R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

turbo_bird said:

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

It's a truck that weighs 7000lbs, so not much point putting an aluminum block engine in it to save 50 lbs or so. I didn't weigh the bare block, but it's pretty light. My dad used to build engines back in the 70's and 80's for guys, and used to race a Falcon with a 427 SOHC that he built up. He had a look at my lowly 5.4 when I was working on it, and said guys would have killed to have stuff like that back in the day. Deep skirt block with cross bolted mains, dowels between the main caps and the block so fit is perfect. The intake ports are a straight shot down to the valves. The valve train is insanely light and tiny, so it can handle some rpm. The timing chains and tensioners are pretty simple and tough, and easy to work on and set the timing compared to his 427. Here's a link to a different forum I'm on where I detailed what I did a bit better, hopefully that's allowed here. http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=18853

Kristian

Something else you did not mention. The Ford modular engines were some of the first to use cracked connecting rods.  Basically the rods are forged and machined as one piece then have the cap broken off. This leaves teh mating surface rather jagged and once bolt together and torqued there almost no parting line visible. 

re: the 5.4 engine rebuild

a special tool is needed to loosen the cooling fan?  Why would that be?  Why was that 'engineered'?

what happened to just using regular bolts that are easily accessible?

In reply to turbo_bird :

Nice job on the motor.  One thing I would do is have the fuel injectors cleaned and serviced.  Bad spray patterns can result in oil washing off cylinder walls.

In reply to onemanarmy :

The water pump has a threaded about that the fan spins onto, as well as the regular 4 bolts, but they only hold the pulley. I don't know why Ford did that either. Maybe it's for easier assembly at the factory?

Kristian

In reply to Jerry From LA :

Thanks, I hadn't thought​ about getting the injectors cleaned. I'll run it low on fuel and maybe toss a bottle of injector cleaner in it, can't hurt anything.

Kristian

In reply to ggrjr :

I think I mentioned it in my other thread, but I didn't realize they were pioneers at it. It's pretty cool all right, and I was very careful with them to not damage the surfaces. It does make for a very hard to see part line when they're torqued up.

Kristian

turbo_bird said:

In reply to Jerry From LA :

Thanks, I hadn't thought​ about getting the injectors cleaned. I'll run it low on fuel and maybe toss a bottle of injector cleaner in it, can't hurt anything.

Kristian

 I will say that my brother killed one of these when an injector stuck open. He brought it to a shop when it threw a CEL. During trouble shooting the shop left the ignition on, filled a cylinder with fuel, cranked it over and killed the motor. "Not my fault".  I'm not sure if this is in any way common, but my sole experience with these motors before those super cool pictures was recommending my mom not spend $4k putting a motor in a truck worth $5k. I was overruled. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye on the codes and the o2 sensors in the torque app. Mine hasn't thrown codes before, other than o2 sensor heater failure on the one bank, so I replaced all four sensors. I think a stuck injector would probably show up on the fuel trim for that bank, so I'll make sure to check that next time I drive it.

Kristian

I’m a good 60 paged into this thread but I’m picking up my NEW TO ME 2007 R63 in a couple days!

>120,000 miles, all service at dealer besides last 15k or so. No engine tranny issues I could hear or feel on test drive last week.  I assume at the least I will be pulling head covers to inspect cam and cup wear and doing head bolt swap. Planning now to do 1 for 1 unless I find a mess. 

With a 120k ish mile m156 what other things can I do without pulling a head that will make the next 4-5 more years of 8-10k miles a year less stressful?

also does anyone have the Mercedes cam locking tools they would loan me

In reply to Kcal :

Congratulations on the R63! You might want to do an oil analysis before you pull it apart to see if there's anything else that sticks out. Other than that, if you're pulling the cams I'd think hard about replacing the lifters no matter what you find. They're not expensive (all things considered) and they are the only other significant failure point that I can find. Remember when you pull the cams to follow the procedure and lock the advance mechanisms with screws. It kind of sucks if you don't. Cam tools are cheap (again, in the grand scheme of buying one of these) but drop me a PM or send me an email at ttwo.elm at gmail dot com and you can borrow mine. Looking forward to pictures and experiences from another owner. You're going to like it. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Yeah I planned on pulling oil sample for testing and doing an oil change first thing. That will tell me how risky it will be to daily drive to some degree. I’m optimistic for a smooth experience but like you well know it could take a hard left at a moments notice. 

mazdeuce said:

In reply to revengineer:

I am simultaneously humbled and horrified that anyone is reading this through from the beginning. My only solace is that anyone who makes it to page 86 can at least see it start.
Thanks for reading. There are some other great threads on here with some talented fabricators if you like actual tech. For shananigans there's always the Grosh thread, or if you're really brave, wait a week and you can follow my next project from the beginning.

I had seen this thread pop up months ago and thought it was neat.  It was only this past weekend, bored at work, that I read every single page.  Kudos to you, man!  You and this forum are an inspiration.  I think I'm going to work at fixing up our tired, old Blazer now.

Also, a B6 S4A with the 6MT is on my list of dream cars.

If you're ever up in Dallas, the beer is on me!

In reply to mcbacon :

Congratulations on powering through all the nonsense contained in this thread. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 

Fair warning about the B6 S4, they're considered one of those "impossible" cars to own and service. What that means is that you could totally own and service one if you're only slightly mentally ill. The real hazard is that once you realize you can do it, then the sky's the limit. 

mcbacon said:
Also, a B6 S4A with the 6MT is on my list of dream cars.

Do it, they're great cars.

They are great cars, but do have some faults.  They get spectacularly bad mpg, to the point that my 525hp SUV gets the same mpg as my old S4 avant did.

The timing chain/guides is a huge job, they tend to drink alot of oil, they have issues with dropping valves and scoring cylinder walls.  You can't buy these motors from Audi anymore and nobody really rebuilds them. 

That said, they make awesome sounds with an exhaust and are a nice sized wagon, with great recaro interiors...

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to mcbacon :

Congratulations on powering through all the nonsense contained in this thread. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 

Fair warning about the B6 S4, they're considered one of those "impossible" cars to own and service. What that means is that you could totally own and service one if you're only slightly mentally ill. The real hazard is that once you realize you can do it, then the sky's the limit. 

Whomever said I'm sane is mentally ill themselves.  By the time I have the ability to have a house with a grosh, the B6s should be going for pennies on the dollar.  I have a source up in NH that does nothing but dismantle old VAG products.  I think he even has a couple old 5k and 90 parts in the bin!  I think the majority of my cars have come from him.... I just moved to TX last year, so he used to be local.

In actual R63 news, they turned off my free XM today. While I was driving. Bastards. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Nooo :(

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Damn! How are you going to listen to the same selection of raunchy standup comedians without it?  Without the Deucelings in the car, of course.

Ahhhhh the thread that keeps on giving.....

759NRNG said:

Ahhhhh the thread that keeps on giving.....

In my defense, the idea behind this thread was that driving this would be no more tragic than oil changes and getting my free XM shut off. That whole headbolt thing was the real detour.

This thread was what introduced me to this magical, demented, extremely talented/intelligent community......GRM!! I thank  you for the opportunity to follow along and kibitz now and then  I would find it interesting how many 'first timers (reader)' you netted with this.

In reply to 759NRNG :

They certainly netted me.  This website is great, except for my productivity at work, and my sleep patterns, etc...

The R63 thread brought me to GRM, too. Now I'm reading many build threads, meeting some folks IRL, and trying to avoid damaging my marriage with project car ideas.

I got my R63 and she needs a bit of TLC. Dealer serviced to 107k miles but last 15k were a bit dubious. 

Motor mounts are SHOT, already on order.

Oil change pending arrival of Motul 5w-40 

need to research transmission and differential changes as I figure if I do it I’ll at least know when they were done last.

SRS light on due to broken connector under rear of driver seat. Bought new pins to crimp on and rebuild connector. $7 a piece from dealer!!!

Front left air bag or strut seems to slowly leak down in rest mode but rides normal height. Will be replacing both front airmatic strut assays with Arnott rebuilds. Will assess need to replace air pump and relay.

left license plate light out and already replaced it.

iCarsoft MB ii and factory service star DVD incoming.

Used MB Parts World for motor mounts and tranny mount as local dealer cost was bonkers. Also dealer quoted a different part number for left and right motor mounts then what every other (at least 10 separate locations) reference called for which had me concerned.

Rear auto hatch and latch don’t currently behave even after sleuthing to find “hatch height limit” in settings and turning it off. Hatch will auto up full height but on way down reversed back up at about halfway. Not clear on why yet. Quick line of hinges and springs didn’t help. Latch won’t full engage unless you manually close it “firmly”

besides that stuff it’s a 124k mile old rocket ship that can carry all four of my boys and the wifey.

will be documenting everything on YouTube on my soon to be up and running channel “DadMoto” and will be a fun journey but nowhere near as epic as your experience. 

Moved this post to a new thread so as to not hijack here.