[don]

Interested in seeing more of these. Probably won't do it for the NAS 90 but if I ever built a 110 or 100 it seems like it would be a nice power plant option.

 

[don]

After waiting months, have the motor mounts for both the series and for the 90 & 110...
These bolt right to the existing frame mounts in the Series II, IIA, III. Also in a 90 or 110 that originally had a 2.25, 2.5, 2.5 TD.

Wait as second. If I buy a galvy 110 frame and had 2.5NAD mounts on it would these then work to bolt the 617 to?

 

[don]

Yes these would bolt the engine to your existing frame mounts.
You would need the rest of the kit of which these mounts are components.

Cool - I was kinda worried about getting a new galvy frame and then having to cut and weld new mounts. We've been PM'ing about the kit. Once my white truck is sold I'll have some funds to get one. Driving with the 2.5 for a few days I think that OM617 will be a nice move.

One more question:
How does the OM617 work with LHD? I would guess there is room for the steering components being that those motors were in many LHD vehicles. But wanted to know if any special mods had to take place. Thanks

 

[don]

Looks great Robert!

Question on the tranny mounts - are these needed to use a stubby R380 with the OM617 conversion or are they an upgrade from the stock Rover tranny mounts? Also what is the price for them? Thanks

 

[don]

Got this today - I have a bunch of work ahead of me but love how these Merc diesel's sound.

Robert - I am aways out on really getting into it but wanted to make a plan on how to prep this.

Was thinking:
- this thing is filthy - will do a good cleaning first off - any recommend procedure or good product to get cut the grim?
- pull valve cover and clean and polish
- oil pan obviously - what do you recommend to seal it? Merc gasket or Right Stuff?
- pull the cruise control, AC compressor, tranny coolant lines - anything else I can remove?
- thinking of pulling the turbo and taking a look inside

I will have a ton more questions as I get more into it but so far really excited. This old Mercedes lump just oozes German engineering.

 

[don]

Picked up the finished oil pans today. ------ Follow up post added September 26th, 2013 04:03 PM ------ Lets schedule a call and I'll help work through a plan for you.

Can't wait to see the pan although it will be some time before I actually get to it.

Sounds good on the call - it might be a few over the course of the project if you don't mind, haha

 

[don]

I am really looking forward to seeing Don's come together. Ever since I saw mercedes rover's 88 and 109 I have been in love with the MB diesels in rovers. If only Ike would sell me his 80in shop truck with the MB 4 cylinder ....

I will try and document it best I can although it will be very hard to compete with the level of detail of Mercedes Rover's thread on Portal. I have said it before, when I grew up with my grandfather and dad running diesel Benz's. My grandfather was brutal on cars and cheap as hell and the Mercedes diesels he had just kept on running and running. My dad liked them as they were so nice to wrench on plus in the 80's you could pick up old W115 and 116's for a song.

 

[don]

I still have to go thru the bag of bolts but I so have everything save for one on the pans. I am excited to get my frame so I can start bolting things on.

Quick question: the new pans have more, less or the same oil capacity? They look great in the pix.

 

[don]

They have more oil capacity... anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

Nice to hear - I like your way of thinking, haha

 

[don]

Can't wait to install that new IP and have 40 more HP and lots more torque. Won't know the numbers exactly, but am hoping for 220 lbft of torque with 160 HP. The stock IPs are tuned to prevent the engine from putting out any smoke. Was behind a 300D sedan last week on the interstate and you could net tell it was a diesel. It smoked a lot less than the 200TDI. With the new settings it will definitely put out more smoke, but not an unacceptable amount.

I will definitely be interested in seeing how the new IP does. 40HP is not bad at all. What is the cost on the IP?

 

[don]

Robert (or any other 617OM gurus)-

I am hoping to dive into my motor in the next couple of weeks to prep it for install. What items should I look to replace/clean/refurb/check while it is in the stand?

 

[don]

Adjust the valves, replace the valve cover gasket. Read up on front and rear main seal replacement and replace those. Replace the glow plugs and the hand primer pump. Think about what you want to do for a glow plug controller. Has to be a record: went from being a dick to a gentleman in just 2 posts.

Thanks Robert - I will be posting here and PMing you when I get closer. But in the meantime I have some good late night goggle stuff. I am guessing it is covered pretty good online - Merc / OM617 guys seem as nerdy as us Rover owners.

Anyway to just use the 2.5 glow plug setup? I kinda like how the glow plug light comes on and I count down before firing up. Or I wouldn't be opposed to running an old Merc setup where you pull the control out and wait until the wire was glowing. I remember those from being a kid and seeing my dad do it on the 240D's we had.

 

[don]

Robert - I started going through the pieces this weekend and had a couple if questions:

Is this the correct orientation of the motor mounts? I know they are labeled but double checking.

I am guessing the motor mounts install metal side down. I am assuming I need to grind down the tabs?

 

[don]

Look at post 8 of this thread. Picture 41 is the Right Mount assembly and picture 40 is the left. Am still working on instructions in between all the other tasks...

Thanks Robert - looking at the pics on post 8 I have it set up corrrectly. The only other question is that nub on the bottom of the motor mount. Grind it off or drill the mount for it to sit in.

I know you are swamped so let me know if there is anything I can help with on the instructions like taking pics or measurements.

 

[don]

I really can't wait to get this OM617 up and running after hearing about a smooth driver (for a diesel at least).


I have been researching the valve adjustment and front and rear main seals. Came across Diesel Giant and like his tutorials:


http://dieselgiant.com/mercedes_diesel_maintenance_tips.htm


I just ordered a thermostat and gasket kit from him and will probably get more pieces from him as I do more jobs on the motor. I am hoping to get the engine cleaned this week and as of right now I am looking to install in the frame and do the procedures. The reason is 2 fold as when I mounted the engine to the stand I used 2 bolts that look to attach to the pan. 2nd I think I will feel more secure doing engine work with it on the frame. (and 3rd - I just want to see it in there!).


Not sure if my motor has them or not but he has an interesting tutorial on upgrading loop glow plugs to pencil style.

 

[don]

I posted this pics in my build thread but figured I would put them here as well if people are looking for some visual references.

Couple notes:
- I stripped 2 of the star bolts for the flywheel. They are 12mm heads. I bought a cheap 3/8" spanner, heated it up and hammered it on one of them. Once it cooled I got it off. The last one I ended up cutting part of the head off and used a vice grip which worked.
- from the pelican forums it seems the upper pan needs to be assembled with an anaerobic sealant. Found a Permatex version at Advanced Auto.
- getting the engine on the stand is a little tricky but finally got it. I can take a close up if anyone wants to see. I had to monkey rig part of it and use a clamp.
- I used a gun metal color engine paint to try and make things look good.
- i really can't wait to get some of RD's kit on this thing! I test fit the plate and tranny adapter and it goes together mint!

 

[don]

Very nice. What's up with that crazy Fat Albert bulging hose in the second photo?

That is part of the coolant line. I have to check more into it as it doesn't seem quite right. A nice thing about these engines is that there seems to be an ample supply of parts. I got a whole mess of seals, belts and a water pump, for $100 shipped. Not GM cheap but I didn't think it was too bad.

 

[don]

Cool looking engines. I enjoyed driving Roberts and that was before he put a 1.4 t case in and upped the fueling. Some guys in Finland have gotten crazy hp and torque numbers out of these engines.

I think Robert is getting one of those IPs from the Fin. I will most likely go that route once things are in and running for a little while.

 

[don]

I use that on axles (stub to housing, drive flange to hub) but id use the right stuff on the pan.

-Jeff

The Mercedes oil pan setup seems a lot different than the Rover (or at least the V8 I did a couple of years ago). I will get some close up pics to explain but here are a couple things I noticed:

- The OM617 has an upper and lower oil pan stock. RD's kit is one single piece that is larger/more oil capacity.
- The stock upper pans and RD's Conversion pan are aluminum where the V8 pan was steel.
- The OM617 uses about 30 (maybe more) small M6 allen head bolts that are around an 1.5" apart. It took forever to get all of these out where as the Rover didn't seem nearly as many. I will measure and count when I get back to the garage.

From the PeachPart boards it seems a certain sealant is needed. Just looking at the 2 surfaces it doesn't look like The Right Stuff would be the correct sealant.

------ Follow up post added February 28th, 2014 09:30 AM ------

I figured I would post this link for my own help for the front main seal and visual reference of the front of the OM617: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum...300sd-om617-front-crank-seal-replacement.html

And: http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/OM617CrankshaftSeal

 

[don]

Here is the upper pan remove/replace section from the manual that I found:


http://mb.bolinko.org/15/warsztat-m...val-and-installation-of-complete-oil-pan.html