(Another good reason for always using a torque wrench, not just to ensure that bolts are tightened but also not over-tightened.)

On close inspection it was obvious that it was this that had led to the injector being blown from its seating. By this time the car was out of the retailer's warrantee period for the work that had been carried out and of course the garage would not admit to having bodged the job anyway he also realised now that it was a total waste of time taking it to this particular garage, if they had bodged the job once then there was every chance they would do it again. And as Rick himself says "he would rather let a Typhoo Tea chimp work on it than take it back to that garage" a little unfair to chimp's but I can appreciate his sentiment.

Rick now being confronted by a very large bill if Mercedes undertook the work, of not only the engine problem but also rear springs, which also needed replacing, had to make some decisions as the car was now a non runner, after some thought he decided to investigate the possibilities of doing the job's himself.

Like the rest of us he found that his problem was exacerbated by the fact that there is very little information available on the car and that no Haynes manual exists, however e-mails that run into double figures to and from lofty resulted in him having sufficient information to assess the situation, and as a result he started the job.

His first major problem was getting the stripped thread replaced and a new bolt of the correct length and thread provided, this could not be a standard Mercedes replacement bolt as the head ofthe engine had to be re-tapped (drilled and re-threaded) to replace the damaged thread, this resulted in using an 8mm diameter bolt, but the mechanic contracted to undertake this work cut a number 1 pitch thread (fine thread) so as to afford more torque, as is the case with the Mercedes thread, although this was a sound idea in theory it proved the cause of yet more problems as that thread value was not available, off the shelf on an 8mm bolt, which is normally 1.25 pitch, so Rick had to get the bolt made. Never the less undaunted he managed to find a company that was able to supply the bolt, in fact he ordered two. The injector that had been released/blown from its housed position due to the defective bolt was re-usable but Rick had cut the retaining claw away to enable him to remove it, one more component that would have to be replaced, however the blown injector was salvaged.
re-usable but Rick had cut the retaining claw away to enable him to remove it, one more component that would have to be replaced, however the blown injector was salvaged.

Next problem, close inspection revealed the neighbouring injector held by the same claw and bolt had either leaked or was subject to heavy carbon deposits from the original or recent leak,
this needed to be checked out, Rick knew he was wasting his time if he just ignored it and so he decided to remove this second injector.

This however was easier said than done as it turned out the second injector was well and truly stuck which was why Rick had been compelled to cut the claw away, it appeared at this point that nothing was going to move it.
Rick spent a great deal of time struggling to remove this injector and tried all manner of things including soaking the area with solvents to try and break the seal of the baked carbon deposits, he did manage after a considerable period of time to move it slightly but that was it. Rick was in a catch 22 situation he really needed
to remove the camshaft cover to be able
to get at the injector but the injector had to be removed before the cover could be removed.
Rick was aware that in the process of working on this difficult injector he would cause some
minor damage to the cover and so had decided
to replace it anyway, he therefore broke the
cover away to provide him with the space he
needed.