Swinging in the breeze

[Ulterior]

Hi Folks,

I got my 02 Sprinter back in July, delivered non running. It is a 140" 3500. Yes, I got it very cheap. After cranking and scanning it my friend Norik came by an and pointed the obvious; the timing chain is loose and not turning the cams. Well that explains the cam and crank out of synch code.

Anyhow, here if the photo story of pulling the engine.

Too tall and too tight to fit it into the area with a lift, so it is in the center part of my shop. I usually keep that clean for my other business. After taking the bumper off, I found the damage that the fellow I got it from mentioned. Looks like it had a new right fender, crosspiece the the latch is on (see the MBZ stickers)

[Ulterior]

There goes my bright red, clear, $20 a quart trans fluid into the drain pan! Argh! 80k on the motor. Looks like the trans fluid had been changed (zero records came with it) The intake has some oil in it. Typical from my experience.
The hose looks OK. The AC fan, condenser, intercooler and power steering pump cooler came out as a unit. Lots to disconnect and plug.

[Ulterior]

That is one ugly cabin filter. Ugh!. Add it to the parts list

disconnect, disconnect, disconnect. The wiring harness unplugs at the computer under the dash. then pulled through the firewall. It is connected to the glow plug relay with a big red wire. Disconnect the other end at the positive buss bar attached to the positive battery terminal. Note the fusible links. Bigger red wire to the starter. Lots of wire ties to snip to free the harness from the other parts that will remain.

[Ulterior]

Jack under the tranny to hold it up

Yep, more disconnect, disconnect, disconnect. I decided to take the exhaust pipe off at the turbo because I don't have an oxy-acetylene torch to heat the pipe at the joint. Impossible to do, in my experience, without bunging or destroying it. It looks perfectly good, so no need trash it. Besides, it comes off easy at the turbo, thankfully.

Out it comes! A lot of hard work to get this far. A lot of finesse to balance the engine right that I won't go into here.
Midway I changed the lifting point to even out the balance. Early on the clearance was too tight to lift in the middle of the chain hooked to the lifting point. It is tight in the back of the engine compartment, so I couldn't use an engine balancer

[Ulterior]

As promised, swinging in the breeze. It's a good feeling after all the disconnecting, draining. etc.
Gravity ain't easy, but it is the law. Best to lower the engine right away, just in case it decides to fall, so it doesn't have far to drop. I won't tell you how I learned that. Just take those words of wisdom to heart, and use an engine hoist, not a come along.

In the shop, WVO equipment in the background.

More disconnect, what did you expect? I decided to put it on an engine stand, so time to split the trans off. First order of business; remove the torque converter bolts through the hole in the bottom (covered by a plastic plug)

[Ulterior]

Splitting the tranny. It's cooperating, not always the case. All too often there is a mystery bolt or corrosion, or just plain stubbornness.

And that's the short story. I'll upload all 200 photos elsewhere by popular demand. It took maybe 8 hours over a few days. If I was diligent and started at 8 AM Monday, I could have had the head off before the end of the day. Anyone know what the book time is?

Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter. Engine on the stand, the head coming off and the reasons as to why this engine took a dump at 80k. I'm assuming the bottom end is OK. I sure hope so. Quality Auto Parts in TX had some new crate motors on e-bay for $3995. All gone now. I procrastinated for a couple of months on pulling the motor. A lot of greasy work, partly on a creeper. Once you have a lift, creeping underneath is like going back to the stone age.

[SteinarN]

I'm eagerly waiting for the continuation of this project.

[maxextz]

:clapping:wow great pictures well done im also looking forward to the rest of these posts.
max....:popcorn:

[glasseye]

Fantastic! A HUGE resource.:clapping: Thanks!
Waiting for Part II.:bow: