replacing the valve steam seals on my 300e

[pmally]

hey guys i feel really down and out on my 300e that i recently purchased not knowing that it burns alot of oil i need to put a quart in it if i am to drive from my house in northern California to los angeles which is 430 miles, it currently does not pass smog because the catalytic converter is caked with oil.. I am wondering if its more then just the seals the car has been restored on the exterior, sporting Staggered 17" AMGs (which scrape on the back) I really love my car and I would love to have it running well.

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[pmally]

Video of the car running and reving up the engine (sorry about the bad sound quality)


spark plug after about 400 miles after i cleaned them before, they were much worse

[Wolfe190]

How many miles does your car have? Mine needed to have the valve stem seals replaced at about 140,000 miles, mainly because of the way I drive FYI... anyway if your milage is getting up there it is a safe bet that the stem seals are brittle and need replacing. Just don't try to do the job yourself, I learned the hard way that you need to be extra careful not to break timing guide rails when removing the cylinder head

As for the catalytic converter... Really your only choice is to get a new one. You can go aftermarket (i.e. magnaflo - $90-$100) and get a universal cat, have an exhaust shop do the work (about $100) and they will usually buy your old cat for like $40 or $50.

[SAMM]

Hey guys Ive got a little good news that i picked up last year on one of these forums. You DONT need to remove the cylnder head to change the valve stem seals. I will come back with some info on exactly how to do it, but if you search here you may find it. I know how to do it physically but just dont know the technical terms to describe it here!
However, my car only has 130k miles and I changed the stem seals but I found my plugs were still getting oiled up badly that was one of the several reasons that it was rough running. So I suspected the valve guides were worn out. So, removed the cylinder head and put it on a table. Removed the intake and VOILA! I found LOADS of oil in the AIR intake for cylinders 4,5 and 6! This was causing the biggest problem. So sent the cyl head to a machine shop, they changed the valve guides over (need special machine/process) and skimmed the cyl head and put in yet another set of seals. My friend and i took out the head and put it back on the car. No need for an engine hoist, just a few tools and a screw with two nuts and washers on that removed the retaining pin in the front of the head (some people use a slide hammer, but i didnt have this). That problem was solved, but i still have a problem with my 9.8mpg fuel consumption, which is an unrelated problem!

[pmally]

surprisingly the car has plenty of power and idles very smooth although it is an 87 with 165k on it maby I should just pull the head and have it done right the first time but it would be nice if it was just the valve steam seals. My only fear is that theres a worse problem like the rings are going bad.. but that doesn't seem to happen very often in a mercedes.

[appatula]

It's most likely the seals, rings would be very unlikely.

[Ron in SC]

I wrote a DIY article a few years ago for this job. See link.
http://www.mercedesshop.com/Wikka/M103ValveSeals

[pmally]

oh cool im surprised I didn't see this ive been a member of Mercedes shop scene 2006

[Wolfe190]

The reason I pulled the head on mine was because
1. It's easier IMO to change the valve stem seals this way

2. you can check for other problems like worn rings, scored cylinder walls, valve guides, vavle wear, replace the head gasket, maybe have the valve seats ground. My theory was to get all this stuff off the list while I was inside the engine anyway...

3. Look in to a port/polish while you have it off

But you definetly want someone who knows what they are doing, because the last thing you want is to have problems again further down the line.

[pmally]

well i wish i had that kinda money right now but i gotta pay for insurance $650 for 6 months stupid speeding tickets.

So instead I ordered the valve steam seals its a kit for $35 and thttp://www.partsforimports.net/ its the local import store in my town.

I also found out that the other major parts store for all the generic stuff has the adapter for the piston to hook up to the air compressor, they also have the spring compressor and the spring holder remover. This is gonna be really interesting I will give you guys updates and some pictures. thanks for everything

[appatula]

Originally Posted by pmally

well i wish i had that kinda money right now but i gotta pay for insurance $650 for 6 months stupid speeding tickets.

So instead I ordered the valve steam seals its a kit for $35 and thttp://www.partsforimports.net/ its the local import store in my town.

I also found out that the other major parts store for all the generic stuff has the adapter for the piston to hook up to the air compressor, they also have the spring compressor and the spring holder remover. This is gonna be really interesting I will give you guys updates and some pictures. thanks for everything

Consider yourself lucky, I pay almost double that per 6 month payment for car insurance.....no collision either

Be sure to document your progress, take pictures and label EVERYTHING. When in doubt post a question here and on the mercedesshop.com forums, there are some extremely knowledgeable guys on there! It'll be nice to have another resource for future W124 DIYers on valve stem seal replacement. Good luck my friend.

[ohlord]

at www.autohausaz.com complete set of seals.
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...m%20Seal%20Set

racepages.com oe cats,splice it in,after you repair the oil issue.
good luck.

[pmally]

well im about half way with the replacement, its actually really easy except for loosing those small parts down the whole of doom ( where the oil goes back to then engine) but im scared because these valve steam seals are in pretty good condition i hope its not the rings...

[Ron in SC]

Originally Posted by pmally

well im about half way with the replacement, its actually really easy except for loosing those small parts down the whole of doom ( where the oil goes back to then engine) but im scared because these valve steam seals are in pretty good condition i hope its not the rings...

As far as those oil return holes go I cut tubing that would fill the hole and put appropriate size screws in the top of each piece of tubing to serve as stoppers for each hole.

It almost certainly is the seals. The old ones are probably stiffer and less pliable.

Make sure you put the exhaust seals on the exhaust valves and the intake seals on the intake valves, they are different.

[appatula]

Originally Posted by pmally

well im about half way with the replacement, its actually really easy except for loosing those small parts down the whole of doom ( where the oil goes back to then engine) but im scared because these valve steam seals are in pretty good condition i hope its not the rings...

I Hope we are taking pictures!

[pmally]

of course hears pictures taken with my cell phone, my compression is 160 psi now

[pmally]

well i finished the repair, put some new spark plugs in it, it has an incredible amount of power now but all the engine oil leaked out when i took it on a test drive, I don't know where the hell its coming from i raced the car around and when i got home it was almost out of oil.

[Ron in SC]

Originally Posted by pmally

i raced the car around and when i got home it was almost out of oil.

I would even think you would loose that much oil if you left the oil cap off.

[pmally]

well it looks like rings are bad its still burning oil so if anyone wants the car im selling it for $1000 it has nice amg rims with new tires the car is preaty nice Ive replaced just about everything. I'm going to buy a Honda im sick of these cars braking down on me all the time.

[appatula]

Originally Posted by pmally

well i finished the repair, put some new spark plugs in it, it has an incredible amount of power now but all the engine oil leaked out when i took it on a test drive, I don't know where the hell its coming from i raced the car around and when i got home it was almost out of oil.

That sounds catastrophic.....6 to 7 quarts of engine oil does not vanish like that from bad rings, were you blinding everyone behind you with gobs of thick bluish smoke pouring out of the exhaust as you drove? Unless you left the oil pan plug out or something drastic of that sort, I personally don't understand how 6 quarts of engine oil disappears that quickly. I think you should calm the horses and take another quick look when your not all fired up. You've come this far good lad, don't give up now!

[tazz5150]

I don't think i understood much of this. I'm still trying to soak all these in so that when it's time for my car to go bad, i'll know what signs to look for.

I also have the same concern as appatula. Does your car create lots of smoke? are you leaking oil? also, is your coolant reservoir clear? meaning, do you see oil in there? I'm a bit puzzled as to where the oil dissapears to?

[luvmuzik66]

Originally Posted by Ron in SC

I wrote a DIY article a few years ago for this job. See link.
http://www.mercedesshop.com/Wikka/M103ValveSeals

Good info. Now I can order parts. I bought a 90 300E yesterday and is blowing smoke every time I punch the throttle. No smoke at steady freeway RPM. I wonder where I can buy the valve spring compressor tool? Any infos on this?

[pifcat2]

Originally Posted by pmally

well it looks like rings are bad its still burning oil so if anyone wants the car im selling it for $1000 it has nice amg rims with new tires the car is preaty nice Ive replaced just about everything. I'm going to buy a Honda im sick of these cars braking down on me all the time.

That's too bad about the oil, I replaced the seals once and solved the high oil consumption. It's a good step fix before spending the money for complete head work. I realized later the compressed air into the cylinders was not really necessary. Are you sure you're not losing some oil through leaks?

BTW, that's a hell of a nice camera phone and how did you get such large pics posted?

[therichzone]

I acquired a 1989 300ce with 120,000 miles on it last December. I didn’t know the car had an extreme drinking problem when I bought it. It’s going through a quart of synthetic oil around 200 miles. The obvious diagnosis would be a new set of Valve Stem Seals but it doesn’t have all symptoms you would expect to see with bad seals.

I haven’t noticed any smoke coming out the back, it passed CA smog a month ago, there’s no oil on the tip of the tail pipe and no exhaust smoke residue on the paint. The car is not leaking motor oil and there is no oil in the water.

The only solid symptom I’ve noticed that points to bad valve stem seals is the sparkplugs. The plugs that were in the car were caked with gunk and wet with oil. I changed the plugs and rechecked them after I drove 30 miles and the plugs were wet and smelled like burnt oil and gas i.e. rich. Also the exhaust smells rich to me

I’m going to do a couple of thing to better pin-point the diagnosis. I’m going to have a friend follow me on the freeway to find out if it’s blowing smoke I can't see at hwy speeds. I’m also going to check the rings with a compression test. Can anyone suggest any other simple test I can do to diagnose my oil-oholic car before I dig into the motor?



Thank you,

[berti_00]

are those ring seals hard to replace?