Ok so I already know that I messed up really bad and I likely made a stupid mistake. I just really need help figuring out what I did wrong. I decided that my 1984 200es needed new rings when it started burning oil at all times. So I ordered the proper set of rings and gaskets and figured I’d also replace the piston while I was in there. I followed the instructions of several YouTube videos and forums that I read and set to it. Everything came out and went together properly as far as I could tell. However, I am no expert and could have easily done something wrong. I did new seals on the block, new piston, and new rings. I staggered the rings and used the old piston as a guide to see what order they were in. Everything is torqued to spec and I re-timed the engine.

THE PROBLEM: once I got everything together and started the motor, I noticed a few things. For one there is a pretty bad oil leak from the lower seal on cylinder section only when the motor is on. So I likely have a gasket issue there. The major issue is that A good bit of smoke was coming from the crank vent. I opened up the oil fill cap and it felt like I had my hand over the exhaust pipe. The exhaust was coming out of the crank case. Keep in mind the engine is running great. I shut it down as soon as I noticed the issue and haven’t run it since. So somewhere along the way I royally screwed up. I have no idea what I could have done to cause this big of an issue. Any thoughts or advise would be very helpful. Thanks!