The front seal blew on my 89 240GL w/ ~308,000 mi on it. I talked to my mechanic and he said that it was caused by the base pressure rising in the engine and then the weakest seal blew to releave the pressure (that being the front seal which was leaking already). However, he also said that if the flame trap is relatively clean, then he doesn't think it could be the culprit of such a problem, and wouldn't want to put the new timing belt and new front seal in just to have it blow in a week or so if it wasn't the problem.

My question is this: Supposing he pulls the flame trap apart and there is little or no blockage, and it is questionable as to whether the flame trap is the culprit, should I have it replaced anyways and then have the seal and timing belt done, or should I see if I can go get the engine out of my recently junked 86 240DL and do a swap (86 had about 160,000 mi and was junked because the body went to hell)?