Even the very best Mercedes mechanic can be flummoxed and fooled by this issue!
As mentioned in the previous post, when I bought my Mercedes 380 sl via Ebay in 2014 I was oblivious to the fact that 1981-1983 SLs in the American market came with single chain timing chains. The cars were later taken care of by Mercedes, but a number were never repaired and are still out there waiting for an unsuspecting buyer. And to replace with a double chain now is costly -- minimally $3 thousand dollars (Probably 5k now).
That makes my buy of a very clean body California/Arizona car in jeopardy of turning into a boondoggle!
You can quickly check whether you have a single or double chain easily by looking through the space under the valve cover after taking out the oil filler cap. And by God, I was saved again from a financial decision by a faithful God.
The single row chain was just not strong enough for any Mercedes V-8, even the M116. Failure resulted in bent valves damaged valve train and in sum catastrophic engine damage. Warning signs (Justin case you have one) include rattling chain noise on start-up. (Not to be confused with a disintegrating air pump clutch). The chain can fail without warning.
And if you want to know how to replace a timing chain, see this:
Within a week after I got the car home, I took it to Foreign Excahnge in Moraine and had an experienced mechanic replace my double chain. The car had 99K miles on it, and it was reported that my replaced double chain had stretched. Now my new Mercedes should be good for another 100k.
No comments:
Post a Comment