OM636 diesel engine - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

nachi11744 · #16 12-23-2004, 03:08 AM

Hello,
I have tried posting pics, but it just seems to be over my head

The original engine overrevved and threw a rod(#3) in 1970 when my dad was trying to outrun a Froeye Sprite

The reason it overevved, well the mechanics here did not(and still do not)understand the vacuum governor that the *old* benz diesels used. The vacuum line from the throttle flap to the IP must be ABSOLUTELY airtight, even a slight leak can cause the engine to overrev.
The replacement engine was a slightly later OM636 from Germany and it is still in the car today.
Have a good holiday.

Richard Wedge · #17 02-09-2005, 09:19 AM

Hi BenzMatic and Melted Panda, Kudos to you guys and the forum, "Maxxie" my 300SD now has HEAT. Really not sure what the problem was, but I re-flowed the circuit board, cleaned out the dust balls in the temp control wheel, cleaned and re-installed the monovalve, changed the fuse and other things, the heater and blower now work, not sure about air conditioning yet. Again thanks!!!

Now my attention for the next week will be focused on the tranny problems. After that Maxxie will have to wait here, in a snowbank, until I return from the Rio Dulce in Guatemala where I have to replace the exhaust system in my Mercedes OM636 (180D) now there is a real old one!!! powered sailboat "Whitecap". The OM636 has worked fine since 1973, it is just all the stuff made in America bolted to it like alternators transmissions etc...

Again Thanks for the help
Dick (www.whitecap-pei.com)

nachi11744 · #18 02-24-2005, 02:20 AM

Hello,
OK, guys, stay calm, don't faint. It's just an old car

The car has a top speed of 62mph(100kmh)at 3300rpm, the governed maximum revs.
The OM636, first made in 1949, was the ONLY OHV diesel, all the later engines were OHC.
It has steel timing gears, forged nitrided crank on 3 main bearings and forged anodized pistons, BUT all that should be a familiar to any technically minded Mercedes Benz Diesel owner. The power output is 40bhp, so in a 3000+lbs car with barndoor aerodynamics,, you reach 60mph in about 56 seconds!
Ride and handling are OK compared to modern cars, but the unassisted all drum brakes are hopeless in fast moving traffic and the nasty ZF worm and nut steering is a real pig, being high geared(3 turns lock to lock)and weighty at all speeds, but with a lot of lash at straight ahead. Good thing MB went over to their own MB recirculating ball steering in later cars.
Earlier 170V/Va/D/Da had a partially wooden structure, but the 170S/Sa/DS, all designated W191, had an all steel body, like the 300s, and the fancy double wishbone front suspension, hypoid bevel rear swing axle.
All this stuff was used in the 300SL gullwing, believe it or not, with a few modifications to the front stub axles to increase castor and lightened by drilling holes into many suspension components and of course the Alfin twin leading shoe drum brakes

This car was the only car that my dad ever had from 1954 to 1980, excepting a Fiat 500 that he used dring the 1973-74 energy crisis.
All maintenance records were handwritten into many log books over the years and it made me a sort of *Mercedes smartass*, for want of a better word.
I am probably the only Malaysian to know that a Ponton 219 is a W105

The two small badges on the front grille close up are the 200,000km and 500,000km mileage badges.
Have a good week.

Richard Wedge · #19 02-24-2005, 08:48 AM

That engine looked familiar from the pic. I have the marine version (42hp) of this same OM636 motor installed in my sailboat since 1972, and it is still going strong. Whitecap (www.whitecap-pei.com) is presently in Guatemala's Rio Dulce. I estimate my OM636 has well over 10,000 hours on her without any major repair except for all the parts made in America bolted to her ie: alternator, transmission and clutch plate. Whitecap's Mercedes OM636 marine engine was built in Spain and only sold/available from Mercedes of England. Last winter I met a British sailor cruising in Belize with the same engine, he told me the story of someone he knows who purchased a warehouse in Spain that was "full of these engines still in crates"!! Someone just got tired of paying the storage fees; the buyers are few for these engines, as they have a long stroke requiring too much under cockpit space and are too heavy for todays yachts compared to the Yanmars of the day.

By the way, for everyones info, parts for the OM636 are readily available and much cheaper from "Thermo King" in the US, as they used this engine for years to power their refrigerated reefers.
R Wedge

nachi11744 · #20 02-25-2005, 12:41 AM

Quote:

That engine looked familiar from the pic. I have the marine version (42hp) of this same OM636 motor installed in my sailboat since 1972, and it is still going strong.
By the way, for everyones info, parts for the OM636 are readily available and much cheaper from "Thermo King" in the US, as they used this engine for years to power their refrigerated reefers.
R Wedge

Hello,
The OM636 was fitted in anything that moved on the face of the earth

Vans, minibuses, Unimogs, railway inspection engines, farm tractors and refrigrator units besides almost every single Mercedes Benz Diesel passenger car from 1949 to 1961.
IIRC, it was made by Mevosa in Spain from around 1950something to at least 1974.
The earlier 1679cc engines in the 170D were rated at 38bhp/3200rpm, later engines were 1767cc and rated between 34bhp(tractor, Unimog) to 43bhp(Ponton 180D). *Our* 170DS had a 40bhp unit from 1953 until 1970, when the engine overrevved and broke the #3 con-rod, ventilating the crankcase. All this occured because there was an air leak in the governor vacuum pipe and my dad just had to outrun a Frogeye Sprite

Car got past the Sprite, ran up to almost 80mph and then BANG and silence, except the wind rushing past. Sprite never made it either, it stopped a few miles down in clouds of steam or oil smoke, we were too preoccupied at the time to care

The replacement engine was a Ponton OM636, with a listed 43bhp and it is still in the car to this day. The familiar hum from under the hood is an addictive kind of sound, I remember it well from long road trips.
Thank you for the useful bit of information about spare parts, I will keep that in mind. That is the kind of info that makes this forum worthwhile, in this country, nobody will share that kind of info, they keep it a closely guarded secret.
Have a good week

pmari · #21 12-01-2005, 08:16 PM

http://www.west-4x4.demon.co.uk/om636/index.html

http://www.mbzponton.org/valueadded/production/australia/australia.htm
The underpowered Type L319D van became famous for being unable to "pull the skin of a rice pudding"

vox_incognita · #22 12-23-2005, 09:10 AM

The valve clearance should be adjusted by measuring the distance between the rocker arm and the cap nut (all OM621) and NOT the rocker arm and the cam lobe ( "Diesel Engine Manual,om636/621)
Intake-0,15mm
Exhaust-0,35mm
Yes,there was a diagram posted that showed why that is. Just follow the recommendations.
I wonder why the rocker arms aren`t under some spring pressure,like on gas engi
nes for example???
Vengerov, om621.918

boatman · #23 01-17-2006, 04:38 PM

I have an OM636 diesel engine fitted in my 21 foot Mitchell Parkstone bay cruiser. When the engine has run for more than an hour it revs uncontrollably until stalled. I have had the fuel pump thoroughly checked by Poole diesel company, this is fine. anybody else experienced a similar problem, any ideas as to the causes

H-townbenzoboy · #24 01-28-2006, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240DieselDog

Nope, the 1952 170DS preceded it as top of the line S-class diesel by 25 years.

Man, I should've known better, I forgot all about that classic. It had the OM636 didn't it?

opossum · #25 03-28-2006, 11:00 PM

Hey guys,
Now that it is finally warming up and I'm nearly done with the bathroom remodel it is time for the 319 work...for those of you who don't know what this is it is like this but not nearly as pretty..

http://www.319er-forum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44

I have the hardest time communicating with those guys. For some reason the german translation programs don't seem to work very good. Anyway, I think my first plan of action is on the om636 motor. Anyone know these engines? It runs supposedly but I havent tried to start it yet. I will change the fluids first and squirt some wd40 down the injectior holes (how should I clean those things?)to get things moving safely. Beside that where do I start the tuneup? Do diesels even have distributors? After that the brakes, then the body and fit the glass (which is all out right now as well as the whole interior..even the floor boards) Its just going to be a work truck so "restoration" will be easy. I just need it to be trusty.

Thanks for your input.
Opossum

opossum · #26 03-29-2006, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voice

nope.. we dont need to spark plugs here.. compression ignition is our way

Oh yeah, that makes sense. I just discovered in my stack of things that came with the thing that I actually have the owners manual for the van and one heck of a shop manual on the engine! Its like 3 inches thick! It is very cool how easy it is to work on these....There are oil levels to check on the water pump, injection pump and the starter motor even. I will need to clean the heck out of the fuel tank. Should I use kerosene? I read that the pressure at the injectors is like 1400-1600 psi! Is that normal? This om636 should generate a whopping 46hp.

thanks y'all

R Leo · #27 07-11-2006, 07:58 AM

Some of those ThermoKings use Mercedes diesels...mebby an OM636 would bolt up?

TX76513 · #28 07-11-2006, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Leo

Some of those ThermoKings use Mercedes diesels...mebby an OM636 would bolt up?

Carriers use MB's

(used to)

#29 11-04-2006, 08:54 PM

OM636 (170D) Marine engines: Index of /om636/

The boat

It's Mercedes OM352A (5.7L), 210HP turbocharged powerplant

#30 11-19-2006, 04:05 AM

Please reference this thread for a full explanation of the chassis numbers.

First, all M-B engines have a 6-digit model number, similar to the chassis number. The first three digits indicate what "basic" engine it is, with the last three digits indicating what "version" of the engine it is (i.e. is the engine turbocharged, does it have an EGR setup, etc). The model number on an M-B gas engine begins with the letter M ("motor", I think), while the model number on an M-B diesel engine begins with the letters OM ("oel motor"; basically, "oilburner ). I'm limiting this to diesel engines, since I know jack-squat about the gas engines...and I'm going to try and keep this chronological. Again, these are only engines as seen in U.S. models; European models ARE different (for instance, the OM616.912 was only sold in the U.S. until 1983, but was sold until 1985 in Europe). On that same note, keep in mind that there are Euro-market cars floating around in the U.S. that, due to having been originally sold in Europe, may not conform to this list. If you come across a car that does not match anything in this list, you are almost certainly looking at a Euro-market car. Furthermore, I opted to not include the new Common-Rail Direct-Injected engines (CDI's) that are available today, due to a lack of readily available information.

The following are cast-iron block, cast-iron head indirect-injected (IDI) engines. All are single overhead camshaft engines, with a timing chain connecting the crankshaft to the camshaft and to the injector pump drive gear. All have the OHC equivalent of solid lifters, requiring a valve adjustment performed every 15K miles. The OM61x engines listed below are the most common engines you will see in a U.S. M-B diesel, and did a lot to solidify the reputation M-B diesel engines have of lasting forever.
OM636.930 - 1.8l (I think) inline-4 n/a, used between 1953 and 1961. The OM636 and the OM621's are likely the same basic engine block, and are unique compared to other engines.
OM621.910 – 1.9l (I think) inline-4 n/a, used between 1958 and 1961.
OM621.914 - 1.8l (again, I think) inline-4 n/a, used between 1961 and 1962.
OM621.912 - 1.9l inline-4 n/a, 60hp, used between 1962 and 1965.
OM621.918 - 2.0l inline-4 n/a, 60hp, used between 1966 and 1967.
OM615.913 - 2.0l inline-4 n/a, 61hp, unknown age span. The OM615, OM616, and OM617 share a basic block design and construction (although there were many changes, including adding a cylinder in the OM617).
OM615.912 - 2.2l inline-4 n/a, 60hp, used between 1968 and 1973.
OM616.916 - 2.4l inline-4 n/a, 62hp, used between 1973 and 1976.
OM617.910 - 3.0l inline-5 n/a, 88hp, used between 1975 and 1976.
OM616.912 - 2.4l inline-4 n/a, 67hp, used between 1977 and 1983. Oil filter relocated as compared to 616.916, due to different chassis design.
OM617.912 - 3.0l inline-5 n/a, 88hp, used between 1977 and 1981. Oil filter relocated as compared to 617.910, due to different chassis design.
OM617.950 - 3.0l inline-5 turbocharged, 110hp, used between 1978 and 1980. Note that this is the only turbocharged 617 that did NOT have factory EGR equipment until mid 1980 production.
OM617.951 - 3.0l inline-5 turbocharged, 120hp, used between 1981 and 1985. EGR equipment added.
OM617.952 - 3.0l inline-5 turbocharged, 120hp, used between 1981 and 1985. Believed to be identical to 617.951, except for minor differences to accommodate the W123 chassis.

The following are cast-iron block, aluminum head indirect-injected (IDI) engines. Like the cast-iron engines, a timing chain connects a single overhead cam (except for the OM606, which has twin overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder) and the injector pump drive gear to the crankshaft, but the OHC version of hydraulic lifters are used, eliminating the need for periodic valve adjustments. Some later engines have electronic controls for the EGR, and possibly for pump timing as well. All of the following engines share a basic block design and construction, although like the OM61x engines there were many changes. These engines share very little with prior designs.

OM601.921 - 2.2l inline-4 n/a, 72hp, used between 1984 and 1986.
OM603.961 - 3.0l inline-6 turbocharged, 148hp, used between 1986 and 1987.
OM603.960 - 3.0l inline-6 turbocharged, 148hp, used in 1987.
OM602.911 - 2.5l inline-5 n/a, 93hp, used between 1987 and 1989.
OM602.961 - 2.5l inline-5 turbocharged, 123hp, used in 1987.
OM602.962 - 2.5l inline-5 turbocharged, 123hp, used between 1990 and 1993. Believed to be identical to 602.961 except electronic controls for emissions reasons.
*OM603.970 - 3.5l inline-6 turbocharged, 134hp, used between 1990 and 1991.
*OM603.971 - 3.5l inline-6 turbocharged, 148hp, used between 1992 and 1994.
OM606.910 - 3.0l inline-6 n/a, 134hp, used in 1995
OM606.912 - 3.0l inline-6 n/a, 134hp, used in 1997. Believed to be identical to 606.910 except for minor differences to accommodate a different chassis.
OM606.? - 3.0l inline-6 turbocharged, 174hp, used between 1998 and 1999.

*WARNING FOR THIS ENGINE: There was a defect in the building of many of these 3.5l engines. As the rods begin to fail, they typically make the piston move about in the bore, ovaling out the cylinder to the point where the cylinders can no longer hold compression. For whatever reason, I don't believe simply re-sleeving the cylinders will correct this, so this can only be repaired by replacing the entire shortblock. I believe that some later engines were built with the correct rods after M-B realized that they had this problem, and many cars out there have already had the blocks replaced. But, I do not know of an external method of determining whether the engien has the old or the new connecting rods, so BEWARE when looking at any car powered by one of these engines. This problem is limited to the OM603.97x 3.5l engines.

Based on the sticky from www.oilburners.net and edited to update the information.