Gleaming Beauty - First Baby Steps

[Styria]

Well, I'll beat everyone to it and tell you that this is my "what number posts" and there can be no more appropriate way of celebrating than to tell you that Gleaming Beauty has taken her first tentative and ginger steps after fairly lengthy and major surgery. I am, of course, referring to the valve grind, de-coke and whatever other jobs that begged for my much divided attention.

Just so that you all know, Mercules has been an absolute 'pearler' in more than helping with this job, and without his valuable help this job would have been much more difficult. Thanks heaps, Cam.Well, after a break of some 8-10 hours, I am going to continue with this post. Initially, I had tried to 'save' it, but it got through the system on its own bat.

Some items worth mentioning to anyone contemplating a job of this magnitude, and some procedures that may assist in making the job easier. Initially, to remove the brake servo unit on right hand drive cars is an absolute must on account of its close proximity to the head and exhaust manifold bolts. Next, it is not possible to remove the o/s head and exhaust manifold as one unit. They will need to be separated in situ. One might be able to lift the engine, but it's just one more job that you would want to avoid having to do.

As previously mentioned, removing the alternator bracket attached to the head/block greatly facilitates access to remove, but particularly re-install the timing chain tensioner. One item that also helped me greatly was the fitting of exhaust and engine down pipes with detachable flanges. The whole exhaust system on Gleaming Beauty is thus fitted with bolted flanges. Some of other work carried out at the same time:

1) Re-cored radiator - brand new core on account of initial poor and faulty workmanship.
2) Reconditioned steering pump - it had a small leak for some time.
3) New power steering, alternator and pulley (Air Con) adjustment belts.
4) Now all new injectors - I had fitted new units previously on left hand side of engine only.
5) Paint Engine Bay in 877 Petrol Green - this had always been Taxi White - original colour
6) Remove suspension tank and fittings, fit new hoses.
7) Fit replacement oil pressure line - ever since I bought Gleaming Beauty some 13 years ago, this hose had always
been disconnected with a disfunctional oil pressure gauge.

So, all in all, it became a substantial job and, with the car being basically marooned in one spot, cleaning and assembly and sundry work became quite awkward and messy and time consuming.

Well, sooner or later this engine had to be started and surprisingly, it started fairly readily, but displayed a tendency of not wanting to rev, nor to idle. In the end, it would not start at all. So, there had to be some sort of a problem . To be continued, Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

Full test report due very soon now Big Fella!!
Regards,
BenzBoy

 

[WGB]

Waiting anxiously to see what the subjective improvements feel like.

Bill

 

[SELfor50]

Me 3.... very, VERY keen to hear how the ol' girl runs now!!

 

[Michel]

Not running?

After all the excitement of reading all about everything you did?

Not running.....

I hope you get all of that sorted out soon Godfather

 

[BAR]

Having performed [or about to perform] so much work, I am surprised that you didn't remove the motor altogether and do the BIG job.

Any particular reason for not pulling it out and going at the rings?

After all the other items, this would generally bring the compression right back up to 'new' and give you the full power of the car.

After so many years on the road, power losses due to compression losses, and general ageing [build up of nasties in valves, inlet tract and exhaust tract] one looses up to 30% of original engine output.

I have been considering that a small lottery win would see me taking time off work and pulling the ngine down and doing a full rebuild.

If and when that happens, I would replace the cooling system with a more efficient radiator [newer technology, maybe even lighter in alloy and not the old copper stuff] and also introduce a better oil cooler and transmission oil cooler, just to keep it happier longer.

I have also that that by now, these 25-35 year old cars should have new oil canisters [ the charcoal in them would have done its thing so long ago] and we should try to look after the environment, give back a little after all, we are driving engines that Kevin Crud would like to describe as binge drinkers!

 

[Styria]

Hi Bar, removing engine etc., would have taken the whole job to a different, and much more time consuming level, again. For instance, there is the cost factor of a set of rings alone - $AU 2000.00 - that's more than just small change.

In addition, there is not only the matter of removing engine etc. from the vehicle, but you also have to strip the engine etc. etc. - look, just such a huge job. You raise a good point as far as overall wear and tear is concerned, and no doubt a fully rebuilt engine would perform that much better. However, in the meantime, it will indeed be interesting as to how successful this valve grind and de-coke turns out.

As I said in my previous post, the engine failed to start initially, but trying again the following day, it did start accompanied by a pall of blue smoke and, as Parks was to see (luckily), a burning wiring loom that serviced the warm-up regulator, cold start injector switch and fuel pump operation control switch. The loom was burned right up to near the firewall. Naturally, that was the end of my skills, or lack thereof, and the beginning of a service call to my Auto Electrician whose praises I have sung in the "Recommendation" Section of Topklasse. I had a 'dead-short' in the wiring - lovely. Anyway, due to 'frying', the two wires touched right near the switch causing the dead-short. He made up a new wiring loom, and hey presto, the car started immediately. Excellent

With job done, off he went happily. So was I, until some two hours later, when I came to start the car again - nothing. Just would not fire. Okay, another call and, next day, the friendly Auto Electrician, by this time scratching his head.

Well, he discovered another wiring loom that leads to the diagnostic plug that is situated on top of the left inner guard. What had happened was that the bakelite got partially broken during the engine bay painting process, and even though I had tapped the three wires independently of each other, he felt that there was still an element of doubt and that they were shorting themselves out. So, more insulation tape, and the car started immediately. You beauty !

Now, at long, long last, I was able to run the engine for the best part of ten minutes. By that time, the pall of blue smoke was starting to disappear gradually, the rear suspension pumped itself up and, boy, I was cooking. So, I backed Gleaming Beauty out, started the engine again and let it idle for about half an hour. All this time, I am looking for any oil and water leaks, check engine oil level and oil pressure, it was all systems go and I turned off the engine.

Coming back two hours later, and brimming with confidence, I again turned the key to start this "baby" of mine and, you guessed right, there was nothing. Engine turned okay with the starter, but would not fire. No spark but, luckily, the mobile phone still worked, especially with the 'sparkie' at the other end ! To be continued. Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

Well, the story must go on - not much was going to happen until the "Sparkie" got back, and this time it took one and a half days. In between times I had tried an alternative coil, as well as another ignition control module, but neither changed the 'status quo' - I had no spark.

Obviously, no spark and by now I was beginning to suspect the trigger lead from Distributor to the Module. Going through my spare parts, I did not have a good replacement unit plus, believe it or not, I did not know how to remove it from the Distributor ! So, I decided to wait for Ray (the Sparkie) to turn up. Again, some checking and he finally turned his attention to the trigger wire. On checking, he could not obtain a reading after he had removed it from the Distributor. This was serious business on account of the folding stuff required to purchase a new replacement item - in excess of $A300.00 - think about it - 300 and I had priced a brand spanking new 150cc Four stroke Briggs and Stratton mower with grass catcher made in China by the (GMC) General Machinery Company and sold on special by Big W with a no questions asked 12 months warranty for $A298.00 - phew, I just had to get this out of my system - you know, green wire versus Motor Mower - wow ! Mercedes, where are you - Bosch - likewise !

Anyway, Ray couldn't fix it on the spot - in fact he was not sure what he was going to do with it but, in the meantime, Gleaming Beauty was still stationary parked away from my shed and I had my nose out of joint. Definitely not happy with myself, especially as there was little prospect of Ray coming back again in spite of the fact that I paid him each and every time.

So, what next. Contacted a friend of mine, and he had a trigger lead that checked out okay. Okay, off to his place to pick it up, but it was a sad looking unit - appearance wise, certainly worse than mine. However, he had another 116, this time a 280 and that had a super looking lead. Right, out she comes (this is nighttime 21.30hrs) and off I go - strident steps, dirty and hungry but pleased as punch. I just knew that this was going to work on Gleaming Beauty. To be continued. Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

Okay, back again. It is now a sad fact that the 280 lead did not work for the simple reason t6hat the rubber block is too large, the 450/6.9 bracket is therefore too far from the distributor body, and if you don't fit that bracket, you're not able to secure one of the distributor cap clips. All negative in their correct sequence !

I mean, you could consider getting longer screws, but when you're a bit impatient, you don't want to start searching for a couple of hours, do you ? So, off I went to my spare parts bin - where I keep all my rubbish - and to my surprise discovered another distributor with THAT green trigger lead - in case you haven't noticed, I will now only tolerate this lead for what it is used for, but have no other liking for it.

Well, I fitted the newly found item and wham!, Gleaming Beauty's engine fired instantly. So I let it warm up for ten minutes, kept on checking for various fluid leaks and off I went for GB to take her first baby steps - four kilometers, to be precise, completely trouble free. That gave me enough courage to go for a 10 km. drive, again without incident, and then the 22 kms. home, again without mishap. I did notice on the home journey that the automatic transmission was short of oil as some slippage occurred, but I was going to change the tranny oil anyway, so that didn't worry me.That's where it stands at the moment. Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

Waiting anxiously to see what the subjective improvements feel like.

Bill

Okay Bill, some impressions thus far, and some further observations after these brief drives.

OIL PRESSURE - or lack thereof was going to be a real concern for me as I had absolutely no idea what I would find once the car was running. I am absolutely ecstatic that, when hot, Drive engaged and engine idling at 650rpm, the reading is 1.75 bars. With box in neutral, the reading rises to a whisker above 2 bars. The moment the accelerator is touched, as well as ambling along in top gear, the reading remains at a constant 3 bars.

Now, not only am I still short of about 1.5 litres, I am also using a very average Repco Oil that retails at about $16.00 plus for , I think, six litres. So, one could say it's cheap and nasty, and I have every intention of using Maganatec in due course, but I do want to change the oil and filter at least one more time just to get rid of any "caramel" sludge and to clean out the engine and all that goes with its operation. So far, great.

I also expect to use oil and to also see oil blow-by on the highway at higher speeds. From past experience with Rover engines, I estimate that this engine will need 2 - 3 thousand kilometers to settle in.

OPERATIONAL NOISE OF ENGINE - hydraulic chattering of lifters etc. - this is the quietest 6.9 engine, bar none, that I have come across, irrespective of mileage etc. The hydraulic lifters were set up on the bench by a friend of mine, and all lifters came from the 220k. spare engine that I bought some three years ago. As you may realize, the workshop recommends that the static specification of the lifters be checked at 40k. intervals. Quite frankly, I very much doubt that many 6.9's are serviced in accordance with those recommendations. They are still not the quietest of engines, but mine is now more than acceptable, at the very least. BTW, I did notice from elsewhere that you have purchased a couple of handy tools - I have reason to believe, from a friend of mine who's pretty cluey, that the measuring tool as originally recommended was inaccurate and has been superseded - unfortunately, I have no other details.

WATER CIRCULATIN AND FILLING LEVEL - as you'd know, this subject attracted huge attention and any number of posts in the case of MichaelD.'s car a couple of years ago. Now, for some time, I had experienced somewhat similar problems, and I would always wonder just what on earth was going on. You know, the usual maladies - overheating, overpressurizing, water disappearing without visible trace etc. etc.

There are three items I renewed/attended to, viz. the valve grind and de-coke, a new radiator core, new thermostat and I pressure washed the water jackets of the block when I had the water pump and intermediate housing removed from the engine block. Obviously, I have since filled the system with water and MB fluid, I did not have to wait for the thermostat to open (you know, when they take a big gulp and the water disappears to God knows where) and even when hot, I can remove the radiator cap without being showered with boiling water - in fact, there is no pressure at all. Try and work that one out. So, my conclusion is that if everything is operational to its designed capabilities, you'll never experience the problems that MichaelD. suffered from. Mind you, it may still be early days , but so far so good.

POWER AND ECONOMY - very much an unknown at this stage. As I have said, it will take a good number of miles for this engine to settle down, and I do expect constant and gradual improvement as time goes by. I did have to reduce the idle by about two turns on the plastic adjustment screw, but in most other respects, I have had to carry out no tuning. The exhaust now has a somewhat subdued, but nevertheless pleasant growl and, all in all, I am as happy as a two bob watch.

Regards Styria

 

[Michel]

not much was going to happen until the "Sparkie" got back, and this time it took one and a half days.

Was that one and a half days for him to return or one and a half days worth of labour?

 

[Styria]

Michel, one and a half days for him to come back for the third time. You should try him - he is very knowledgeable and fair but, in my opinion, he must be paid for his time, whether he manages a 'fix' or otherwise.

As you would probably realize, intermittent electrical problems can be the most difficult to find and rectify - as a bonus, he will travel. In my case, from Prospect to Glenorie. The local turkey, when I contacted him on the Wednesday, told me he had no chance of seeing the job until the following week. Yeah, okay mate. Regards Styria

 

[John S]

Does the subdued exhaust note mean that the timing is now slightly retarded after the rebuild and new chain etc?

 

[Styria]

Hi JohnS, I have checked nothing except to turn down the idle speed. The chain was not replaced - this had been done probably two years prior and it was still in excellent condition.

The exhaust note - just a nice, sharpish but friendly and inoffensive growl. Regards Styria

 

[WGB]

Okay Bill, some impressions thus far, and some further observations after these brief drives.

OIL PRESSURE - or lack thereof was going to be a real concern for me as I had absolutely no idea what I would find once the car was running. I am absolutely ecstatic that, when hot, Drive engaged and engine idling at 650rpm, the reading is 1.75 bars. With box in neutral, the reading rises to a whisker above 2 bars. The moment the accelerator is touched, as well as ambling along in top gear, the reading remains at a constant 3 bars.

My idle is about 500 in drive and even hot the oil pressure is around 2 to 2.25 Bar. I am using horrendously expensive Red-line 20-50 but it hasn't used a drop in the year I have owned the car. My car rocks a bit on idle so I might raise it a bit to your 650 in drive and see what happens.

I also expect to use oil and to also see oil blow-by on the highway at higher speeds. From past experience with Rover engines, I estimate that this engine will need 2 - 3 thousand kilometers to settle in.

I would be surprised if you have a lot of blow by or oil consumption while running in. I have never had a new M-B Petrol engine use any oil whatsoever - not during running in or during the 95,000km I usually keep them for. My Wife's ML270CDI Diesel used two litres in the first couple of thousand km and then slowly settled to nothing at all when it got to 40,000 km and then used none at all between changes up until it was sold at 120,000 km. Her new ML320CDI Diesel used about 1/2 a litre in the first 500 km and none since

OPERATIONAL NOISE OF ENGINE - hydraulic chattering of lifters etc. - this is the quietest 6.9 engine, bar none, that I have come across, irrespective of mileage etc. The hydraulic lifters were set up on the bench by a friend of mine, and all lifters came from the 220k. spare engine that I bought some three years ago. As you may realize, the workshop recommends that the static specification of the lifters be checked at 40k. intervals. Quite frankly, I very much doubt that many 6.9's are serviced in accordance with those recommendations. They are still not the quietest of engines, but mine is now more than acceptable, at the very least. BTW, I did notice from elsewhere that you have purchased a couple of handy tools - I have reason to believe, from a friend of mine who's pretty cluey, that the measuring tool as originally recommended was inaccurate and has been superseded - unfortunately, I have no other details.

Here is a picture of my Go-no-go Gauge (On the left). It is actually the M117 model and I have no idea if it works on the M100. I am expecting that if I check them all I should find the dodgy ones that are different and adjust them.

WATER CIRCULATIN AND FILLING LEVEL - as you'd know, this subject attracted huge attention and any number of posts in the case of MichaelD.'s car a couple of years ago. Now, for some time, I had experienced somewhat similar problems, and I would always wonder just what on earth was going on. You know, the usual maladies - overheating, overpressurizing, water disappearing without visible trace etc. etc.

I changed my coolant last Xmas - the radiator had been rodded and the water pump replacd by AMG69 a few months before - and prior to the change kept perfect temp even on very hot days. After the change it played silly buggers and would warm up a little on hot hill climbs to around 100 degrees. After about a month the tank suddenly appeared to lose about half it's contents and when topped up it then started to behave perfectly with 80 degrees showing everywhere I go. I guess it had some air in it somewhere.

Obviously, I have since filled the system with water and MB fluid, I did not have to wait for the thermostat to open (you know, when they take a big gulp and the water disappears to God knows where) and even when hot, I can remove the radiator cap without being showered with boiling water - in fact, there is no pressure at all. Try and work that one out.

The manual says there should be no pressure below 90 degrees Celcius. Sounds like you are running the more correct 80 degrees now.

What thermostat did you use - the 75 degree one?

A pleasure to follow and share your progress.

Bill

 

[Styria]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for illustrating those tools - the one for the lifters is the one I am familiar with. I am sure it will do the job although my'cluey' friend maintains that it is incorrect. As I said earlier, I can shed no light on his claim.

As far as the thermostat is concerned, I am using the 87 degree unit - as the book says. The old unit that was in the car used to open at over 100 degrees, accompanied by that horrible noise when a system is overheating, and I put that down to being a faulty unit. Time will tell as to how the system is going to behave itself. Regards Styria

 

[WGB]

I think that where people may get confused with the go-no-go gauge is that to work the lifter has to be pumped up.

The manual doesn't stipulate this particularly clearly but says that before using it - after changing a hydraulic lifter - the engine should be turned on the starter motor for 30 seconds.

I read this to mean that is enough time to build up sufficient oil pressure to pump up the lifter and establish the geometry before measurement and if necessary - correction.

Bill

P.S. The tool on the right is the socket for the rear hub bearings. I didn't actually need it - but you never know......

 

[Styria]

Just a continuation of the story. After travelling a total of about sixty kilometers, I decided to change oil and filter and once again used petrol that I poured into the oil reservoir and used pressure to blow most of the gunk (not much of it) out of the reservoir and small sump. I also drained all oil from the oil cooler that is fitted to the high compression models.

As it was, I did manage to drain a couple of jelly like 'blobs' from the system, and I also discovered that the drain plug on the bottom of the reservoir was just finger tight - obviously an oversight on my part.

Driving wise - she's a dream. Beautifully quiet engine, lovely exhaust throb and still excellent oil pressure. Chances are that I will be draining the oil again, plus a new filter probably within the next couple of weeks. Just as a precautionary measure. Regards Styria

 

[s class]

Well congratulations. I'm sure you are starting to feel the stress wash away.

 

[Michel]

I expect a visit Godfather...