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IWIS timing chain compared to JWIS timing chain.

20K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Benz Prodigy 
#1 ·
Hello All
I am in the process of changing the timing chain on my 1984 300sd turbo. It has 190k on it and it's new to me so I am assuming that it needs stuff like chains and injector nozzles, your basic 200k mile tune up stuff.

Well I did my home work and found that IWIS makes the best timing chain for this engine. I found one listed at Parts Bin - Auto Parts and Accessories Catalog - 1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD Timing Chain But what they sent me is not an IWIS chain it is a JWIS chain. I did a little more research and found that IWIS makes JWIS. I also found a site that says of the chains they sell JWIS is "High Performance." This company site is for Flexon USA. Here is what they say about themselves:
Brief Company Description:
Manufacturer of a wide variety of roller chains, conveyor chains, special packaging chains, accumulation chains, sprockets, idlers, and tensioners. We are part of the iwis global group, with 3 separate brands....1 for high performance (Jwis), one for high and mid-range demands (Elite), and one for economical type, lower demand needs (ecoplus).
I went to the IWIS web site and did a search for JWIS using their site's search engine. It had zero hits. But Flexon is listed on IWIS's web site.


The timing chain was shipped lose so there is no packaging. But the oil pump chain was shipped in a box. It does have both German and English written on it. And it does say that the part number is an Original IWIS Part No but when I did a search for that number on IWIS's web site I got zero hits. And they do list part numbers on the site. And the box also says it was made in Germany. The box is sealed with hologram tape that says JWIS.

So what do you all think? Is JWIS the same as IWIS? Or is JWIS a lesser product sold to the unwashed masses?
 
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#3 ·
Iwis/Jwis...exact same things simply sold under differing product lines within the same company.

I buy my chains from the after market, and they're Jwis stamped on each link. I also purchased an oil pump chain from the stealership and, lo and behold, the chain was stamped Jwis (JWIS) on each link. The only difference I'm aware of between dealer chains and aftermarket ones are some sort of superior "fishhead" master link (on timing chains), and that is only hearsay as I will never and never have paid for a timing chain from the dealership. Two circlips, IMHO, are more than enough.

With that said, I've purchased a set of head, intake and exhaust gaskets from the dealership and aftermarket Elring ones, and, sufficed to say, the dealer gaskets are going back later this week.
 
#5 ·
Well as I dug through the shipping box I found the box the timing chain had shipped in. The box had opened and the chain was lose. I went to the IWIS web site and ran the number on their search engine. I got one hit. So I guess it is an IWIS chain. And it does say made in Germany on the box.

Some people might say I'm cynical and suspicious. But all I can do is quote George Bernard Shaw. "People that see the world realistically are called cynics by those that don't."

I guess I will go with the Jwis chain. Now to find a way to peen the master link. I think I will try and modify a motorcycle chain tool, I have a mill it shouldn't be too hard. I'm having some difficulty in finding a source for the pins that hold the chain guide rails in place. I guess I will have to order them from the dealer. I will also order the gear for the oil pump. I know a lot of people don't replace the gears when doing the chain. But there are two forms of failure with a chain. outright breakage and jumping a tooth. Breakage is from an old and worn chain, or inferior quality, and jumping a tooth is from worn gears. With a timing chain jumping a tooth is a big problem. But on a oil pump chain not so much. But the more times it jumps the more adverse stress is applied to the chain and it will eventually fail. The only gear I am not replacing, at lest at this point, is the one that is on the injection pump. It's called a segment because it part of a device that changes the injection timing with increase, or decrease, of rpms. It costs $300 from the dealer and they seem to be the only ones that have it. Normally I would bite the bullet and buy it. But Mercedes put a bolt right on top of the point that the chain would jump a tooth on this gear. So they designed in a way to help hold it in place.

I have a philosophy that I should only turn a bolt once. If I am doing a job and some time in the future I need to turn that same bolt again I failed. When I was a young man I actually like wrenching on cars. Now it's just getting dirty. And I hate getting dirty. But it costs so much to have someone else do it, and they do crappy work, that I would rather do it myself.

The last time I had someone work on a car was when I drove to Montana in a borrowed car. I didn't think that it didn't have the proper coolant for the winter weather and I had a few hoses burst. I had no place indoors to work on it and it was twenty below outside. So I took it to a shop. It was a ford torus. They removed a lot of stuff to get to the burst hoses. One of the things they removed was the water pump, a twenty dollar item. Well it leaked like a sieve after they put it back on. I'm sure it showed signs of leaking when they took it off. It had to be replaced and they hit me up for sixty dollars more for the replacement. What rip offs. While I was there I heard them tell this woman with a gang of small kids that it would cost eighty dollars to change the spark plug wires on here four cylinder Toyota. That's twenty dollars per wire. But she doesn't have clue what's involved so she went for it. Every time I talk to someone here now I tell them what rip off these guys are.

Well maybe after I'm done someone might be interested in my chain peener. I am planing on taking pictures of this work and I will setup a site to show it off. Will put a link up when I'm done.
 
#6 ·
"There is a bronze color timing chain master link from the dealer in my coupe." -Teutone

Hey, cool. I wasn't aware of that part...now my circlips seem a little lacking in the asthetics department. I should chrome them...

Ark Royal:

Too bad you have to peen a diesel; the chains for the gassers come with a little plastic bag with master link parts. I wish I had space for a mill in my garage, then there's no limit for potential re-engineering to take place. Very curious to see the results:thumbsup:
 
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