Need technical advice, 2l engine

[Robert]

BOYZ!!!!

I got the pulley off.
I didn't use a hammer.
The pulley's fine.
And you guys are having a barroom brawl now? Crazee Irish lads, ain'tya.?

By the way, owning 2 Mercs I am a little pissed off hearing how they are treated on your island? I'll make up for that by weighing in my 2 italian beauties and saying: there were only two countries that ever made great cars, and they were Germany and Italy. And now there's nothing left; the last real Mercedes left the factory at the end of the 90's and the last real Italian car...left a Turkish factory in 2002?

By the way, the crankshaft pulley (still to be removed), this is a 38 mm nut, yes? My tools finish at 32 mm, all above seems to be truck tools... or tractor... maybe they used materials from the Fiatagri division??

[theredx19]

Good man Robert atleast you hammer but I dont remember much of the 90's thanks to the good old beer so I cant remember the good real Merc's  but to make good I did sell it to a lad who loved them and wanted to restore it but the gearbox was f%$^ed before I got it  . But are you removing the pulley to do just the timing belt as you can slip the belt out without taking it off or you can get the 38mm socket which you will probably get in half inch for use on an air gun "impact socket" and lock the back wheels up and put in 4th gear "strongest gear in the gear box" and pull hard as it is standard thread, hope this helps  and good man for helping to keep these cars going...

[Thotos]

Dave, too much Irish beer mate!? Read Robert's original post.?

I have a 2 liter engine sitting in the garage which is to be taken apart and rebuilt. The head is off, as are all accessories.

The engine is out of the car and stripped so a bit difficult to engage 4th gear and lock the wheels!?

By the way, I found that not all 131s have sufficient room to slip the belt off with the crank pulley in place.

Robert, I was going to mention the crank pulley nut as that is normally more difficult to remove than the auxiliary shaft pulley nut. It's a good idea to invest in the correct size socket; I did and it's come handy many times even for simple jobs like turning the engine by hand for checking tappets, setting TDC etc.

PS My Mercedes is 2003 so I suppose it doesn't count 

[Robert]

Theo, thanks for helping me out as to where the engine is located at the moment - I was about to write roughly the same, but more clumsy 

And yes, I understand the necessity to get a 38mm nut. Will do ASAP, thanks for the advice! Actually, the belt will not come out on this particular engine without removing the pulley. I tried, but to no avail. Wouldn't mind to cut it, as it is old and won't be reused.

--------------------

And here, expecially for Dave who had enough Irish beer in the 90s, so he forgot:

The last real Mercedes was the W140 ("the dinosaur"). Production stopped in 1998. Will buy one of these some day, I think.



And this is mine, the last-but-one real Mercedes:

[theredx19]

Thanks Robert the red s class brings back memories of destroying a Honda with it, alot of smoke off the back axle and the owner in the passenger seat telling me to go harder . But as regards removing the nut if place a nut and bolt in the lateral holes of the block where the gearbox bolts on and hold a good lever bar tight into the flywheel this should work for, if you can avoid an airgun on the crank as they can snap, sure drop me a pm if you are still in difficulty 

[kev131]

I know this is "off marque" but what is the definition of the last real Mercedes?? ?

What changed in subsequent models...?

[mirafioriman]

The build quality for a start. Newer Mercedes can rust alarmingly and not just the outer body either. Some E classes for example suffered badly from subframe and suspension component failure.

I also found that the way the company treated customers was poor and spare parts back up not as good as it was too.

I think the new Mercedes now are getting better, but are frighteningly complicated. Even franchised dealers struggle to fix them

[Robert]

That's right. And one more for Kev: All following Mercedes models, were they small or big, suffered from (in some cases massive) electronics breakdowns and RUST (as if they were now built by Fiat workers  ). The dinosaur (the W140) was the last classic Mercedes where Engineers had the lead over controllers. All subsequent models were designed with a focus on building cheaper cars that don't last instead of well engineered cars. Sorry to say that, but this is the truth, confirmed by some sources in Mercedes engineering.

[mirafioriman]

Exactly right I have also heard this from sources high up in Mercedes (now retired). Here is my Mercedes:



My Father has a W140 S320 L too but I don't have any photos on the net of it at the moment.

[Walezy]

In order to remove crankshaft nut you need to get a proper socket that will fit inside hole of the pulley(not as easy if you have power steering version). I have a socket made from a piece of steel tube and worked perfectly. If you do not have power steering then any socket will fit. In order to lock the crankshaft put the flywheel back to the crankshaft and then put a bolt from gearbox into the block as deep as possible(use longer bolts) and put a 17 or 19mm wrench through that bolt(not on the head but as close to block face as possible so that you will not make a big leverage on the bolt and lock it on a M8 bolt that holds the pressure plate(use any kind of bolt but screw it as deep as possible so that the thread will not be damaged in the flywheel. This is a good and proven way to lock the crankshaft. Then you can use either an impact wrench or a standard socket but probably you will need about 1-2 meters of bar or use hammer to hit the wrench on the nut.
If all fails then you will need to use a gas torch and heat the nut quite hard and then let it cool before you unscrew it as it may seize.
As for Merc, in my opinion 190 EVO is the best

[theredx19]

Ah now I have a confession I have a soft spot for the old 80's 500 sel....

[djape1977]

all i can say about the original subject is:
when in doubt - get a bigger hammer!

[theredx19]

Well djape when working on fine high powered Italian cars there can never be any doubt in your mind to what you are doing 

[hector]

where did the phrase come come lets drink loads of beer and get hammered or did they mean lets drink loads of beer bring the hammers and fix some fiats 

[djape1977]

there's several similar proverbs in serbian tradition. here's another one for you all:
don't force it! get a bigger hammer.