beauphus

Basically I now am the proud owner of a AMG that needs a rebuilt engine due to the hydro-locking I went through. Insurance company paid off the lien and handed me a check for the difference so now I get to bring this baby back to life. I am fortunate to have Hartmut Feyhl and Renn-tech corporate offices right down the street from my house. They will be doing the rebuild and any modifications I choose to do.

So basically I have a Kompressor motor with 30k miles on it that I get to modify once disassembled. What do you guys recommend? Hartmut has mentioned replacing internals with SLR pistons and rods amongst other things. I am not a tuner so I dont know much about what can be done to our engines. I am familiar with the bolt-ons and I already have those mods planned but I dont know what to do with the engine itself. What do you guys suggest?

Bellevue_E55

Do a search for Renntech and/or Hartmuts name. I remember seeing a post about 2 months ago about another forum member that had their engine rebuilt by the same team and they got slr internals.

blackbenzz

What are your goals with the car? I'm sure SLR internals cant be cheap, especially with Renntech doing the work. E55 internals can handle quite a bit of power.

hooleyboy

About a year ago a guy came into the shop after installing a twin turbo kit on his Corvette. I guess the story goes, that the guy ran his car through some standing watter. In turn he sucked up the water and made 8 fish tanks in his engine.

All this guy did was drop off his car, have the shop confirm it was indeed hydolocked. He called his insurance company and they came out and cut a check on the spot... After a slight inspection.

Back in the day, 1995 IIRCC, My friend hydro locked his v6 camaro. After we pulled the spark plugs and got as much water out as possible. we poured in some mystery oil and let it sit over night. The next day we took a breaker bar to the crank and were able to break the engine loose. We tossed in some new plugs, oil change and the car started right up. That car ran up until the day my friend sold it.

Back then, all that mattered to us was that the car was running. We didnt even think about it being down on power after we got it running. The car never burned oil though. Unfortunately or fortunately I've never had to do it again.

I've heard people freeing up hydolocked motors with WD40 and SeaFoam. The question is.. Even if you free up the engine, would there be any other side effects from hydrolocking it? Is it header to free up an aluminum block vs a cast iron block? IDK?

Will this work or help on your car? IDK? It this point it sounds like you may have nothing to loose.

Forrest Gump 9

Hydrolocking the engine can result in bent rods also.

Are there any aftermarket rods and pistons for the E55? I don't know if the SLR units are forge or not, so that something you might want to look into.

beauphus

I believe the SLR rods are forged. They say the compression tests are leading them to believe its only bent rods but will know for sure by monday. I guess maybe rather than trying to go nuts messing with the engine i am better off just getting it running and stick to the bolt-ons...

MRAMG1

Please bear in mind that IF you bent the rod, the bearing took a HUGE hit as well. Just think about it, how did the rod bend? It was the crankshaft pushing up on it when the cylinder was full. Sometime, this can lead to a bent crank, cracked block around the journal, and usually a crushed/destroyed bearing shell.

Good luck with the rebuild, and personally I would not waste the money on the rods as you only need them IF you want to rev the motor higher. After all, have you EVER heard/seen a 55 motor throw a rod

PTE

I'm Sure Renntech is going to install the proper rebuild parts. The SLR pistons & Rods are expensive, and they are much more durable . But understand taking your car for a boat ride . something has got to give !! Your damn lucky it was not Salt water . Well anyway they got to take the heads off. and touch up the valve seats & Valve faces. You might as well have the heads ported & some titanium spring retainers installed . I mean what the heck! this is a great time to get the hard stuff done, while the motor is a part! Cheers _PT Engineering

P/S I was up to MB of Ft. Pierce that had 4 customer cars that went boating , Just like you. so don't feel to bad . you ain't the only one

beauphus

sent u a PM

beauphus

I intend to replace all internal including rods, pistons, bearings, and anything that isnt perfect including crank shaft if necessary

madgoat

Talk to Al Papitto at Boss 330 racing up in Vero Beach. He has built all of my motors. Nothing for my Mercedes yet but has done cylinder heads for MB guys. He builds all motors that are higher end performance. I think you would get the best deal and quality going through him. He is a one man show but does phenomenal work and takes pride in everything he does. He is a very good friend of mine. Tell him PK sent you. 772-633-7660. He builds motors for some of the fastest Fords in the country. He used to build pro stock bike motors as well. You'll get more than your moneys worth. You would have to get the motor to him though. Or he may have someone that could yank it. PM me if you need any more info

blackbenzz

We did this on a jet ski not too long ago. And it was salt water!!! There was rust in the motor, you can see by looking down into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. Did what you said (didn't even need to use breaker bar on crank) and it started working

Quadcammer

The problem with al is that he will take forever. He's one of, if not the best, modular engine builder in the country (haven't heard much from mihovetz lately), but since he has high quality control and is a one man show, he's got a helluva backlog.

madgoat

I don't think it is like it used to be... With the economy last time I talked to him he was pretty slow. Think he was just working on some C63 heads.