Jake82240130

Hi-

My 82 240D recently blew a head gasket while out on the freeway on the last leg of an 8-hour trip. It's always been a great car; engine has 130K on it and runs great (or, it did run great, and I hope it will again).

Have a couple questions:
1) I need to do the gasket replacement on the cheap. One major piece I'm really hoping to avoid is replacing the timing chain and tensioner. I know it's a bad idea, but seriously, is there any way I can get out of it? Can I just get a new master link for $3 instead of paying minimum $200 for a new chain/tensioner?

2) I'm a very amature mechanic. While I've replaced a head gasket before on another car and have done multiple repairs on the MBZ, I feel I could really use a solid step-by-step how to on this job. Something better than the f'ing unhelpful Haynes or Chilton's manuals. Searching the internet and this and other forums hasn't yeilded results. I know somewhere out there there's a good guide with pictures, probably even on this site! Can someone direct me, send me a link, etc.

Thanks much for any advice you can give!

doktor4carz

If you are willing to wait 2 or 3 days, I can enlighten you. Right now, I don't have the time for it...

tanktube67

those engines are very simple to work, but why do you want to cut corners? do the the job right and replaced what it needs.