gaula13

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Disaster has struck! Timing chain and/or chain tensioners have broken. Either way, the engine went "BANG" and died. The tappets no longer work, no compression to speak of and the hood is still down - so there is no doubt on the diasgnosis nor of my predicament. The questions are:

- what to do about it. Rebuild .v. reconditioned unit

- recommendations on a good supplier - cost .v. quality. The car is in Kent.

The car is a W124 cabriolet E320 Sportline and is my pride and joy. Even though it has done about 150k miles it is still a baby - well perhaps a teenager - but is worth keeping either way!

Clearly it needs urgent help and resuscitation - as does my wallet so please take care of both when replying. Any suggestions and recommendtions will be gratefully received.
 

jibcl500

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easy job, head off, skim, new valves where needed, stem seals, gaskets, chain and tensioner, weekend job if you now what your doing.

jib
 

television

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This is what I have been saying when some asked last night about the life of the chain, on these cars the chain does need to be checked after 130k miles.

To the OP welcome to the forum,,sorry about your bad news,I should be able to give you some info on doing this job
 
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gaula13

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Thank you for the advice.

However, while I am reasonably competent, I do not have the skill, experience or confidence to strip this engine and believe that I can rebuild it without having the inevitable two bolts, three washers and one nut left over unused! In addition, I am a bit of a perfectionist - where would I stop: regrind crankshaft, skim head (new gasket just installed - but not by me), new big/small ends, new valve springs, new oil pump, rebore, new pistons ...................... The list seems endless!

In other words, a rebuild by me is not a feasible option.

What about a used engine? If this is a reasonable option, then how does one ensure that one is not going from the frying pan to the fire?
 

Bolide

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BMW 525 Diesel Touring
I would have thought a used replacement engine would have been a quicker, cheaper alternative than rebuilding what's there. The drawback, though, is that it'd be an unknown quantity and would have the typical M104 oil leak

I think you need to cost both approaches having first found someone to do the job

Please email me if you want a suggestion for someone in Brighton

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
cars@w124.co.uk
 
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andy@pcd-ltd

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I am a bit of a perfectionist - where would I stop: regrind crankshaft, skim head (new gasket just installed - but not by me), new big/small ends, new valve springs, new oil pump, rebore, new pistons ......................

Just read this bit does that mean you have just had the head gasket replaced if so when was it done:confused:
 

kth286

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I am a bit of a perfectionist - where would I stop: regrind crankshaft, skim head (new gasket just installed - but not by me), new big/small ends, new valve springs, new oil pump, rebore, new pistons ......................

Just read this bit does that mean you have just had the head gasket replaced if so when was it done:confused:

I was asking on the other forum whether any work had just been done on the car, as timing chains on 124 320 engines just do NOT go pop for no reason at that mileage.

If the head gasket has just been done, it seems you had it done at a non Merc garage, which was a bad thing.

Every car has it's own foibles and you should always go to specialists.

There is a special technique for dealing with the chain tensioner, which if not done correctly will over tension the chain when the head is re-assembed.

The result will be that one of the hollow camshafts will snap in half - exactly as yours has done.

You now have a claim against the garage to correct the mistake and put your car back to the condition it was, and you need to go to trading standards if the garge does not co-operate.

From the other forum a menber as pointed out a cheap 320 car which the garage could buy for a few hundred pounds and the engine from that could be used - they could then sell the car parts off to recoupe their costs maybe.
 

television

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And even Ian Walker made this mistake when he first started out. the tensioner must be removed and closed up, then inserted again. You do have some re dress as the others have said
 

meanie

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At the risk of appearing a little pushy, I do have a good head for sale, complete.
Car was running fine when I decided to break it. Just needed an exhaust section for the MOT, but I figured that a 124 saloon was worth more in bits.
I kept the head, but scrapped the engine with the car, as these 104 engines are bomb proof.
 
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gaula13

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kth286, many thnaks for the pointer. However, I am a wee bit unclear how one can press such a claim since it easy enough for the garage to dispute that it was in any way responsible - or even that a component failure could/should have been predicted.

As a Don Qixote, I am all for tilting at most windmills but this seems to me to be a lost cause. Or is there something that the garage cannot quibble about - or that the trading standards office will take seriously?
 

Alex Crow

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how many miles ago was the head job done? an engineers report with favourable circumstantial evidence could easily sway a county court.
 

kth286

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kth286, many thnaks for the pointer. However, I am a wee bit unclear how one can press such a claim since it easy enough for the garage to dispute that it was in any way responsible - or even that a component failure could/should have been predicted.

As a Don Qixote, I am all for tilting at most windmills but this seems to me to be a lost cause. Or is there something that the garage cannot quibble about - or that the trading standards office will take seriously?

This textbook stuff in the Mercedes technician world and is the one and only cause for that camshaft problem.

You have not said whether it was a Merc specialist garage OR general garage - this point is relevant - as if it was a general garage then you need to share the blame.

If it was a Merc specialist garage, then they must have had an apprentice (or such) working on it - they are fully liable.

What is the name of the garage, we know them all on here, and can give you an updated opinion.

Also, as a user of this forum, and the recipient of advice from it, from a group of enthusiasts, you have an obligation to share with us this further detail, to potentially help our members avoid the same costly problems.

We look forward to your further posts.
 
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