M271 camshaft actuators

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King03sh

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2021
Messages
40
Location
Wiltshire
Car
Ford focus cmax
So today I have taken the valve cover off my c180... fortunately my chain appears tight and has not slipped as all timing marks line up properly, unfortunately however, both inlet and exhaust sprockets are badly worn with quite a few stripped teeth. I have as of yet not removed the timing cover so am unsure of the condition of the crank gear.

As I begin searching for quality replacement parts, my question is, have mercedes updated their cam sprockets? I see several chain kits with a few different merc part numbers listed and assume some of these are incremental improvements that have superseded the crappy sprockets on the early models, or are the parts the same crap that already failed and will fail again in due course? I they are upgraded does anyone know the part number for the latest revised gears for the c180 kompressor engine

Iv found a complete kit that purports to be "german" quality with hardened sprockets from a company called HE Werk gmbh... they claim to have been producing oem parts for german manufactures since 1990 but I have been unable to confirm this. Their website has very little information but the retailer seems to have some really good reviews.

Mercedes want a lot of money for the parts (1700 for the kit and variators). But I dont feel comfortable spending the money on cam sprockets it they are as soft and prone to wear as the originals.

The kit im looking at is on par price wise with other big brand manufacturers supplied by the likes of autodoc and eurocarparts and considerably more than the kits from m271.com

My local specialist recommends an FAI chain kit (lower chain not included) and mercedes sprockets. Though I have seen several reports of tensioner failure within as little as 1k miles.

Many thanks
 
The later M271 engines no longer suffer from sprockets wear (though the timing still fails due to leaking hydraulic tensioner!), but I don't know if the parts from the later engines (CGI/Turbo) are compatible with your 2006 Kompressor engine.

I would go for genuine MB sprockets, they are probably modified, but even if they are not, they will likely last for the remaining life of the car anyway.

Good call for spotting the sprockets wear before the chain jumped a tooth or two!
 
The later M271 engines no longer suffer from sprockets wear (though the timing still fails due to leaking hydraulic tensioner!), but I don't know if the parts from the later engines (CGI/Turbo) are compatible with your 2006 Kompressor engine.

I would go for genuine MB sprockets, they are probably modified, but even if they are not, they will likely last for the remaining life of the car anyway.

Good call for spotting the sprockets wear before the chain jumped a tooth or two!
That was what I had assumed, hopefully genuine ones will do the job. No the parts from the cgi/turbo dont fit, they are an entirely different design.

@W1ighty I had a quote from an indy specialist and they want £2219 for parts and labour, they would be using genuine sprockets/variators and an fai chain and tensioner kit. Unfortunately that doesn't include the lower chain and guides.

Think im going to do the repair myself instead, the strange thing is most kits im finding include the lower chain and guides but not the crank sprocket... seems strange to include everything else bar one part.

Im looking at a HEWerk complete kit which totals £560, £180 for the chain, guides tensioner and bottom gear, variators can be optioned for 360 the pair, discounted from 500 so seems pretty good value.

I would buy iwis timing kit (as the "genuine" chain merc supply is iwis) and get genuine variators but the iwis stuff seems to be out of stock everywhere atm
 
You can buy another whole CLK 200 for less than that ;)
 
I've never replaced sprocket wheels on any car that I owned. On a properly-serviced car, they rarely suffer significant wear throughout the engine's life. The sprockets on the M271 are the odd ones out. I certainly wouldn't replace the lower sprocket 'as a matter of course' when replacing the chain, but 'on condition' only. There's no reason to assume that the lower sprocket is made of the same substandard material as the upper camshaft sprockets.
 
I've never replaced sprocket wheels on any car that I owned. On a properly-serviced car, they rarely suffer significant wear throughout the engine's life. The sprockets on the M271 are the odd ones out. I certainly wouldn't replace the lower sprocket 'as a matter of course' when replacing the chain, but 'on condition' only. There's no reason to assume that the lower sprocket is made of the same substandard material as the upper camshaft sprockets.
I'm sure that's true but I'm a belt and braces kind of guy, especially as I only recently bought the car and fully intend to keep it for the foreseeable future. The cam sprockets are extremely badly damaged, to the point im very surprised the chain hasn't slipped, and although the chain looks ok im weary of not replacing the entire chain drive.

The car service book is entirely main dealer stamped up till 2016 but I have no history on the vehicle since then.
 
I've never replaced sprocket wheels on any car that I owned. On a properly-serviced car, they rarely suffer significant wear throughout the engine's life. The sprockets on the M271 are the odd ones out. I certainly wouldn't replace the lower sprocket 'as a matter of course' when replacing the chain, but 'on condition' only. There's no reason to assume that the lower sprocket is made of the same substandard material
Attached images below of the cam sprockets and timing marks. There is probably close to half the teeth missing on each sprocket
 

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