I have the Mercedes Diesel in my Bandeirante. I got the truck with a milage of 123km (lol) a couple of years ago, since the ODO has only 5 digits, it can be any other milage as well. And who knows, maybe the instrument is a different one as well.
3 years ago I had to do the head gasket. I found a loose/broken cylinder head bolt so I had to remove the head to get the bolt out. I inspected the cylinder and the pistons and I could see, the engine was used a lot. The cylinder walls are worn in a way, that the honing pattern is barely seen at some placed (not yet polished) and there is a little "overhang" at the top death center. I never measured it, but I would guess the pistons have a bit too much of play within the cylinder. "Other" then that, all good with the engine.
I already thought of rebuilding the engine, but I didn't had the money and time and mood to do it. It was running fine before, so I put everything back.
The engine is running mostly fine:
- Starts well for a old direct injection diesel without glow plugs. Usually on the second crank, if its a bit colder, like down to 10C he needs 2-3 cranks more.
- There is some white smoke at the beginning. As soon as the engine is a bit warm, all good.
- Oil consumption is exactly 1ltr/1000km and therefore within the limits of Mercedes. Actually those engines always have some kind of oil consumption, they miss the valve shaft seals by design.
- The engine has "Power", but I never drove another one and it was worn all the time.
- Fuel consumption is pretty ok if I compare with others.
I never measured the compression because I don't have the tools to do it.
I'm always thinking of a rebuild, on the other hand: the engine is working fine, I just need to bring some oil on a long trip. Just redo the honing or install new piston rings will not work because of the worn areas.
So what would be your "trigger" to get the engine done? I read some posts in german forums, they mentioned: as long as the engine starts and you are not completely annoyed by the oil consumption, go for it.
3 years ago I had to do the head gasket. I found a loose/broken cylinder head bolt so I had to remove the head to get the bolt out. I inspected the cylinder and the pistons and I could see, the engine was used a lot. The cylinder walls are worn in a way, that the honing pattern is barely seen at some placed (not yet polished) and there is a little "overhang" at the top death center. I never measured it, but I would guess the pistons have a bit too much of play within the cylinder. "Other" then that, all good with the engine.
I already thought of rebuilding the engine, but I didn't had the money and time and mood to do it. It was running fine before, so I put everything back.
The engine is running mostly fine:
- Starts well for a old direct injection diesel without glow plugs. Usually on the second crank, if its a bit colder, like down to 10C he needs 2-3 cranks more.
- There is some white smoke at the beginning. As soon as the engine is a bit warm, all good.
- Oil consumption is exactly 1ltr/1000km and therefore within the limits of Mercedes. Actually those engines always have some kind of oil consumption, they miss the valve shaft seals by design.
- The engine has "Power", but I never drove another one and it was worn all the time.
- Fuel consumption is pretty ok if I compare with others.
I never measured the compression because I don't have the tools to do it.
I'm always thinking of a rebuild, on the other hand: the engine is working fine, I just need to bring some oil on a long trip. Just redo the honing or install new piston rings will not work because of the worn areas.
So what would be your "trigger" to get the engine done? I read some posts in german forums, they mentioned: as long as the engine starts and you are not completely annoyed by the oil consumption, go for it.
