Ironzey

Finally after owning my '89 300E I bought the official repair manual. I was pleasantly surprised with the little flash animation and movie of the W-124 driving around. After that it is a different story. Where do you find the actual "repair stuff on this thing? All I've seen is a bunch of scanned pages of the paper manual (I think) and after looking for about an hour I've not been able to find anything that tells me how to replace valve stem seals. As a matter of fact there isn't a single "how to" part on either one of these CDs.

Where on these CDs can I find the part that is going to tell me how to replace Valve stem seals?


Thanks.

zeronero

Those are the correct CD's. At first glance they seem worthless but after browsing them you should find that they are usefull. They're written for techs so they won't be that straight foward, just takes getting used to.

zeronero

I just poped in the CD's and found how to replace the valve stem seals on my car, a 400E. It's in the Engine Manual > Mechanical Manual > Engine Timing Valves. It should be the same for every model.

Ironzey

That was a really fast response. Thanks.

I selected '89 300E>engine manual> Mechanical and cumbustion manual. After that the options don't have anything to do with what I'm looking for.
Mechanical/Electronic gasoline injection system
Air cleaner
Intake exhaust manifold
Electrical system engine
accelerator control
fuel system
exhaust system

Some of these sections make sense but there seem that they left out some pretty important stuff. A whole section about removing the Air cleaner but nothing on removing the head (for example).

Jer

I had the same problem. You have to dig through the directories on the CD to find the rest of the service groups for the engine. The directory is...

\Program\Engine\103

Group 05 is for valve timing. Job 2700 is Replacing Valve Stem Seals. The filename is 05-2700.pdf.

Ironzey

That is it cool thanks.....These directions are a little vague but I'm sure it's not that tough(is it?). What do you call that special tool? CanI get one from anyplace(AutoZone) or do I have to get it from the dealer?

Jer

There are several special tools required. The "valve bridge" is used to attach the "valve spring compressor" which is used to retract the valve. You need a "drift" for installing the new seals.

AutoZone might have some tools, but you're better off checking out www.performanceproducts.com. They have lots of special tools.

dlafever

Ditto on what Jer said, there are several Mercedes Tool websites if you search for them. I have had great luck with the folks here:

http://www.technictool.com/mercedes.htm

You will need the valve tool(s) and a little fitting which is threaded like a spark plug on one end and a 3/8" pipe fitting on the other. I got mine at pep boys. When I did the seals in my 300E a few years back, I fashioned a rig for my compressor that had a shutoff valve right near the spark plug fitting. You may also want to see if you can borrow the tools from someone, if I still had mine I would let you, or sell them to you for less than I paid...

Also, RE the manuals, I found it very helpful to buy a copy of Adobe Acrobat and reassemble all the engine manuals into one big document. Acrobat then lets you OCR the text so you can perform full-text searches on the manual. Quite handy!

-D

Ironzey

The manual doesn't say anything about a "valve bridge" or a spring compressor. and the skimpy instructions say that the new seals are supposed to be pressed on by hand.

dlafever

Hmmm, I will have to look when I get home tonight. The valve spring compressor I used looked like the picture here and I do not believe it uses the support bridge that the manual shows. It is suitable for the home mechanic but not for professional use ( not built for high duty cycle ). As for the stem seals, you absolutely can press them on with your fingers, each set comes with a little red guide tube. After removing the old seal, you put the guide tube on the stem and slide the new seal over it. The oil laying about in the top of the head is perfect for dabbing on the guide tube to lubricate it.

-D

dlafever

Oops almost forgot, when you go to ZDMAK look for "ITEM M0069-MASTER"

-D

Ironzey

Cool I got it (the manual part) all figured out you have to hunt around for the specific job you want to do, valve stem replacement, then look at the jobs that need to get done before it. Removing air filter, valve cover gasket, Removing oil tube ...... Then you have a complete picture of what needs to be done. It makes sense after beating against your head for a few hours.

Now the hard part....finding these tools. For what some of these tools cost I might be better off taking it into a pro and having them do it. For the three tools that I (think) need is going to be over $250 for something that is probably going to be used only once and then with the price of gaskets and the seals themselves I'm sure it will be cheaper just going to a mechanic. I'm going to look around to see if there is one I could borrow or get for cheaper.

Thanks I'll keep you all updated.



P.S. One other thing, while I'm at it what gaskets/seals should I replace while I'm poking around in the top part of the motor.

Jer

Unless you remove the cylinder head to replace the head gasket, there isn't anything else to do besides the valve cover gasket (which is simple). Just make sure the semi-circle piece is properly seated at the back of the engine!!