Oh no!

Well, I DO still have a recording of your car idling right after the valve adjustment last month. It sounded right about perfect. I can't imagine something went wrong as a result of that, but maybe some jealous fan with an SLK tampered with it at the car show....

Seriously.....I guess if it was me, I'd start with what Brian said - looking at the fuel for possible contamination, change filters, and try running some fresh fuel from a portable container first (disconnect supply & return lines & put them in the can). Were you running bio? I had heard about some problems with contaminated biodiesel a few years back in this area.....also a few stations that sold bad gasoline earlier this year and ruined a bunch of cars....funny that I have heard about more bad fuel incidents since fuel costs got above $4/gallon, but maybe I'm just paying closer attention.

If fresh fuel doesn't fix it, maybe it'd be good to pull the valve cover again & take a look to make sure things are getting lubrication, chain is OK, etc...

I've never run my fuel tank down that low, so maybe it could be that some gunk loosened up in the bottom of the tank or reserve tank & plugged the strainer filter in the tank, starving the engine of fuel?

It's certainly unnerving when things don't sound right. Mine started nailing & ticking for a few weeks, not badly but noticeably...didn't drive it for a few weeks and this week, it sounds perfect. I didn't change a thing....

-Alain

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1976 240D "Katja"