Hey guys, the progress on my head gasket replacement for my 1988 300CE has come to a halt. Everything was going smoothly as my friend and I were finishing up disconnecting everything needed to remove the head when we jumped the gun and foolishly forgot to remove that pesky pin that holds the chain guide to the head (the one that requires the use of a slide hammer for removal). It's certainly a mistake I won't be forgetting anytime soon because the chain guide broke when we pulled the head. So now I get to experience how to remove the front timing cover and all the headaches involved
I've removed everything needed up to the big 27mm crankshaft bolt. This is where I'm stuck. I'm aware I need to somehow lock the crankshaft and muster the strength to crack the bolt. Currently I don't have access to a jack or jack stands to lift the car, so the way I see it, locking it from the flywheel (as I've read requires a tool or jerry-rigging) will not be an option. I ruled out using the starter and breaker bar because the head is off and who knows what will happen to the timing chain since it's just flapping around (plus the whole idea freaks me out a bit). So that leaves me with the chain wrench idea I read about, or the idea I thought of (or at least haven't yet read about):

I figured the pistons and their respective rods experience far more force during compression than that which is required to crack the crankshaft bolt. So I thought why not try and lock the shaft from a piston. I put a block of wood on top of piston 2 (that happens to be the one on its way to tdc) and secured it down using a steel plate that's held down by the head bolts. I'm in my low 20's and don't have much experience repairing cars. The last thing I need is to make the project any bigger than I've already made it, so I thought I'd ask you guys what you think. Is there a risk of bending a rod/piston or causing damage to the crankshaft by locking a piston down to remove the crank bolt?

I've attached a photo of the setup (I know it looks a little sketch but it's surprisingly sturdy)

Note: There is another block of wood for support inside the cylinder that cannot be seen. I intend on replacing the head bolts so I'm not concerned about damaging them. I think I'll try and add the other two bolts to reduce stress on the block threads if you guys give the go-ahead with the idea.

 

I wouldn't use the piston method but that's just me, if it doesn't move, i guess it would be fine but I don't like the pressure point.

The starter idea is horrible.

I'm quoting jim kimmey: First remove the belt pulley from the inner crankshaft pulley. You will see 2 cutouts in the inner pulley at 180 degrees. With the engine turned to the correct position, a 13MM deep socket can be wedged between one of the cutouts and one of the 6MM allen head bolt heads which hold the oil pan on at the front of the block, It will be necessary to turn the engine backwards only slightly to lock the socket in place after which you can really pull on the center crank bolt. Works in reverse for retightening also.

Try that.

Or find a jack(best option), the stock one would be just fine with a stand. Locking the flywheel is very simple, if you're alone on the project, the longer bolt in a torque converter bolt work would do.

Or an impact gun...

 

Thanks for the advice ptoro. I think I'll try to lock the flywheel first as you recommended and just get some stands. In regards to Jim kimmey's advice, I couldn't find a cutout on the inner pulley/balancer large enough for a 13mm socket. Also they aren't drilled through so unless they're on the opposite side of the pulley I'm lost. I've attached another photo to show you what I mean. Perhaps I'm looking at it wrong I'm not quite sure.

 

The pulley that you removed, does it separate into 2 parts? I know there is a cutout somewhere as that's what the timing sensor reads.

 

Sorry for the late response. Finally got that pesky bolt off by locking two pistons on their way up the cylinder. guides have been replaced and cover resealed. Here's where I'm at:
I positioned the balancer to TDC and rotated the cam so that the pin matches the cast marking on the front rocker arm assembly. (As instructed by the manual to return the timing to its basic setting. Well I just lowered the head back onto the block and noticed a gap between the too. Upon further investigation I discovered the valves were resting on the pistons YIKES! I immediately turned the crankshaft to lower the front piston. The head simultaneously dropped into place. Crossing my fingers that a valve isn't slightly bent from that . So my dilemma is why are the valves hitting??? Have I incorrectly reset the cam position?

I went back through the guide and it states "setting pin must be opposite cast marking." Whether it means opposite on an X or Z axis beats me. From what I can see in the picture (while difficult to see) is that both marking are aligned with each other. But now I'm thinking the pin on the camshaft should be in the "6 o'clock position" as opposed to the "12 o' clock" position its currently in.

In the photo I attached I pointed to the cast marking (20) and the marking pin (21). In the photo it appears that 21 is aligned with 20. But I'm thinking perhaps it means 21 is on the otherside (6 o' clock). Hence it says opposite

Any insight on this would really be appreciated!

 

I'm gonna venture a guess and say that your cam is off by a turn, by which I really mean half a turn.
And I'm gonna further guess that it's actually your crank that's off by a half turn.

Remove the head, and line things up separately.

TDC is when the piston closest to the rad is up top, so line up the head so the corresponding valves are closed.

Take it all apart and start over, now you're just eye-balling it and something tells me you're not feeling particularly lucky.

 

Yep after reading the modification notes I realized I should be looking for the marking "hole" not pin. And sure enough, just as you said, I was half a turn off. Car is up and running now. Pretty smooth but still has a bit of a rumble in the idle, nothing new, I'm guessing injectors. But I've got one last problem, I have a loud top end tick. Its coming from cylinder 5 or 6. When I had the head off I replaced the two lifters in 6 (I had two extras laying around, and 6 always had some tappet noise to it under a stethoscope). After researching my problem just now, I realized I should have filled the new lifters with oil (which I didn't) and I'm praying this is the cause of the issue. Shouldn't they fill themselves though once the oil pressure builds? Anyways I'm going to check them and of that doesn't solve it ill post a video or something.

Thanks for all the help thus far!

 

Good.
The rumble...check for vacuum leaks everywhere, injector seals are one possible leak.

The lifter noise...was your cam worn at all? I believe the cam towers spray the cam bearings and the oil rail sprays the cam tower and lifter arms. I'd check for a clog in the rail.
Also, what kind of oil and filter are you using?

cheers.

 

Gotcha Ill check the lines. I think its the injector seals though. They feel like hard plastic.

Cam looks good, each lobe has a nice shiny finish and no significant signs of wear (specifically on cylinder 6). Where exactly are the bearings? I'm not fully up to speed on the cam component terminology and their whereabouts.
Last night I pulled both new lifters I had previously installed. One came easy, the other was almost seized in there. I had to tap/ pretty much hammer it out with a mallet. After getting it out it fell apart. I looked back in the rocker arm sleeve that it fits into and the little collar that's crimped to the lifter (used to hold the lifter together) was still jammed up in there. I'm not sure what caused the lifter to seize in there, but I think it was the hammering that ruined it as opposed to it being defective.

I've got everything cleaned out of there now (lots of little metal shards from the collar) and I plan on putting the original lifter back in this evening to confirm that that was the cause of the tick.

The oil in there is mobil one 5w-40 with MB filter. It looks cloudyy though, so my guess is some coolant or who knows what got into it during the repair. I'll obviously change out the oil/ filter. Probably two changes to rinse it out. But do you really think that junky oil could seize up a lifter or cause a strongg tick like that? Sure would be nice

 

Yikes, that sounds mangled. If a metal shard got stuck and starved flow, i guess it could.

Not to get into an oil discussion but my engine on 0w30 ticks really bad, but runs happy on 0w40. Could have something to do with how they leak down, which causes wear until the pressure rises back up.

The water in oil won't be a biggie with synthetic, the water's evaporated and the glycol has combined with the oil, unless it was really bad, you can probably run it at full intervals.

 

I've since put the original lifter back in and the ticking has subsided. It still does not move about freely in the rocker arm sleeve. This is because there is a small gouge inside the sleeve from the metal shards scraping when I hammered it out. So I think to properly repair it I'll need to order a new rocker arm ($35 on penguin parts) and get another lifter. The car currently putters a bit from that same lifter, but nothing serious right now. So considering what you said about the oil I think I'll drive it to class tmw

As for the oil, that's good to know. I'll stick with the heavier weight. I work part time over at a MB dealership and as I recall the techs all recommend I run the heavy delvac 1300 stuff, which I believe is 15w-40. Perhaps I'm wrong on the weight, but that seems a bit thick for winter.