Mercedes 240 Engine Swap

The engine in my 84 Mighty Max is becoming more of a disappointment ..... After rebuilding the injector pump with a 9mm head I had one of my guys install it. The previous owner mixed up the rocker arm bearing caps...no oil to the rocker shaft causing the front bearing to seize taking out two rocker arms. Pulled the head and had the repairs done. I had one of the part time evening guys install the head and I wanted him to wait and not fire up the engine till I came back i the morning. Well..... they started the engine and ran it for a while. One of the day guys told me that he thought the engine was too hot but the one who fired it up said, "Oh no, the temp gauge is right in the middle." When it began leaking oil they shut it down. The balance shaft bearing was pushing out against the side cover! I suspect there is journal damage after seeing the beat up bearing.


So.. I need to pull the engine to find the damage. In the mean time I found a complete Mercedes 240 engine with clutch and 4 speed transmission with 65k miles. The price is right!

Has anyone swapped out the the original diesel engine with a 4 cylinder Mercedes engine? I'm not sure about the final drive in the Mighty Max but I believe it to be about 3.9 while the Mercedes is about 3.6. I don't have the measurements yet for the Mercedes ..... Just looking for some information on the conversion if anyone has done it.

Thanks, Bob

Someone named 300D50 did an OM617 into a Ram 50. Walt? I can't remember his name. There are pictures and at least one build thread on various forums, hunt around, you'll find them.

Have you thought about scrapping the 4D55 and buying a brand new 4D56 will all of the accessories from Canada? Direct bolt in, no hacking away huge amounts of metal to shoehorn the Benz into the truck.

If you want something done right... that must've been a blow to find that waiting for you in the morning. I'd be a little concerned about the cost of replacement parts for the Merc engine. But I admit, it would be different (I have a feeling that you're going to be the only one who will know how this set up will go in - someone's gotta go first :))

Thanks for the quick response. I could rebuild the engine, I don't think that would be a problem but I'm looking for a less expensive way to go. I'm already deeper into this than I planned. What ever I do, the truck is coming home to my garage and I'll do the work in the evening! I paid the guys at my shop to do the work and I am getting no where. :bang:

What's the cost of a new engine from Canada?