Engine cranks for a second and stops.

[Noureddine Marigh]

Greetings,
Recently, I replaced the head-gasket on 97 Mercedes E320. The head was machined and I put on new bolts and torqued them to the specs. I put everything back together but I ran into this problem that I am trying to resolve. I am not sure what is this component called but if you look at the images, you will see that it not seated on the valve cover as it should (image #1). Inside this component, there is a gap that’s approximately 3/4″ round and it’s placed over what looks like a knob that sticks out of the valve cover and spins freely inside this thing. The first thought that came to my mind was that the camshaft was not seated/torqued properly as they took them out as the shop to resurface the head. I removed all brackets and checked to make sure it was installed properly; everything looks good there (I think). Back to image #1, the surface of the head is aligned with and valve cover surface, when I move my finger over, I can barely feel there is a groove in between, so I keep going back to the camshaft that is probably not aligned with something else. I decided to not install it and start the engine to make sure everything else works and something else came up. The engine cranks for 1 sec or less and stops. Battery, starter, etc., are good, there is spark, there is fuel, no issues there. I went ahead and tried to crank it manually and it turns only for about 45 degrees and stops. I am almost positive that there is a connection between this cranking issue and how that component is not aligned with the camshaft as I described in the beginning. Is it possible that the camshaft is bent though I can’t visually tell? What are other things to check for? Right now I would like to focus on getting the camshaft aligned with that thing and if I get to do so, I think the engine should turn over. Also, can I manually try turn the engine with both camshafts removed to make sure nothing inside the block is causing any issues?
keep getting Errors trying to upload images, here is the link: http://pho.to/8ACPw

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I would appreciate any kind of response!

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