W113 Pagoda SL Group > Drive train, fuel, suspension, steering & brakes

Engine swap or rebuild?

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Erik:
Hello,

Bad luck this morning, while cruising my engine broke down (135.000 miles). It looks and sounds severe: piston, rod, crankshaft and valves of the nr. 1 cylinder are probably damaged. I’ ll have the engine opened for a more thorough inspection but it seems that I look upto a total rebuild.

I don’t know yet what the cost of a rebuild by a specialist would be but has anyone experience in swapping engines?
And if so, could you advise me on:
1./ Is it wise to fit a used engine or would I just be buying new troubles?
2./ Does the engine of a 220SE, 280SE (W108/W111) or even an 280SL (W113) fit into the engine bay of an 230 automatic?
3./ Could I install the engine of a more recent MB-line  (like the 280E six or even the 230E four of the W123)?

Thank you .
Greetings,
Erik

Peter van Es:
Erik,

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. My car is also slightly ill but nowhere near as bad as yours.

Cees Klumper has a number of SL113 engines. He might be able to sell you one.

I know of a Dutch Pagoda owner who recently had his engine rebuilt by http://www.keizermotorenrevisie.nl/ in Doetichem. They are quite reputable. I can get you in touch with him via e-mail if you want to know more.

Peter

Cees Klumper:
Hi Erik - I would recommend you try to have the current engine rebuilt, especially if it is the original one. Make sure to have it done by someone who knows what they are doing; places like Keizer as Peter recommends. But do shop around; some charge the moon (don't be surprised if you receive quotes in excess of EUR 12 thousand). When I needed to have my engine rebuilt in 2003, I learned quickly that most places will not tell you:

- what it is going to cost ("we'll need to open it up first Sir") - at that point, of course you are married without a prenuptial agreement
- how long it is going to take
- also, some have experienced troubles after the rebuild, so unless you are sure of the quality of the work ...

Other displacement engines of the Pagoda series will fit, but manual transmission engines will need to be modified somewhat to mate to your automatic transmission. Same with the sedan engines, and on those you need to fit the tachometer drive (no big deal, you should be able to just install the drive on your current engine).

In general, I would try to stay with the original displacement and would definitely not recommend fitting a totally different engine.

Check around on the forum, there's lots of information here. I do have a short block (lower part of the engine only) that was completely rebuilt, but it's for a 280 SL and without the head. Your 230 head would not fit. I have other 280 engines, whole and in parts, but none that are rebuilt.

One last option you should consider is having the work done farther away, by really specialised outfits (there is one in the UK and of course places like Metric Motors in the US - transporting an engine, if you use a good shipper, is less expensive than you might expect).

Good luck!
Cees

Peter van Es:
I just got the news from my garage. My engine head is very poor. On cylinder 4 the gasket had blown. Coolant was getting into the cylinder. Hence lots of exhaust smoke.

Head was removed. A pressure test indicated that valve seats on cylinder 1 and 4 had leaks. A coolant channel at cylinder 1 was showing signs of getting corroded. A valve guide at cylinder 1 was loose. Bottom end and cylinders and pistons are ok, so it is just the head. Valves and valve stems, and camshaft appear ok. Worst however:

the injector inlets have been tapped, and helicoils have been inserted to fit the injectors. However on cylinder 6, the inlet has been tapped so large that in addition to the helicoil some sort of sealant has been added. It is amazing that it has lasted the 10+ years that it did... but basically my cylinder head is beyond repair.

My repair man is now trying to locate a second hand cylinder head in decent shape to use. Hopefully we can find one otherwise we're up the proverbial creek...

Peter

tel76:
Hello Peter,
On # 6 you could get an engineering company to make an adaptor out of steel that would fit into the cyl: head and the ID would fit the injector.
There is a company in the US that manufactures these adaptors complete with locking system.
Google    Lock-n-stitch  Full - Torque    they should have a solution for you.

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