W463: 1994 Mercedes G350 TD Engine Swap Part 3

Moving along I started the disassembly process to get to the bottom of this particular engine's failure.

Here's my answer.

 

Catastrophic failure of the head gasket in the oil passage reinforcement area. This isn't all too uncommon on 603's, but this is absolutely the worst case scenario anyone could ever be faced with when it comes to these old rockets. It's a shame though, because if the owner had caught it a bit sooner, it most likely would have saved the engine. It was a headgasket away from staying with him.

Then came transferring over the oil pumps and oil splash trays. The G wagen is below - which is full length and the oil pump pick up is much deeper for the deeper pan.

Here's the standard 3.5L tray and sedan pick up.

The following are a few pictures of the reassembly process. Some of it, I suppose.

This is with the timing cover/water pump assembly installed. Mercedes does not use gaskets for the timing cover's. It's up to the individual doing the work to use whatever sealer they prefer. Myself? I use anaerobic sealers for just about everything on the engine. They allow for more expansion (think steel on aluminum) and are far less prone to leak down the road.

I'm also religiously against RTV. I hate seeing it, I hate cleaning it, I hate seeing it in oil pick up tubes because people run inch wide beads and figure the more comes out, the better the seal.

Engine got all new timing gear, It's one of those processes where if I had someone around me taking pictures it would be great. I can't stop halfway through something and snap a few photos.

To be continued!