 1st gear,
> and then only barely. It is extremely slow to accelerate from a
> stop. At present I have approximately 200 miles on the new engine,
> and have seen a slight improvement over the way it performed when I
> picked up the car from the overhaul shop.
>
> Also, when stopped at a light, I notice quite a bit of blackish-blue
> smoke; however, at idle in Park, very little smoke, if any. Is this
> normal?
>
> Thanks!

[Tiger]

What a waste... that valve problem is easily shown to that guy by
compression test gauge.

[Commuter]

Yup. He did a compression check and saw low compression. He must not have
done the shot of oil test to see if the compression rises. Like I stated
before, he was assured that the valves were adjusted correctly on the
rebuilt head and assumed that the lower end must be the problem.

I guess that some people do not know as much about about mechanics as they
think they do.


"Tiger" <***@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4a9e8578$0$22532$***@cv.net...
> What a waste... that valve problem is easily shown to that guy by
> compression test gauge.
>

[randallbrink]

On Sep 2, 7:47 am, "Tiger" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:
> What a waste... that valve problem is easily shown to that guy by
> compression test gauge.

The shop is now replacing the cam. A question: After paying $5,000
for an engine rebuild, would you or would you not have expected that a
new cam would have been installed? If not, would the old cam not have
at least been inspected for meeting M-B tolerances for a rebuild?

Thanks,

Randall

[Tiger]

Yes, should have been included... and damn! $5000 is alot of money. And yes,
it should have at the least been measured by the machine shop before
reinstalling.

You already paid everything, They messed up big time. They have to eat their
own profit... which is still a huge number depending on how many parts they
reuse.

It is just I suspected... your old engine ran alot better than rebuilt one.

Hard starting is usually due to valves not adjusted properly, glow plug
system not right or poor compression which requires rebuild.

[randallbrink]

On Sep 4, 4:29 am, "Tiger" <***@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, should have been included... and damn! $5000 is alot of money. And yes,
> it should have at the least been measured by the machine shop before
> reinstalling.
>
> You already paid everything, They messed up big time. They have to eat their
> own profit... which is still a huge number depending on how many parts they
> reuse.
>
> It is just I suspected... your old engine ran alot better than rebuilt one.
>
> Hard starting is usually due to valves not adjusted properly, glow plug
> system not right or poor compression which requires rebuild.

An update in the Unfolding Saga...

The shop has now discovered that there is a failed part within the
injector pump (the injector pump has always remained a mystery to me,
as I avoid tampering with it to any degree) that functions to advance
the fuel delivery. Evidently, they replaced the camshaft, and could
get the engine to start briskly, but still could not obtain power at
the high end. So now they (we) are waiting for a part from Mercedes-
Benz.