Bought from the original owner, at 129k #2 cylinder is now almost at zero compression. My shop tried all the techniques making damn sure everything is covered before teardown.
I was looking at it yesterday. How the heck do they pull the head? My guess is dropping the motor. I gave the shop the OK to tear into it. I want it for the back of my Motorhome. (I might have a rack build for the Smart to ride on).
I don't know how common it is. I bought a non-runner myself relatively recently and need to drop the engine and see quite what the issue is and either replace or repair. I've seen where some folks have somehow managed to get the head off with the engine assembly in place, but it doesn't look easy.
Much easier to remove the entire drivetrain and have the head reworked from there. Pretty sure you'll find burned valve seats; if so, better to replace all the valves, seals, etc. while the head is off. Also a good time to check the water pump, thermostat, belts, timing chain, etc. Again, much easier to do those with the engine out of the car.
Some folks use 4”, IIRC, rods to lower the drivetrain without completely dropping it from the body. That should allow access to and removal of the head.
They do, and smart even showed that in the Intro to Service manual for the 451. When M-B Cincinnati did the head replacement on our 2011 the tech said dropping the drivetrain was a lot easier than doing the work with the long bolt method. YMMV, of course. 🙂
I can see that for a shop with the A/C evacuation machine and a lift to raise the body off the engine assembly...however for the person doing this in their driveway/garage without these things...
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