As some of you my remember, i bought a cheap 1993-300e a few weeks ago. the car was not "meticulously" maintained, not even close . but i bought as a project, and have already fixed a couple of small issues at minimal cost....
anyhow, now starts the fixing of the main problem: a leaky head gasket....
I started yesterday taking apart some of the easier parts such as radiator hoses (i am changing the water pump as there is a massive leak around it), some of the plastic covers and radiator shroud.....today i started digging even deeper, i unpluged connectors and started removing the front timing cover...
here are some of my questions:
1-why the hell do they use hex-style bolts instead of regular bolts? i had to run to the store a couple of times just to get the right sizes as each seems to be different?
2-when pulling the 104 head with the intake attached, the throttle-body remains in the car...is this correct?
3-My serpentine belt tensioner seems to be messed up. i tried releasing tension as recommended by the manual, but that did not work? i loosened the bolt on the side, and turned the upper dial/ bolt but nothing moved and the tension remained the same...any ideas? the arrow indicator on it seems to be missing , so i think a previous mechanic handled it roughly...i will be replacing it ....
4-I removed the wiring harness from the injector area. it seems the harness has been changed as i have not seen any falling-apart insulation...how do you get the harness out of the way? do you loosen it at the PCM?
these are some of my questions, and i will update this thread with more as the time goes. i have been burying my self in the forum and in the manuals trying to learn as much as i can.. it is at the points where the manual becomes unclear that i run into trouble...
a- I cannot get out the fan as i don't have the special tool to hold the pulley in place...
b-One of the hex bolts that holds the small coolant inlet is stuck (it is a long 6 mm hex bolt), it seems that someone tightened it before using the wrong tool, so the it was like 6.5 mm instead of six,,,now the hex area is deformed !!!!! and that thing is stuck in tight...
a- I cannot get out the fan as i don't have the special tool to hold the pulley in place...
b-One of the hex bolts that holds the small coolant inlet is stuck (it is a long 6 mm hex bolt), it seems that someone tightened it before using the wrong tool, so the it was like 6.5 mm instead of six,,,now the hex area is deformed !!!!! and that thing is stuck in tight...
any ideas?? need help guys...
whenever i deal with hex keys i tap the key into the bolt all the way with a small hammer before i try to turn it ..... i feel your pain i just got through doing this job make sure the front cover doesnt leak oil or else you will be pulling the rest of it to swap bearings like i am ......
no need to remove the fan clutch unless your changing the water pump ... if you can find a suitable size of rod you can make your own pulley tool
if that doesnt work you can grab the outside of it with a pair of vice grips ... as long as you can break the bolt your home free mercedes bolts are usually butter smooth once tension is broke on them
Last edited by ChevyBenz : 07-30-2009 at 08:46 PM.
The serpentine belt tensioner may or may not be broken. The only way to find out is to take it out and test for spring tension and return. I thought mine was broken but upon further examination (after removing it) I realized that there is no "index" for the proper orientation of the tensioner wrt the position of the idler pulley. The tensioner assembly is only held in there by the metal-to-metal contact points on the outer race of the large bearing (water pump at rear, Y-bracket at front). It is up to you to make sure that when you put everything back together again the spring tension is actually acting on the tensioner rod assembly (which should have tension on the rod/plate @ all times). If at any time there is no tension on the rod/plate it could mean that the tensioner was adjusted wrong.
In my case... it was excessive loosening of the locking bolt which allowed the whole tensioner assembly to rotate in its brace without the benefit of spring tension. It was a real pain before I realized what was going on because I couldn't get the belt back on since the 0-point for the tensioner pulley could not get to where it needed to be to get enough slack.
well i will be taking that tensioner off once i figure out how to remove that stuck bolt and the fan. i will be changing the water pump also since it is leaking......lets hope the bolt does come out ...i am going to tap it as chevy benz says although now it is deformed and is no longer the 6mm it used to be......i hate when this happens..
as for the engine wiring harness, i removed it from all contact points on the engine with no trouble. my only issue is that it is touching the head where it goes into the firewall. so should i unhook it at the PCM and take it out of the fire wall? or will that be a nightmare to put back later?
thanks guys, i am going to need your support on this!!!
You should be able to hold the pulley with a strap wrench. If you get desperate you can JB Weld the 6mm in place. JB Weld Quick sets in about 4 hours I believe.
I guess a 104 is significantly different from a 103 when it comes to this job. I have done two and have had to remove the fan to get the shroud off the radiator. And I left the intake manifold and harness in place and just removed the head once all bolts were loose. As for the hex headed bolts here there and everywhere on these cars, I would agree, they are made of cheese-metal, but they are essential an many spots (holding the rotor mount on for example) because of clearance issues.
Have you looked at the head bolts yet? Plan on another trip to the tool store. Are you also going to have the head refurbished (guides/stem seals/valve re-grind)? Good Luck with the project.
Have you looked at the head bolts yet? Plan on another trip to the tool store. Are you also going to have the head refurbished (guides/stem seals/valve re-grind)? Good Luck with the project.
i bought my triple square in a 4 piece set at pepboys for $14.99 it worked GREAT with no wear on the tool whatsoever after loosening and torquing 14 bolts ...... also to the op buy new headbolts too they are worth the 2.57 apeice for peace of mind alone .......
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. but i bought as a project, and have already fixed a couple of small issues at minimal cost....
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