Hi I`m New Here

[iamamanc]

Took it to a diesel man who is older than my Dad and really know his pumps. He said the pump seemed ok BUT the chain needs changing, and he was adamant. Smoke at start up, idle shudder, not shutting off right these are all classic symptoms. He took a vacume pipe off the pump and sucked it and said that the shutoff valve is ok. Checked the engine mounts, again ok. He has nothing to gain from his advice cos he doesn't want to do the job. All he does is rebuild pumps so I have no reason to doubt him. So looks like a new chain - gulp - but then I should have a cracker of a motor.
Happy New Year all
adrian

 

[iamamanc]

PS
I hope!!!

 

[Dieselman]

If the chain is stretched it must have some serious mileage under it's belt. You can check chain stretch by turning hte engine to TDC and checking the cam timing. 5 degrees of lag is the limit.
You could check the pump timing by disconnecting no1 injector pipe and winding the engine forwards until diesel just spills out of the pipe or port, depending on where you have disconneted it. This needs to be at about 15 degrees BTDC.

Changing the chain isn't too bad. The tensioner needs to be removed and the valve cover, best to replace the long and short guides then. After that split the old chain either with a splitter or grind off the head of one rivet and push out.
Using the split link with the new chain connect to the near side end of the old chain and wind the engine over at the crank to wind the chain through, whilst pulling the old chain out.

Here is a pictoral of how to do a single cam engine. A twin cam is basically the same as the 2nd cam is gera driven from the first.
http://dieselgiant.com/replacetimingchain.htm

The chain must be kept tight on the sprockets at all times when doing this.

If you are feeling brave you can do this by using the starter motor to wind the engine over.

 

[iamamanc]

Cheers DM
Had another look today with the mechanic who is going to do the job. We rang the old Pump guy up and he was still adamant about the chain being changed. The car has just over 100k, he said that is really irrelevant. As I didn't get any history when I bought it we don;t know if the car was used or abused. It looks as if it was looked after but as we all know looks can be deceiving. When it starts from cold the engine is quiet-ish but the rough idle is still there. After about 2 mins of idle it does get a bit loud through clanking. Anyway it will get done over the next two weeks. Going to fit some new nozzles while I'm at it, can Bozio nozzles be bought here or would it be an overseas purchase.
Cheers

 

[Dieselman]

Have you run injector cleaner yet?
Your symptoms sound more like a poor spray pattern than anything.

Watch the diesel purge video on Dieselgiant to see the best way to do it.

Many diesel specialists will test your injectors FOC if you take them out and to them.

I just don't see it being the chain yet unless the car is seriously clocked.

 

[iamamanc]

Finished at last (almost)

Changed the blower motor - from a scrapper............................£60ish
The shudder turned out to be engine mounts............................£60ish
Rear muffler........................................................................£100ish
Front anti roll bushings..........................................................£16ish
Tacho...with hot sauce........just started working again...............£00ish
Engin run-on - vacum leak in pipe............................................£5
Bringing ABS back to life tracing fault - dodgy cable cluster..........£120ish
Rebuid Autotranny................................................................£550ish
Replace lots of little backlight bulbs and fuses............................£10ish
New washer/wiper pump ........................................................£16ish
New rear dome light switch.....................................................£10ish
New joystick mirror adjuster thingy...........................................£22ish
Diesel Back flow hose 2m........................................................£14ish
New Glove compartment plus rivets..........................................£24ish
Windscreen wiper cover/cap thing............................................£5ish
£4 new brigstone 225X45X17...................................................£400

All together without the tyres ................................................£1012ish

The missus told me to keep the wheels so final price....................£1412

Went for a 200 mile spin yesterday - Van Morrison - the open road - North Yorkshire - Pub lunch - a smashing car that works well - PRICELESS

 

[Howard]

Wicked ...

Stories like this make me happy !! :bannana: someone who really cares about their car !

 

[Dave Lewis]

Great stuff. Thanks for the update.
Enjoy!

 

[iamamanc]

Finished at last (almost)

Changed the blower motor - from a scrapper............................£60ish
The shudder turned out to be engine mounts............................£60ish
Rear muffler........................................................................£100ish
Front anti roll bushings..........................................................£16ish
Tacho...with hot sauce........just started working again...............£00ish
Engine run-on - vacuum leak in pipe............................................£5
Bringing ABS back to life tracing fault - dodgy cable cluster..........£120ish
Rebuild Auto tranny................................................................£550ish
Replace lots of little back light bulbs and fuses............................£10ish
New washer/wiper pump ........................................................£16ish
New rear dome light switch.....................................................£10ish
New joystick mirror adjuster thingy...........................................£22ish
Diesel Back flow hose 2m........................................................£14ish
New Glove compartment plus rivets..........................................£24ish
Windscreen wiper cover/cap thing............................................£5ish
£4 new bridgestone 225X45X17...................................................£400

All together without the tyres ................................................£1012ish

The missus told me to keep the wheels so final price....................£1412

Some add-ons and on and on

Balance Injectors +new nozzles................................£150
Timing Chain + tensioner.........................................£130
4 x Discs + Pads....................................................£200
Near Side Headlight (old crack).................................£52
New Ignition Tumbler...............................................£75
Kick Down Switch...................................................£14
Middle Exhaust Box.................................................£115
Spare Key .............................................................£10
Spare Cobra remote.................................................£70
2nd Hand Viscous Fan...............................................£60
Brake pipes (only MOT fault)....................................£120 incl MOT
Merc antifreeze 4.5 litres..........................................£18ish
Paint Job on Bonnet................................................£150ish

Plus Lot's and Lot's and Lot's of time and dirty looks on Sundays from the missus


Just a warning for future buyers of older Mercs - they really do turn into a labour of love - and a bottomless pit

Till next Time
Adrian

 

[Ian B Walker]

I agree with Will (Dieselman) A stretched chain is a little uncommon on an engine with the mileage you mention.

Opps, just finished reading the thread. Apologies, nice to see a result though.