just an update to the forum.. have bot of my 617.951 turbodiesels running in my boat project.. attached to the marine transmissions and almost ready for a sea test..
anyway, lots of photos and a few video clips fo the engines running in the boat.. and a nice exhaust note thru the marine exhaust..
well the first sea-test was pretty sucessfull, discovered a few leaks and solved a couple other problems.. but that test never really got much above idle, anyhow today (sunday) it went back into the water for a range of other tests and everything was flawless until I had her wide open and was just starting to come up onto plane and the stbd side motor broke the timing chain...crunch... game over for now.. but the nice thing about having two engines is the other one will get you home.. and it did just perfectly..
I think I have everything dialed in now.. just need to pop that motor out and drop in the spare engine, and rebuild the now broken one.. the now broken engine was donated from a 123 car that was hit pretty hard in the front, hard enough that the radiator support came back and hit the very top of the valve cover knocking a small hole in it, I carefully examined the chain and cam sprocket and ran a dial indicator on the cam sprocket to chack for a bent sprocket and everything looked fine, but I guess the crash imapct damaged it somewhere that I could not see. I probably ran the engine for about 4-5 hours before the chain broke but I had not put that much stress on the engine before. I will be putting the spare engine in and see what happens next..
dont have any performance numbers for you guys yet.. that was going to be the first attempt at top speed, she sure sounded good though.. pushing those throttles forward and the sound of a pair 617.951's turning up and the turbos spooling .. I think she will do pretty good when I get her back together
so .. everyone.. lesson here? go check your timing chain stretch and replace if nessesary, you do not want to hear the sound I heard today.. its not plesant ..
well I updated the photo site with the photos from the first sea trial.. which is old news now.. the second sea-trial is when I broke the timing chain... but anyway some cool photos, and a short vid clip..
have broken-chain engine out and the replacement engine sitting next to it
with overhaul complete, just need to switch components over to the good engine and re-install. I am also changing the vibration dampeners, to a different setup which is going to require a bellhousing and flywheel mods to make it fit..
have not worked on it in a while.. and I am just now getting some time, I will really try to get the updated photos on the website on monday.
I have made a few updates to the website: paintwork, before sea-trail #2 shots
and some photos of the new vibration dampener and the fit problem I am encountering.
I actually have the machine work done on the flywheel adapter, and a test fit of components last night revealed I am now only 5/32" away from a fit at this point.. not bad from the 1/2"
I had before. So its back to the lathe and mill to chamfer some edges to try and find 5/32" of clearance somewhere.
recap:
I broke the timing chain on the stbd engine second time out..
have pulled that engine, and went thru a spare engine and replaced timing chain, seals, gaskets, tensioners, etc. That engine is reattched to the marine transmission and ready to lift into the boat. I am currently working on finishing up the prep-work for painting the topsides and cockpit decks, when the prep-work is finished, and it is painted, I will re-assemble the gantry hoist around the boat and lift in the replacement engine.
then I will complete the electrical system, and its back into the water.
First off, I gotta say, great job on the boat, you are doing an amazing job, can't wait to see it done (and I live in Tampa, so i can *really* come see it when it's done!!)
Anyway, I just picked up a 300SD to drive, but before snagging that I was looking into cramming a MB diesel into a Jeep (still gonna do that)
One of the guys I've been discussing this with (not an MB guy, but a diesel guy in general) said that from what he had found online, that engine has its balancing parts in the automatic tranny. Since you've got rid of the slushbox, how is vibration? Could that be something I wouldn't need to worry about?
I am not aware of any balancing done in the transmission (outside of its rotational parts are balanced).
the engine itself is balanced, and the flywheel is balanced as a stand-alone unit.
I am fairly certian that the entinr thing is NOT balanced as a unit..
that goes against everything that I know that is german
anyway I have run my engines without anything connected to either end of the crankshaft
including without the harmonic dampner on the front they still run very smooth
( well, as smooth as you could expect from a 5 cyl diesel ! )
additionaly in the automatic trans, the tourqe converter will soak up alot of torsional vibrations. in my marine environment I use a torsional vibration coupler in-between the engine and the marine transmission.
if you use the MB automatic ring gear how do you plan to connect to the input shaft of the
manual trans ?
you will need a bunch more rotating mass in the form of a heavy flywheel, or you will burn up your clutch trying to modulate the throttle on standing starts.
I would come up with a way to bolt the flywheel from the manual trans to the MB ring gear
( and possibly machine it extensivley to make this happen.
if you look at the flywheel for a manual shift MB transmission for the same engine
its about 40 lbs. vs the automatic flywheel/ring gear at about 10-12 lbs
I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to do it. I won't be getting another wrangler until later this year. We'll find out then.
if you look at the flywheel for a manual shift MB transmission for the same engine
its about 40 lbs. vs the automatic flywheel/ring gear at about 10-12 lbs
If you want to add a 617.951 engine to that boat or have a third one as a spare, let me know and I will make every effort to get it to you at no cumulative cost to me or to you.
I don't know if this is true or not (you know how some folks like to tell fishing stories) but a guy in Minnesota told me that boats that smell fishy have special value. He said that this attracts fish to the boat and he even has a photo of him (alone) holding up a big Northern (Pike?).
I don't deny that he caught the fish, I am just suspect of the story that the smell of the boat increases its value. I have yet to see any stats on studies about what fish might think, but perhaps analogous studies have been done with rats, goats, or even other mammals.
So the question of the day for me now is, where do I find 617 engines that aren't in cars (or are in cars that are totaled) for cheap in the Tampa area?
I think I need to start getting an idea of what I'm going to expect to pay for an engine when Jeep time comes.
I have several, and can get more.. expect to pay between $500 and $1000
depending on mileage and condition, and I can probably assist in making your bellhousing and flywheel, engine mounts etc.
That's awesome man!! I'll definitely get in touch with you when the time is at hand. As much as I love the Cummins 4BT engines, they go for a *lot* of money. I'm liking this 617 the more I drive my 300SD, but I'm still a little weirded out by the high redline.
I don't think this qualifies as advice, but: it is possible for a naive person to burn up one of these engines on a No. CA. highway relatively close to the Pacific Ocean going about 65-70 mph. I know at least 3 guys and 2 girls that are willing and able to testify to this fact today, including me.
I trust that this is not too far off topic (boats, diesel engines, relevant stories...etc.) I am a "BenzForum Expert" due to my interest in learning how to fix my own car (and hopefully helping others down the road) and not because I have expertise in auto mecahnics or any related field.
and click out to the last few pages..
there is a video clip and some recent project updates.
in the next few weeks I will have it back in the water and will post more photos and videos of
her running
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