Answering my own post since a dealer ordering a new housing for the engine speed sensor on the distributor included a diagram from VIDA that shows the solution. It doesn't look like there's a circlip on the '88 distributor holding down the trigger wheel; It's attached to the timing shaft. To remove ...

The header on my distributor cracked, although the wires are still connected and it works fine. I pulled a replacement at the junkyard, but now I'm trying to figure out how to disassemble my distributor to put it in. The manual shows that there is supposed to be a circlip and aligning pin on the top ...

I finally had time to work on my '88 240 wagon this weekend. I had changed the timing belt months ago, but discovered that it was only happy with the timing advanced to about 20 degrees. Popular opinion was that I had slipped a tooth when putting it on. Everyone who guessed that was absolutely ...

Something that occured to me when I was (unsuccessfully) scouring a junkyard for a replacement harmonic balancer; The crankshaft spins twice for every turn of the camshaft, correct? I'm pretty sure that when I changed the broken timing belt, I only verified that the timing marks on the camshaft and ...

I'm trying to find a replacement window channel for my front passenger window (which has ripped and lets air and water in) and am having the devil of a time finding one to fit. I have one from a junkyard that I picked up for a couple of bucks, but it occured to me that if I'm going through the ...

Has anyone tried to adjust the horizontal location of the pedals in their 240? On mine, the gas is very close to the center console and not too far from the brake either. It's pretty easy for me to miss the gas and hit the break with my frankenstein like foot. It's also not terribly comfortable to ...

Oh, good idea! I'll give that a try next time I'm messing with it. Any thought on how the notch that lines it up with the crankshaft gear aligns with the timing notch? On mine, the timing mark is offset... actually, probably about 8 degrees now that I think about it.

You mean slipping around the vibration damper on the crankshaft pulley? Hmmm... So the timing marks don't "drift" around like I'd think they probably would if it was slipping intermittently. Is there a way to tell if the inner and outer parts of the pulley are no longer aligned? Should the inner ...

My refurbishment of my '88 240DL wagon continues. I pulled the throttle apart yesterday and cleaned everything (replaced gaskets both where it meets the intake manifold and between the idle air bypass and the throttle) and what a world of difference that made. One thing that I'm noticing though, I ...

In case anyone has similar symptoms, this was a combination of a stuck idle air controller, a groady throttle body, a hole in the air intake hose, and a busted climate control check valve (with presumably other leaks behind it)! Cleaning the first two and replacing the second two made this *MUCH ...