A specialist who has been repairing Mercedes for 34 years, and has an excellent reputation, advised me on a blown head gasket situation that I have, but I'd like to get the group's opinion on the following situation.
This is the 603 engine, W124...an '87 300D Turbo. The engine had been running hot for about 2,000 miles. I thought it was a faulty gauge because it was running really well. It went beyond the temp's redline for a couple of miles and blew the headgasket and wouldn't run. Upon removing the head, I can see where the gasket blew out, but there are also cracks visible between all the valves (a total of 6 cracks -- 1 cracks between every set of 2 valves).
A lot of folks are telling me that this particular head cracks frequently and either has to be repaired or replaced. Others are saying that's hogwash and it is no more likely to crack than any other MB Diesel head.
The specialist told me that if the head passes a pressure test, just put it back together with the new head gasket set and it'll run fine. The cracks, he says, are so far away from the water passages that they can be ingored, and are essentially superficial.
Is this true? It's $1,000 worth of labor to gamble that he is right.