Re: [MBZ] Blowed-up engines

[Peter Frederick]

My brother blew the crank in his '75 300D W115 -- a previous rebuilder 
had been somewhat overgenerous with the orange silicone sealant, and 
had slopped a bunch on the oil filter housing gasket.  A large glob 
came loose and covered the oil hole in a main bearing, starving the #2 
main and crankpin of oil, caused the thrust bearing to spin in the 
block, and the #2 crankpin to score the crank, leading to a classic 
sharp radius crack failure.  The amazing thing is that the engine ran 
for some time with one side broken, held in place by the #1 bearing.

He dropped it at about 60, blew both sides of the oil pan out, chewed 
up the piston, and cracked the (already defunct) block.

New short block and a set of cam towers and it's running again, going 
on six years or so by now, I think.

Peter