Pulled out my engine today

[RaceDiagnostics]

On to the steering box, should be an easy half day job for a first time, or an hour second time round. So this is how it went.....

Pitman shaft driven out.

That's a lot of seals to go in.

Removing the front cover of the steering shaft showed this, a sheared bolt, someone has obviously been in here before me and did a bad job.

Worm and piston removed.

First I tried removing it with a centre punch, this has never worked for me in the past but I always give it a try before welding on a nut.

Incredibly it was loose and came out.

Next this circlip.....

.... and removed this cap.

That's a lot of seals.

Pitman arm seals and O rings replaced.

Next on to this nut.

I held the nut in a vice and tried two different chain wrenches. both bent.

Then a long lever but the nut was slipping in the vice.

The solution was to drill a hole in a bar for the shaft then weld the bar to the nut.

Two long levers.

And its off.

Hopefully tomorrow will go a bit smother.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I completed the steering box today.

I was able to use these large circlip pliers to unscrew the front section.

O-rings, circlip and seal to be replaced.

Tightened the nut as much as I could.

All complete.

The parts in the top right are spare. I presume the kit covers a range of different boxes.

The SLshop charge £450 to do this job!

www.theslshop.com/parts-shop/mercedes-be...vice-1074602101.html

 

[zx9]

First I tried removing it with a centre punch, this has never worked for me in the past but I always give it a try before welding on a nut.

It must be the time of the year, or something else odd because I had one come out with similar ease, 3/8 BSW broken off about 1/4" below the surface of a cast iron slide makes you wonder just how they got sheared off in the first place. All I can think is it is over tightening but why would you just ignore what you have done rather than replace it?

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

After a closer look at the bolt I noticed it was a 12.9 strength, which seems impossible to find with a hex head and 25mm length, I have a cap head for the time being and have ordered one from china, £1.30 and free postage, should be here in April.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

My 99p ebay win arrived.

It was nice to have a bit of heat in the garage.

New bearing fitted.

Ready to install the pump.

Next the filter.

The new gasket.

Permatex Aviation sealant on both sides of the gasket.

Sealant on the lower 7 bolts as per the repair manual.

Finally complete.

 

[dobbslc]

Looks lovely?!
It reminds me of one of these steampunk airships!

I bet @selectedgrub could make something out of it.

 

[selectedgrub]

I'd probably just put some wheels on it and call it done.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Well today's instalment is a bit embarrassing! I managed to make a big omission when building up the heads and I only noticed a week or so ago. Today it was time to remedy the situation.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Exhaust manifolds off to help with access.

Valves held in place with rope.

Yes, so I could finally fit the valve stem seals, what an idiot!

It took about 4 hours to get them all fitted.

 

[Milkybars]

@RaceDiagnostics at least you sussed it ..before going any further
what great thread this by the way..

 

[roofman]

Not many would of owned up to that one..well done for that and well done for doing the job before your wondering why it smokes so much on start up

 

[jpmillermatic]

actually, a great solution for the situation at hand...regardless of who caused it in the first place!




JP

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

First I spent some time clearing more snow, looks like another cold day in the garage.

One of the things on my to do list was check the ignition timing, I wasn't too sure that I had set it correctly.

First check that the pointer on the distributer cog pointed to its mark. That was good.

I had set the distributer with the arm pointing to the slot in the housing assuming it indicated cylinder 1 tdc.

However that seemed to be pointing to cylinder 2.

So I got my optoviser on and had a closer look. There was another mark that showed up better with a marker pen. Problem solved.

Next a closer look at the valve timing. Crankshaft set to TDC.

The right camshaft (viewed from the front) was spot on as it should be with new sprockets and chain.

However disappointingly the right cam is slightly off.

That equates to about 6 degrees at the crank, so about 3degrees at the cam offset, when lined up.

The Woodruff key info below is a bit confusing, I need to find out if it refers to the cam angle or the crank angle.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Right I found this so the above table refers to the crank and the table below refers to the CAM, so I'll go for the 3 degree CAM offset key.

Can you buy generic offset keys?

 

[roofman]

Why cant you work with the key you have and re-mark the crank damper to actual TDC by 3 degrees? if your keeping the car its fine

 

[mylesdw]

It's only one cam that is out I think. If you did that, the other cam and the crank would be out instead.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Why cant you work with the key you have and re-mark the crank damper to actual TDC by 3 degrees? if your keeping the car its fine

Not sure I understand what you mean?

 

[roofman]

Not sure I understand what you mean?

just re-read your post and i don't understand my post either

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Next! The brake booster.

I took the driver seat out.

I also took out the lower kick panel to be able to see the brake booster fixing better.

The pedal was connected to the booster by a bolt and this bush.

It was relatively easy, with a bit of body contortion to get access to the four fixing nuts.

Releasing the three brake pipe unions allowed it to be lifted out.

 

[Bullet2012]

When Is the piston actually at TDC ? have you checked ?

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Yes, the crank pulley is pretty accurate, within a degree or so.