Gotta love diesels! all you need is a battery! I've seen this done before. He just put the oil pan in a medium duty truck tire, and put juice to the IP- it fired up, smoked, and was loud as hell.
It just sat there running on the ground lag, lag, lag, lag

There wasn't one person in that shop that wasn't laughing their butt off!

 

great news. the RX7 is sold and the search of a transfer case is on..... as is the search for a jeep. Benz comes home Saturday.

 

ulend,

I'm sending you a PM

 

havent received a PM, or EM...Ínfo on profile is correct, so you should be able to just email me...

 

Chris
I got your PM. Thanks for the info. I'm gonna start looking for a transfer case. I gotta make a trip to the junk yard to pick up a few items. The RPM sensor and a starter to start with. What other starters are compatible with the 617? Will anything off a mercedes diesel work?

I'll get some pics to you today or this weekend. I am not really in a terrible hurry. I cant get the rig until after my wedding in April. I do wanna get the diesel up and running on the stand before then.

 

Starters are easy..and not. anything from a '70's, or '80's 4, 5, or straight 6 will work, but the diesel one are heavier duty...that said, the diesel ones are actually overkill, and not really necessary. ( there no stall load test for the diesel starters, for example..they're capable of pulling more than 1200 amps without burning out!!!!!) the straight 6 gas motors are usually the easiest to to find donor parts from, and those would be fine.

not sure how easy it'll be to find the rpm pickup - those are diesel specific, and I think 'SD' model specific...my books get a bit hazy though, as there were US/Can/Mexico/Grey market variations so you might get lucky. the sensor is located on the upper left edge of the frotn pulley, just below the vacuum pump, and get the 'diagnostic' connector block ( and CAP!!) that sits on top of the drivers side fender.( the cap is critical, as it contains a pulse amplifier for the signal to the dash)

good luck, and if you've got q's, just shoot me email.

 

I am going to try and hit up the local salvage yard after work. I know their is an inline 5 there. Take inventory at the very least.

 

Is this the RPM sensor? Also is this the plug you were referring to?

 

Here is my OM617. How can I tell the vintage of my OM617? In the second picture what is the device to the right of the valve cover in the front? Can I get rid of it?

 

yes to both questions - that small round tube by the crank pulley is the RPM sensor, and the round plug on the fender is the diagnostic socket - if you follow the harness, it goes directly from the sender, to the socket - you should be abel to pull it intact, and I'd pull it before reomving the engine. MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THE CAP..inside the diagnostic cap is an amplifire, that runs the signal up to normal gauge voltages.

the pod at the right front of the valve cover is the EGR. the one at the left(drivers) front looks like the factory cruise control unit. probably easiest to just scrap the OE cruise control, and go aftermarket if its a feature you need.

also - look for the big black boxy thing with a couple of harness bundles just ahead of the diagnostic port - thats the glow plug timer relay, and you'll most likley want that for a 'clean' conversion.

 

forgot to answer this - if you look at the left rear corner of the block, there should be a data plate there. if you send me that number, I have a lookup table, and I should be able to tell you the year, engine model, and chassis model ( assuming it wasnt a replacement motor, it should match the car it came out of anyway ... ballpark, its an 82-86 era OM 617, probably from a 123 series 300 SD, or 300 SDL...I think)

 

have you checked these guy's out for advice on the swap http://www.advanceadapters.com/ they have a lot of info and pieces needed for this kind of work. good luck i hope your swap goes well

 

I deal with advance adapters weekly though work....believe me, aside from a number of generic pieces like alternate radiators, there is absolutely nothing there for Benz swaps. ( if there was, the Mercedes crowd would have been swapping in GM 700R4's years ago to get overdrive)

that said, the fixtures for Mercedes swaps are pretty simple and basic..anyone seriously contemplating doing the swap themself can fab up anything needed.

 

Chris,

How's your conversion going? I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the fabbed up motor mount perches.

I just bought an overhauled long block 4.0, and will probably put it in next month. I still haven't found a donor Benz yet, and my junkyard motor is consuming a quart of oil for every tankful of gas. I've got to get another motor in soon, as the Cherokee is my DD.

I know you told me about the HVAC switch for the Nissan being used for the ignition switch, but will you please go into elaboration on the operation/placement of the switch?

 

waiting for it to quit snowing, so I can start riding my bikes while i do the swap. ( XJ is my DD through the cold months!!) I fab my mounts using the block style mounts from a Toyota 22R engine. build my own brackets from the block out, angled, so that the motor settles into the 'V' made by left, and right mounts, and can never drop out, even if the rubber in the mounts fails totally. Using the OEM rubber blocks gives decent levels of NVH, while still controlling engine vibes. I havent bothered with the front shock style benz mounts in my conversions...unlike MB, I'm not building a town-car, or Limo. ( dont know if you've seen those - on some higher end models, there can be one, or 2 small shock assemblies on the front corners of the block to damp out engine vibes almost completely...)

its from a 280Z car, one of the 3 HVAC solenoids located behind the center dash console (heater control levers) . with no voltage supplied, the solenoid valve connects the inlet, and outlet pipes, supplying vaccum to the rear of the IP. Vaccum at the IP pulls the fuel rail OFF, shutting down the motor. Supplying 12 vdc to the solenoid isolates (closes) the inlet port, and connects the outlet port to a vent...this frees up the fuel rail in the injection pump for normal operation. easiest way to wire the conversion it to take the 12vdc+ wire that feeds the ignition on the gasser, adn sue it to trigger the solenoid. ** to use this as rpm control, use the 12vdc 'live' wire from a tach with a redline light to trigger the shutoff. if it revs up to the redline, intentionally, or otherwise, this applies vacuum to the shutoff until the revs drop. wont stop an oil-burn runaway ( neither will the stock setup) , but will prevent over revs on shifts, stuck throttle pedal, etc.


photos are going to be another day or so on the t-cases, etc - having some issues elsewhere right now, and havent had time to stay and play with the camera all week...I'll see if I can remember to snap a shot of the solenoid, and/or try to get a part number off of it for you.