They Said it Can't be Fixed - A Journey to the Inside of a Mercedes Bluetec

According to the EPC, the swirl flap motor that i need is A-642-150-05-94.  The one that I have - and the one that FCPEuro and pretty much everyody else wants to sell me - is A-642-150-04-94.  That motor is also listed in the EPC with some notes about it applying to the SCR gen 1 unit from 95-06 in the US.  I have no idea what the difference is between the two motors, but I do know that after I replaced mine with the 04-94 version it just threw a code and didn't work.  So I think I'll order up the "wrong" one and see what happens.  If it wasn't for the fact that the stupid turbo had to come out to replace the swirl motor...  Oy.

Instead of a gasket, they use a sealant for the valve cover.  They've got a pattern to follow, but apparently Mercedes is as good at the alphabet as they are at making diesel engines.  Maybe it's one of those tests like in first grade where the first line is "read all the instructions first", they make you do a bunch of horseE36 M3, and then the last line is "don't do any of those things and just turn it in for full credit".  I am assuming that they do want some sort of sealant in there so I followed line "A" instead of the line "F" they wanted me to follow:

And just like that, the head covers are on.

I've got some shelves to cut so I can install them while I'm waiting for the F1 race to start tomorrow morning, so I'm going to cover things up and fire up the saw.

I was reading an article about how people across Europe are donating or selling at low cost their SUVs and pickups to be sent to Ukraine.  Apparently they're painting them olive drab, putting armor plating on them, mounting large guns on them, and using them in combat.  I think that all of us that are working on our OM652-equipped GLs should band together as a community and consider getting our trucks fixed up and donating them to the war effort.  To help the Ukrainian people, I think we should get as many of these things shipped to Russia as possible.

In reply to wae :

I saw a video of a mayor's BMW convertible with the trunk removed and an AA gun mounted in there.

Probably not the most stable gun platform but I have a feeling it was more for optics than actual defense.

I would send my Benz to the Ruskies to use as a transporter.

The Ukies can have one of the Land Cruisers.

In reply to FJ40Jim :

Are land cruisers any good?

Pics now, words later.

High pressure pump and oil filter housing installed.  The kit from idparts - kitS, actually - had no oil filter housing gasket.  We're going to try reusing that one.  If it leaks, it's not in a hateful place to get to.  Also, there's a new oil filter installed in there.  Reminder for later: WIS says that when the HPFP is removed and reinstalled, you need to turn the ignition to run for 15 seconds, minimum to prevent damage.  Gotta get the system full of fuel.

They aren't bolted in yet, but the gaskets are in place and the intake manifolds are ready to be bolted down.  There's a specific pattern for that of course.

Before putting the intake manifolds on, you have to bolt up the EGR cooler   New gasket in the back and a new o-ring in the front.

It's kind of exciting to be running out of parts to bolt on.

There's an E350 with the Bluetec in a yard in Columbus.  Eastsidetim and I are going to stop in there Sunday morning on our way to pick up an LS for him.  Hopefully it still has its alternator and intake snorkel.  There's a part of me that would almost enjoy buying a whole engine and rebuilding it to have it on the shelf, just in case....

Ah yes, EGR cooler mounted in the valley. Very nice, Mercedes, very nice...

In reply to maschinenbau :

Right? Not like you'll ever need to get in there and clean all the carbon out of that or anything. 

maschinenbau said:

Ah yes, EGR cooler mounted in the valley. Very nice, Mercedes, very nice...

Right on top of the oil cooler, too! 

Mezzanine said:

In reply to maschinenbau :

Right? Not like you'll ever need to get in there and clean all the carbon out of that or anything. 

German vehicle. If it is old enough to need that service, you really should be buying a new, more modern and efficient vehicle instead of keeping that old junk on the road.  You wouldn't want to be inefficient, would you?

Intake manifolds torqued down.

Water pump and belt tensioner installed.  Also, the EGR.

My next trick was to try to get the swirl flap sensors installed.  I spent way more time than is reasonable trying to figure out how to get the left side sensor installed around the bracket for the EGR cooler.  Finally gave up and went home.

I'm actually coming to a stopping point until I have the right M55 servo.  I reached out to fcpeuro to get their opinion on the part number issue but haven't heard back.  I'm leaning towards getting the one that I think is right, though.  It would be a much easier decision if the turbo didn't have to come off in order to swap out the servo.

The other thing that I need to consider is pulling the wiring harness from the car so I can install it under the turbo.  Or maybe I just wait until I have it in the truck.  I've got some time to think on that.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Mezzanine said:

In reply to maschinenbau :

Right? Not like you'll ever need to get in there and clean all the carbon out of that or anything. 

German vehicle. If it is old enough to need that service, you really should be buying a new, more modern and efficient vehicle instead of keeping that old junk on the road.  You wouldn't want to be inefficient, would you?

As someone who's spent the last 2 years living in Germany, German efficiency is a myth.

Hmm.  So I got a note back from FCP Euro regarding my inquiry about the different swirl motor part numbers.  I'm paraphrasing a little bit here, but they said they're still waiting to hear from me, so they're marking my question solved.

I was kind of hoping that they might have a little more insight on how Mercedes part numbers and parts catalogs worked.  I'm hoping that someone just pressed the wrong button somewhere, but I'm going to need to get this thing ordered soon in order to keep my momentum.

In reply to wae :

Will the engine in the junkyard we're hitting likely have one?

In reply to eastsideTim :

Oh, that's right.  I wanted to check the interchange real fast and see.  I don't have my WIS laptop here at home, but according to the official Mercedes parts website, 642-150-05-94 is used in:

So, yeah, that car would - in theory - be originally-equipped with what I think is the correct swirl motor. 

But.....  A couple things make me not want to try to pull that off:

1. These things are known to just go bad and a new one is "only" $140.  (Combine that with...)
2. They are a pain in the ass to get to.  It's mounted under a wiring harness.  That wiring harness is mounted under the turbo inlet.  So you have to disconnect all the exhaust (which is slammed against the firewall), pull the turbo off, and then you can try to get to the motor.  We ain't got that kind of time!
3. If I was going to start down that road, I'd be more inclined to just take the whole engine so I have some....  spares?  And we really ain't got that kind of time.

We don't have to disassemble stuff gently in the junkyard.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Yeah, "BlueTec, meet mister Blue Wrench."

BerryBeazly said:

In reply to FJ40Jim :

Are land cruisers any good?

They are the preferred vehicle of wealthy terrorist  groups all over the world.

So yes.

My next trick was to try to get the swirl flap sensors installed.  I spent way more time than is reasonable trying to figure out how to get the left side sensor installed around the bracket for the EGR cooler.  Finally gave up and went home.

The other thing that I need to consider is pulling the wiring harness from the car so I can install it under the turbo.  Or maybe I just wait until I have it in the truck.  I've got some time to think on that.

Before installing manifolds to engine, I installed flap position sensors. Also bolted EGR cooler to LH manifold, and flap motor to RH manifold.

After manifolds were in, installed T-stat, fuel filter and LH intake bracket for flap motor.

Dunno if WIS agrees, but that seemed the easiest (least difficult?) way to 'fill the valley'.

Yes, to pulling the harness so it can be routed around on the engine. It has a few big connections to the chassis and a hundred small connections on the engine. Way easier to get it all fiddled around the engine with it on a stand, then just plug harness into RH fender after engine is installed.

2 questions for the hive mind...

The flexplate is hung on the crank with all bolts. Jeep book says 'bolt adapter to crank. then bolt flexplate to adapter with xx torks" which tells me they are running an adapter from M-B engine to Jeep auto trans. The Alldata for 2008 Ram sprinter van says 'bolt DMF to crank with xx torks' which is different from my plain flexplate.

So what is the correct Flexplate to crank torque for this thing?

The front crank bolt is zapped on snug with impact, but still need to lock crank for 90* final turn. Suggestions for how to do that without factory special flyheel lock tool?

Thanks for any info!

And installing all the failure prone and failure inducing emissions stuff...

If only there was no dieselgate blood money coming from MB, then I could do this now:

"Note to self: Land Cruiser EGR delete plates fit OM642."

In reply to FJ40Jim :

My problem may have been that I trusted the manual too much.  According to that, while you need to pull the turbo and the swirl motor to replace the flap sensors, they don't tell you that you need to remove the EGR cooler.  Which, looks like you'd also need to remove the intake manifolds.  I was hoping that I'd have a picture or a video saved somewhere that showed how it was originally routed, but so far I've got nothing.  I may unbolt the bracket on the cooler and bend it out of the way to snake the sensor in there if I can't figure it out.  When i say it out loud it sounds pretty stupid, but my thinking is that I don't want to inadvertantly screw up access to the sensor in case it ever needs to be replaced.

I'll probably be out at the shop tomorrow and I can check the torque spec for the flexplate.  I'm also in the same position as you are with the crank bolt - that's what the little tag on the pulley is reminding me about.  My plan is to get the motor back on the hoist, attach the flexplate, and then block the flexplate through the starter hole in order to get the torque and angle set on the crank bolt.  Of course, every man got a plan until he gets punched in the face, so....

Okay, so it's install the driven plate with the flex plate and torque bolts to 45nm then 90 degrees.

The only way I could see to run that sensor without uninstalling the intake manifold was to bend that bracket back.  So that's done.

Fuel rails placed but not torqued down yet.  Vacuum pump attached.  Fuel return line in place.  Positive Intake Oiling system is in place, but needs to be bolted down.

Kind of annoying, but the only thing I heard back from FCP Euro was that they received my question about interchange, never responded, and closed the case because they hadn't heard back from me.  I tried to call them, but got a message that everyone was in a meeting and I could leave a message.  So, I decided to take a chance and order the Pierburg 7.01132.12.0 which interchanges with 642-150-05-94.  I was going to order it from FCP Euro, but I ordered it from eEuroparts instead.  They were slightly less expensive and, honestly, I'm pouting because FCP never really responded.

So, new swirl motor is on the way so I can continue forward!