Steve260E
Active Member
Hello, just started to continue working on my old M102 200TE after winter, in the process of removing the cylinder head but I've hit a confusing snag, basically the car ran terribly, wouldn't idle, fouled its plugs and eventually cut out with plumes of what seemed like steam or unburnt fuel(toxic smelling).
Carried out a compression test and cylinders 3 and 4 were very low and with adjacent cylinder failures being quite common I was sure it was the headgasket that was the culprit, although it didn't seem to mix its oil or coolant and didnt overheat(not that it ran for long enough to find out).
I'm now at the point of removing the timing chain guide pins and cam sprocket but when setting to TDC I've noticed something quite confusing, someone previous to me has placed white timing marks on the chain and sprocket that are miles out of alignment. I suddenly thought could incorrect engine timing be the cause of all the previous problems? rough running, low compression, etc?
I investigated further and found while the crank is at TDC, the other cam timing mark that is like a small slit behind the sprocket on the inlet side of the cam lines up as it should with the top flat surface of the cylinder head, so I'm now in a confused state were the timing marks appear to line up as they should both on the crank and cam but the mark placed by someone else on the chain and sprocket don't, should I ignore the white marks and proceed with removing the head or is there likely to be a timing problem that may be the cause of all previous issues?
Many thanks for any advice offered
Carried out a compression test and cylinders 3 and 4 were very low and with adjacent cylinder failures being quite common I was sure it was the headgasket that was the culprit, although it didn't seem to mix its oil or coolant and didnt overheat(not that it ran for long enough to find out).
I'm now at the point of removing the timing chain guide pins and cam sprocket but when setting to TDC I've noticed something quite confusing, someone previous to me has placed white timing marks on the chain and sprocket that are miles out of alignment. I suddenly thought could incorrect engine timing be the cause of all the previous problems? rough running, low compression, etc?
I investigated further and found while the crank is at TDC, the other cam timing mark that is like a small slit behind the sprocket on the inlet side of the cam lines up as it should with the top flat surface of the cylinder head, so I'm now in a confused state were the timing marks appear to line up as they should both on the crank and cam but the mark placed by someone else on the chain and sprocket don't, should I ignore the white marks and proceed with removing the head or is there likely to be a timing problem that may be the cause of all previous issues?
Many thanks for any advice offered
