Boy Did I Screw Up This Time!!!
 

Had the chain apart and zip-tied to the cam gear, would have run a new chain in last weekend, but the once I had it apart, I found that the new chain from ************** didn't have a link in it, so I had to stop, order a new link and wait for it. In the mean time....

Decided to remove the glow-plug relay to replace with one I bought at a yard that looks brand new (mine has a melted strip fuse) and being too stupid to remove the batt terminal (actually, I tried when I started the chain, but couldn't get it off and was too lazy to go down the the basement for the terminal puller), I used a screw driver to pry the conns off the relay and of course, I would short the two contacts that run the starter and ZIP, off went the drivers side of the chain into the recesses of the crankcase (along with the zip tie).

The passenger side of the cut chain is still zip-tied to the cam gear and rotated around to the drivers side, can't see the drivers side of the chain, but it's probably in never-never land along with the plastic zip tie.

At this point, I want to be angry with ************** for selling a chain without a link as I would have run it in and buttoned it up before this happened. That's the way in this country these days anyway, blame everyone else for your own stupidity.

True that the chain would have been put in that day and I woundn't have had this problem, but the box it came in was ripped and no link and it's hard to blame anyone for that kind of thing and I should've gotten off my lazy ass and just found the terminal puller and pulled the batt term.

After 30 years (or more) of working on motorcycles, cars, trucks, covered wagons (yes, I worked for a ranch for a time) even being an official rebuild mech for a Jeep dealer in Utah years back, you'd think I'd have f**kin' learned SOMETHING!

Screw it.

Not sure whether to part it out on ebay now (after replacing EVERY front end component, tranny conversion to 4 speed, replacing the interior, fixing all the speedo problems, fixing all the engine leaks, uncountable engine parts replaced) or just cover it and wait till summer to R&R the engine.

Might go out today while I can see something other than red and get the magnets, pinchers, etc. and attempt a retrieval. Was able to do this on a Laverda 1000 that I dropped the chain in (had to break it apart to shim the cam buckets for valve adjustments), took me three days to finally get it un-kinked and back out.

So, shoot it, disect it or store it???

Fix it. Pull the lower oil pan and tie the chain to the crank. Remove the IP. Fish a wire up then pull the chain back through tight to were it was before. While setting the timing will be more interesting it wouldn't be any different than getting a new IP installed. I think this really gets blown out of proportion when this happens. Here is a picture from below, it really doens't look that bad, nothing to part a good car out over. Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

Note to self, don't click forward me to message while computer is uploading picture. :)

Need to replace the oil pan anyway (have a new one sitting in the basement - old one leaks from various curb "gouges"), but with the cold and the wind here (getting 75mph gusts, not unusual here) I'll have more dirt inside this engine than oil!

Thanks for the advice and the cheer, just that EVERYTHING about this is telling me NOT to drive a Mercedes.

I wouldn't get to caught up in something like this, worst case scenario is it happens once every 20 years or so. ;) For the mileage, comfort, security, and low maintenance costs I have not found another vehicle to parallel or surpass it. While they can be a pain if you just bought it with all the maintenace which has to be done but when you are finished with maintenance and all you do is drive you'll be thankful for all the time and effort you put into it.

WALK AWAY ... WALK AWAY
 

Close the doors to your shop and just cool out a few weeks or whatever it takes... you will know when you feel like attacking it again.... You have fixed way too much stuff to part it out or sell it period... just find something else to do for a while till the memories fade a little....

Re: WALK AWAY ... WALK AWAY
 

Good choice of words about now!

I'm note sure I'd let the memory of this incident totally fade.....

I disconnect the battery on ANY repair operation more involved than checking the oil level - taking shortcuts will burn you in the long run. I don't mean to rub salt in the wound but not disconnecting the battery before engine work is a serious oversight IMHO.

Tim

I agree - walk away
 

Though I have never had the misfortune of a mishap on this level, I do concurwith leathermang that you should walk away and cool off. It is easy to get in a "must kill now" mode, but a little time off might help you to see this thing a little better.

Wish you all the best with this.

Paul

Take the vacuum pump off and see if you can find the chain in there. In fact, if the chain is all the way round on the cam gear, you can start with a free end.

If you can see the driver's side of the chain, make a hook with a coat hanger wire and see if you can fish it up. If so, thread it up through the lower chain rail and up past the injection timer (take the retainer screw out) and back up top.

Pull the rocker arms, rotate engine to TDC on #1, and set cam to TDC #1 and re-attach chain together. Pull IP and set timing.

If it's down in the pan, pull pan, pull rockers, set cam and crank to TDC #1, then fish chain up both sides.

You can get to the chain on the crank if you pull the harmonic balancer, but I personally wouldn't -- I get confused enough without putting the balancer on 180 degrees out!

Sh.. happens -- I stupidly dropped the slack end of the chain on the 220D -- was lucky, it just sat on the crank and I could fish it back up.

A hint -- silver solder comes in long, flat rods -- these are great, as the ones I have will stick inbetween the links if stuck thought and twisted sideways!

Peter

Hi Tom.

Don't dispaire.

My story is very simular.

I desided to change the T-chain(after 368K
and not knowing the maintenance of the
car after 120K it seemed a good idea).
So one day me and my wife got down
to it(but naturaly I didn't remove the
GP's of Injectors,big mistake),so I ground
the pins on one of the links down removed
the link and adhered the new chain.
Went to run the chain thru and the chain
jumped 2 maybe 3 teeth.
Now would only turn maybe 1/4 turn and
lock up.
(Got realy pissed at myself at this point)
So thinking that the chain was bunched up
I removed the lower oilpan but I couldn't see
anything since the chain for the oilpump was
in the way.
Now since that was a dead end I figured that
if I can remove chain tensioner and tensioner guide
rail I would get some slack and I should be OK,NOT.
So since that didn't do the trick I desided to remove
the injection timing wheel,but the top part of the
lower guide rail is in the way it is hard to remove
the chain from the timing wheel.
So I took the T-wheel apart,this gave lotsa slack
but no go on turning the crank.
Now I figured that the chain for the oilpump was
pinching the T-chain so I removed the oilpump
somehow without removing the upper oilpan.
Now I noticed at the T-chain is free and not bunched
up so I took all that stuff off and appart for no reason.
But still the crank would only turn about 1/4 of a turn.

So finally I realized that one of the pistons is hitting
the valve and that is why it will not turn.
So I removed the cam and cam tower and VOILA
the crank and T-chain turns freely.

So after about 3 months of thinking,cursing and just
being pissed off I get to turn the new chain thru and
finally put everything back together again.
Now I come to the T-wheel and find out that the
woodruff key(about the size of a cut off nail,small)
is missing eventough I made sure that I knew where it
was and it wouldn't get lost,well guess again,I can't
find it.
By now the summer is over(I live in N. NJ) and the
weather is slowly getting worse(lotsa rain,wind,cold
and lastly snow the first 2 weeks of December).

Now I'm contemplating wether I should try to get the
T-wheel and woodruff key back in and just set the
timing on cam,crank and IP and be done with it.
OR remove the IP,then mount the T-wheel,set
cam and crank,then remount the IP,set IP timing
and then be done with it.
I have a few months to think about that.

Well live and learn,next time it will go alot
quicker because I'm a little bit smarter but not
Mensa material yet.

So now the car has been sitting there since February and
I haven't had the pleasure to drive it(lotsa other things
wrong that needed fixing).
I do have to say that I bought it on Ebay for $800
some of the things that were wrong were easy fixes.

I hope this will give you some hope,just know your
not alone and we all go thru something that has us
plucking our hair.

Car is a 83 300TDT

Louis.

No mistake there, the glow plugs and injectors had nothing to do with the timing chain install, it was just something Tom wanted to do to kill time before his part came in.

I'm not sure I understand what your problem was (did it slip off the crank to?) but it is good to see you worked through it. My motor was under compression when I started so I had a little suprise for me the instant I cut the bands, I rebanded it and thought what caused it and what to do for a few minutes. I walked back over there and yanked the SOB back. Fortuantely the chain didn't slip off the IP or crank, after all I never released the tension on it.

Just like everyone else is saying when something like that happens always stand back and think, if you need to call it quits and work on it some other day do it. I've lost parts and looked for hours, I'd get to the point where I'm about ready to throw things, I walk away and the next day about 5mins in I see it on the floor underneath something. LOL. Things are always more clear when you're in your good mind. :)

Hi Jeff.

No it didn't slip at all,the chain just jumped
a few teeth on the cam sprocket.

I just meant that I didn't remove the GP's or
injectors.
So when I went to turn the crank to
advance the chain,the pressure in the pistons
that had build up,had no where to go,so it
made turning the crank difficult and since there
was play in the T-chain.and being stupid and
impatient,I tried to turn the whole thing anyway,
the chain jumped teeth and I was on a roll.

That was my mistake not Tom's.



Also Tom did you give ************** a call?
Because the link should have been with the
chain.
I bought the kit from them(T-chain,tensioner and
tensioner guide rail.
My chain came with the link and the box was open
too.

Louis.

Cash payout option.
 

If you do part it, you better let me know how much for the manual tranny goodies or you'll think bigbabbo was a puddy kat...ya know the drill: pedals, shifter, linkages, gearbox, klutz, pressure plate et al, ad nausaeum....

Seriously, that trick with the screwdriver and the starter terminals sounds like something I'd do. Just today, in fact I pulled a swift one....I'm hoping that my cheapo digital camera and GPS will recover from a completely avoidable ducking (hey, shouldn't a doggone GPS be waterproof???) .

IMHO, just step away from the damned car for awhile and cuddle that sweetie before you're living in a box somewhere.

Good luck.

NO need to go into details but. TRUST ME..... there is plenty reasons for my signature down below.