1988 W124 300 TurboD Coupé ''Gold'nBrown'' - intercooling it

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Rest of the day, until I was too cold (the damn wind is killing me) to work, I spend with removing the injectors and radiator and water pump. The injectors will be sent away for a rebuild, they are BAD. I should have replaced them a long time ago, but our DIY-pop-tester-project is stagnating and will most probably continue to do so. Whatever. There are people who can do this.





I will also replace the brittle decaying old radiator at this point. It's almost 600.000km old. And whenever you touch it, bits of coroded aluminium fall off... I have a much better spare radiator - I don't know why I kept using this one for so long.

Whilst it was removed, I thought why not try the S400 CDI chargecooler cooler... I had no hope it would fit.

However:





It appears to have sufficient amounts of clearance either side.

And continuing with the cooling theme; I put together the new water pump, ready for installation. Conmsiting of a new pump housing, pump and pulley. MB fitted the 3.5l OM603, I think from 1992 on, with larger impeller pumps. Combined with smaller dia. pulleys. The engine was then powering the heavy, heavy W140 S-Class and the behemoth called the G-Wagon. It was probably at this point, that the latest cylinder head castings were introduced. So what I'm doing is actually building a 3 liter version of the latest stage of OM603 Turbodiesel development.



^stock 69mm impeller to the left, new 72mm impeller to the right. And the pulley is also substantially smaller:



This is said to be the best cooling available for the OM603. Late 3.5l engine also got a heater matrix by-pass to aid coolant circulation on the 5th and 6th cylinder. I will most probably also include this when I put on the new cylinder head.



So that's one major step towards long-term reliability and longevity of this engine

That's all for today.

Cheers,
Jan

[georgeb]

Nice work on the pump.

Always good to know cooling is under control!

[varelse]

Mar 14, 2016 13:57:54 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

Ha! Best invention ever!

Honestly, I was expecting you to use an air ratchet.
Drop the pressure on the compressor low enough and the car shouldn't rocket through the opposite wall.

[TurboDieselWeasel]

There is only one thing preventing me from doing that: I don't have an air ratchet... And no compressor.

Ok, that's two things.

Will also come in handy to hold the drive shafts when unbolting them on the diff. It's a multi-purpose-tool realy. Lol.

[maxypriest]

TOP TIP – get some quilted lined overalls – they are life savers.
I live in mine, so warm I only wear socks, pants and a t shirt underneath and thus I keep full mobility.
EBay.

[TurboDieselWeasel]

I've got one of those. I'm just a püssy (it's realy icy ice cold wind - it gets through)

Anyway, got this lot from the stealership today. Another 119€ poorer...



And then started to dismantle the engine. Again. At least this meant no tight bolts. Woo-fooking-hoo...



One thing worrys me though; the exhaust manifold and gasket have traces of rust which clearly come from inside, not outside. So either water has found it's way in the engine through the cracked head or a leaky gasket. Or it's moisture from incomplete combustion (I had to crank it a couple of times when it ran dry). I guess I'll find out sooner or later. I've had this on the Mini once - a bad head gasket let water inside the bores - and after 4 months of hibernation - the bores were rusted and runined.



And to keep me motivated - I installed the new pump and finally replaced that god awefull looking rusty PS pump pulley... It's been bugging me ever since I got the engine. This comes from the 1€ eBay-engine (Taxi thread), it's like new.



More later - I'm still waiting for a parcel with a set of new head bolts. I didn't buy them at MB's - 26 times 3.70€ - you do the math. Aftermarket bolts are half of that. Though surprisingly, the headgasket is the same price at MB's and on the free market.

Cheers,
Jan

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Mar 15, 2016 13:27:09 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

At least this meant no tight bolts.

Lies! All blöödy lies!

Next up was the bit that always makes me nervous, due to my major fook-up last time... But: the camshaft still got fixed timing. Phew.





And then came the tight bolts... Namely; the pins holding the upper timing chain guide. I was hoping they are at least easy to pull out, since I did this not long ago. Wrong.

So I warmed up the lathe again, went through the scrap bin and found a M6 bolt that looks like it was high tensile. Ans also found a bit of Nissan Micra gearbox. I think some bit of the gear selector thingy. Don't know - don't care. It was the perfect size.



So I turned down the bolt and welded it to the Micra gearbox thingy. Welded a nut on the other end and it was done.

This can now be bolted to my pre-chamber puller adapter which can then be bolted to the 4.5kg sliding hammer. Modular tools are my favourite!



Worked like a charm!



Then it started to get dark and rain fell and I called it a day. Amazingly, the paint still pearls nicely



Went inside and cleaned the work bench, in preparation of preparing the new cylinder head...



Cheers,
Jan

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Today I started the day with a little shopping trip. No - wait, that's not right. Coffee. It was coffee. And then I went shopping for some stuff. Because, during that coffee I had this idea. another thing I should have done long ago.

So the TIG was warmed up and I welded up some bits of flat bar and 8mm hex.



Some time later, I had this (yeah I should have welded the angled piece on in reverse order - it's still plenty strong though).



Which is a very handy tool for working on OM60X engines. Since - and why this is is beyond me) - there's nothin to lock the water pump for removing the fan clutch. which you need to do on the Turbo for like EVERYTHING. The tool with the hex is to reach down into that tiny little space between radiator & fan clutch for unduing it. The other tool is to grab the pulley and hold it tight.

Works pretty well; I couldn't undo the fan clutch on the OM606 before - now it was possible. Most times the belt tension is enough to crack open the bolt. If it isn't - well... Special tool required. Or grabbing the pulley with a pipe wrench - all inconvinient.



Next up: cleaning the new cylinder head. it's allready pretty clean, but oily inside. And there's nothing worse than having a drop of oil squirting out some hidden orifice right when you lower the head on the new hed gasket... So this took the most hours of today: getting it clean.



Once I was happy with the cleaning (I'll clean it again before installation) I removed the old head. and it was stuck TIGHT! I had to use gravity 6 the weight of the car to pull it off (yes, all bolts removed ), it was so backed together with the head gasket. I didn't expect that! It's not done much milage with this gasket. But, at least this means my prep work was good



And indeed; there are signs of moisture inside the bores! Nothing dramatic, but some signs od actuall drops of water... It can be wiped awa and doesn't leave a mark - but I'm glad I pulled the head now rather than later. As I said; I've allready lost an engine due to water getting in the bores...



Not overly happy about this, but I think it's not dramatic. There are no deep rust bites or scores in the cylinder walls - all good

And since I did still not receive my head bolts - i turned my attention to that blöödy bügger of engine crane. It lost it's release valve knob thing when we installed the engine to the car... And this provisional fix has bugged me ever since. Time to do something about it.



^the old was just a hand-drilled bolt which was operated with a wrench. Neither convinient nor safe (wrench slips off, engines crashes to the floor.....). It also got bent from folding up the legs. Cräp. Just cräp. So I chucket a bolt in the lathe and counter sunk it for the release valve's ball. Welded on the biggest washer I could find - and done.



All smooth and easy to operate again.

That's all... Tomorrow morning I'll clean the block - and then my bolts will hopefully turn up...

Cheers,
Jan

[william123]

Really enjoy your problem solving and improvised tooling, what lathe is that ? Got to start taking my 220E apart when the weather is a bit warmer !

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Hi! Thanks!

It's a "Lesto Scintilla" GD 1124 CR. It's a tiny mechanics lathe Made in Switzerland, from the 1960's. They have a reputation of being very precise - just like a Swiss watch 0.5HP motor with 16:1 reduktion gearbox (belt drive), giving 8 speeds from 2630 to 45RPM. It's got a lead screw (I'm missing the gears though, unfortunately) and 650mm (25.6") between centers. Perfect for what I need it for most of the time



It's about the largest lathe I can fit in the little space I got.

Cheers,
Jan

[william123]

That's a beauty, I have a Myford ML4 from the late 1940s, not a precision machine but fun to mess about/learn on.

[TurboDieselWeasel]

I almost bought a Myford ML7, but didn't bid enough (eBay). So I got the Lesto. I don't know what I have done all the years without a lathe. Best tool ever! Bummer is that it made me want a small mill as well

Today I cleaned the head again and started cleaning the block. Sigh. Slow, slow, slow. The remains of the head gasket were stuck on pretty tight. But eventuelly, it was done. Also cleaned all the threads and degreased everything. I'll degrease it again when I put the gasket on. But for now - I'm waiting. For those blöödy bolts.



Also dug out the spare radiator - the old one is well beyond it's best... All those bits fell off just from wiping over it with my bare hand.



I could also do some grinding & welding to finish the radiator mount - but I don't like doing this with the engine & injection pump open. So - it's got to wait. Speaking of this radiator support; it is still neccesary to make room for the low-temperature radiator. I initially build itto have room for the air-air intercooler - but it's still serving a purpose. I still need that space it opened up

I've also dug out the auxilliary water pump, which was missing from the donor car - having a parking heater and stuff. So this will get installed too, and I'm making a 8mm bypass for the heater matrix to allow for better coolant circulation at cylinder 5 & 6. Something that was introduced to late 3.5l engines apparently.

Cheers,
Jan

[TurboDieselWeasel]

So, today mr. postman rang - and brought me - injectors. Freshly rebuilt. Nice.



Still no sign of any head bolts... Sigh.

So chnage of plans - I made a quick sketch and went and bought some 8mm hose connectors with some weird imperial thread on them. Plan: fabrication of two hose-connectors with a 8mm bypass for the heater matrix. One for the heater inlet, one for the outlet.



The idea is to always have some flow through the back of the head. W124s have no traditional heater valve, but a solenoid style valve which periodically opens and close. A digital heater if you like. And when this heater valve is closed, there's no flow leading away from 6th cylinder (where the heater input is). A bypass sorts this. And if it's smaler than the heater circuit, it doesn't - hugely - impact the performance of the heater.

Anyway, started to face & true up a bit of high tensile aluminum - sorry - aluminium. Ugly chips, but what you gonna do...



And then - mr. postman rang for the second time...



He'd "overlooked" the biggest parcel of them all Whatever. HEAD BOLTS!!!!11

So again degreased and cleaned both block & head and put on the gasket and my guide rod thingys.



And then decided to remove the guides, sat on the wing and put on the head by hand, without crane. Which was - a lot easyer than I had anticipatet. All good, no drama.

Then came the most exhausting part; 27x 15nm, 27x 35nm, 27x 90° and then another 90°...



It was done. And so I called it a day and now I'm returning to the lathe. My back hurts, no more buckling baove the engine. My plan with getting it to TÜV this week is canceled anyway, no engineer available. I still need to have the wheels, brakes & tyres registered to the paperwork. But there's still a lot of time untill summer. But I want to drive this car again this year!

Cheers,
Jan

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Today I put back the camshaft - my least favourite part. But all went well.

Then a lot of stuff was bolted back to the engine, I had to search for a lot of bolts I lost...





Then installed the radiator and filled it up with coolant (after flushing it through).

Then I flattened the first battery. Then I finished the second battery (from the Taxi).

So I hooked up both baterys to the Taxi in order to get it runing, which it did on the very last turn... Took it for a 45 minute drive to charge the battery. And then I turned the Coupé around. And despite the tool, it was incredibly exhausting to push the car back in, I almost didn't manage to do it. Blöödy hell....

Then I put the jump cables on the Taxi - needless to say it took 3 more turns of the crank and the engine started.

And that's it for today. And for this week. More - when I got time again. Maybe next weekend.



Got way less done than I wanted to this week, but oh well. Why rush things that don't need to be rushed.

Cheers,
Jan

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Does it ever end...!? Was greeted this morning by a puddle of coolant under the car. Topped it up - culprit found immediately.



Nope, it's not the top hose.

It's the blöödy inlet on the fücking radiator!!! It's over TWO milimeter too smal in diameter - it's smaller than the uncompressed diameter of the hose. There's no chance on earth it'll ever be water tight. Especially not under pressure.



Ref. n° clearly states W124 Turbodiesel, there's no part number change for the hose - it's just utter cräp!! So after like 5 minutes of runing - it's a non-runner again. What a blöödy annoyance in the rear end........ GRR!! The only positive thing is that the radiator needs tom come out anyway, since I've not yet finished the radiator mount/hoop.

Cheers,
Jan

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Mar 18, 2016 16:55:08 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

Anyway, started to face & true up a bit of high tensile aluminum - sorry - aluminium. Ugly chips, but what you gonna do...



And then - mr. postman rang for the second time...

Picking up from here, I continued to machine my coolant-bypass-adapter. I ground me a new HSS tool bit with a chip breaker. It didn't break the chips, but it made them curl under the tool bit, instead of wraping them around. Win.



So the chips mostly flowed away. and I was able to do some heavy-ish cuts, the machine handled 1.5mm cuts no problem (3mm diameter reduction). Which speeded up things considerably.



I soon had reduced it to my target and continued with a 60° thread cutting tool, leaving a lip at the end of the piece. And then started the thrilling part, - er - drilling part of the machining. From a tiny wee center drill all the way up to 14mm.





And then came the boring bit.

I had to grind away a bit of the boring bit to make it fit the bore. I've not done this before, so I was kind of nervous and always had a finger on the off switch.



^I set the indicator to zero right at the end of the bore (I didn't drill it through due to not having long enough drills). This worked very well. Watch the indicator, and right at zero release the feed.



Then i re-ground a broken tool bit from the previous owner into a radius tool. And blended the nozzle in with the center section.



Chamfered everything - and one side was done.



Next bit: parting it off and machining the other side. But this is for another day...

That's all for now. Thanks for watching! Hope you don't mind all the detailed machining, I for once LOVE this sort of work!

Cheers,
Jan

[mattiwagon]

With regard to the leak, at leadt you traced it and its not going to be another epic strip and rebuild. Nice to see your still commited to the old barge, my dad had a saloon which I could borrow from time to time. Loved it good luck with the rest and hope you get alot of enjoyment from it. Matt

[georgeb]

Mar 20, 2016 16:14:15 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

That's all for now. Thanks for watching! Hope you don't mind all the detailed machining, I for once LOVE this sort of work!

Cheers,
Jan

Not at all. I love seeing other people making something out of nothing as well. Keep it coming, please.

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Thank you, gentlemen!

I'll buy a new radiator, even if that will cost me another 200€.... Why stop now? I've allready spent senseless amounts of cash on this, doesn't matter...

Have a nice week!

[georgeb]

Mar 21, 2016 6:52:44 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

Why stop now? I've already spent senseless amounts of cash on this, doesn't matter...

I feel your pain!!!