Background: I’m replacing the engine on my 230TE. There’s nothing specifically wrong with the old engine (after 209K miles), but when I bought the car, the automatic transmission was knackered. So I managed to find a donor car, a 230E with 46K miles on it that seems mechanically good but with bad rust. The plan is to swap the complete engine and gearbox over. I’ve now got both engines out, which wasn’t too problematic and took me about 8 hours per engine.
I’m now looking at the different between the two. The TE is a UK market ’81 and the E is a UK ’84. The biggest difference is obviously the self-levelling suspension system, but it looks like that can be swapped over. There’s a pump and mounting bracket/spacer plus a drive on the end of the cam. Both cylinder heads seem to have the same mounting holes but I haven’t yet checked to see if the cam is treaded to take the drive. Worst case scenario, I’ll need to swap cams.
One other difference I have found so far and the main reason for this post is this part on the '84 engine. It has a couple of vacuum hoses, one of which is connected to the inlet manifold and the other appears to be connected to an air hose. The '81 engine doesn't have it and nor does it have the section of wiring harness that it connects to. So does anyone know if I can remove it and use the simpler vacuum set up? And if not does anyone know how I can wire it in?
![2636297]()
I’m now looking at the different between the two. The TE is a UK market ’81 and the E is a UK ’84. The biggest difference is obviously the self-levelling suspension system, but it looks like that can be swapped over. There’s a pump and mounting bracket/spacer plus a drive on the end of the cam. Both cylinder heads seem to have the same mounting holes but I haven’t yet checked to see if the cam is treaded to take the drive. Worst case scenario, I’ll need to swap cams.
One other difference I have found so far and the main reason for this post is this part on the '84 engine. It has a couple of vacuum hoses, one of which is connected to the inlet manifold and the other appears to be connected to an air hose. The '81 engine doesn't have it and nor does it have the section of wiring harness that it connects to. So does anyone know if I can remove it and use the simpler vacuum set up? And if not does anyone know how I can wire it in?
