Valve stem seals how much work?

[Steve Chafer]

Am considering gettint the valve stem seals done on the W124 200

the seals are cheap at £18 for the set.

does anyone have a guestimate as to the time needed to do them , my garage say they may be able to do them with the cyl head in place.

thanks

Steve

 

[IanT]

It is often possible to replace stem seals with the head in place by removing a spark plug and feeding a lot of thin rope into the bore, then compressing the rope by bringing the piston back up, holding the valves shut. Obviously you'd do this with the camshafts removed!

I've replaced the seals on a V6 and it wasn't hard, in general I'd say it was straightforward enough to remove the cylinder head as you'd have to remove camshafts and timing chain etc to get at the seals anyway. You'll need a valve spring compressor (about £35 from Halfords), a torque wrench and an angle gauge if your head bolts are of the stretching variety. Don't forget to replace the head bolts!

If you're keen this should be a DIY job, but I'm pretty sure that to do it nicely (including the opportunity to reface the valves) it's worth removing the head whether you DIY or take it to a garage.

I haven't done a Merc, but the Vauxhalls I've rebuilt have taken a couple of days each. A garage would probably need about 1/4 of that time, plus parts:

Head gasket
Timing chain (replace it anyway?)
Timing chain tensioner (ditto)
Head bolts
Stem seals
Oil seals
Engine oil and antifreeze, oil filter.

I've probably missed some items but you will get the general idea. The head gasket is usually available as a kit with all the other gaskets, stem seals and other oil seals you will need, such a kit will cost about £70-£90 from a factors.

Hope that helps,

Ian.

 

[Ian B Walker]

If you are going to lift the head take note of where the pneumatic lines connect to. Also photo everything as you take it off. The Haynes book of jokes says leave the Inlet manifold on the block, DON'T. Remove it from the cyl head and pull it to one side, bit fiddly but will save you hours of pointless fun trying to work out what goes where. Total time to do this job in your drive using just normal tools, between 4 - 5 hours depending on the weather. Good Luck, if you need a hand just holler.

 

[SGCW124]

Thanks Ian, lanT

Lads

Sorry for the late reply, I've decided to live with it untill I get the £££ together for a Crew engine 2.3 swap. I dont have the skills to DIY so I'm sure the garage bill would be nearly half way to a new engine, and I do like the potential hike from 2.0 to 2.3 litres - especially since I now have seven seats
after fitting the rear facing bench seat

By the way if anyone is thinking the seven seat conversion , it really is a dead easy & worthwhile mod

(,'cept as you know the seat belts had me puzzled for a while - thanks once more for your help on that particular hurdle)


Steve C.

 

[andy_k]

the 2.3 litre will certainly give more power than the 2 litre lump but it would surely be an expensive swap?

how many of the parts such as ECU, flywheel (and possibly gearbox/diff) etc will be interchangeable?

Is it worth looking around for a half decent 230 TE rather than spending all that cash?

Oh, and whereabouts in East Sussex are you?

Andy

 

[SGCW124]

Hullo Andy

your note is well considered , Ive been quoted circa £1,200 by Crewe engines to fit & replace my lump for a 2.3 in exchange. No small amount of change, I agree.

Apparantly it something they "do quite often" as its a straight forward job -their words not mine so I'm guessing there is much commonality between the 4cyl 2.0 & 2.3 lumps.

I would like to hear any forum member comments if they have gone this route though (especially via Crewe engines)

My bodywork is just excellent so I'm thinking would make a "new" car out of it - good for a few years yet , so that would mean cheap motoring in real terms.- if I cant find just THE ideal car then.

when that time comes I will look around the market though, as my absolute preference would be for a big engined ,all leathered up estate with A/C
-MB 124 of course! ( as people say on this forum they do rock ! )

Additionally as a bonus Christine dosent like to drive it much, says she starts worrying about wether she should wear 1 string or two / get her roots done ! (not sure i fully understand this but sure feels like well dodgy ground to ask further, perhaps a question for Pammy!

Cheers

Oh , and I am in LEWES

Steve

 

[Ian B Walker]

Steve I have a 200T estates as well, commonly known as "The Red Shed". As yours, mine is 2ltr. But I too have been toying with a few ideas, some totally ridiculous, others quite feasable. I also have a 260E (6 cyl) so smooth and quite powerfull. If I was to do anything with the shed I would opt for a 6 cyl engine. They go straight in, no problems. I would go this way...........BUT the shed is carburated not injected so I would have to sort out some suitable carburation (like three Webber 45 DCOEC's) An interesting engineering excersize, (well for me anyway). Whatever you decide you will enjoy, but watch the £'s at Crewe.

 

[andy_k]

The 2.3 is a great engine but I'd be looking at buying a "donor" car/engine possibly accident damaged for a couple of hundred quid - I was offered an engine out of a write off few months back. If it's a good engine, then great but for that kind of money you could get the top end rebuilt and the engine fitted by a local mechanic (I know a guy who'll do it for you) for about half the money Crewe are asking and be left with a pile of spares in your garage - all of which are saleable.

Why not ask Mercman and see if he has an engine?

Andy

 

[SGCW124]

Thanks Ian , AndyK

lots of options to consider then: - hopfully it'll be a few months before descision time more chance to save the £££ for the eventual solution.!

Its not using too much oil at the moment ertainly less than1 litre in 800 miles
and to date I can reduce the smokescreen on the post down hill over run burn up by sensible throtle afterwards without spoiling the fun too much.

Cheers

Steve C