Just changed my air cleaner mounts (1 of them, other two were fine) and now I have this annoying rattle on start up. Air cleaner does not appear to be hitting valve cover -where is the rattle actually coming from -in other words, what part of our air cleaner is actually creating the rattle? I know that this is a common problem and have seen the fix where a "bumper" is adhered to the valve cover but i would rather avoid this. Is there a air cleaner mounting procedure that eliminates air cleaner rattle? Thanks!

My recollection is that it hits the valve cover.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

What model are you inquiring about? That would help.

It may be that you did not line up the air cleaner housing with the tube it inserts into that drains oil back to the oil pan. It is on the bottom of the air cleaner and you have to put your hand under there and guide it in. There should be an O ring on the male part of the connection on the air cleaner to keep it from rattling in the larger tube that drops down to the crankcase.

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

hmmmm . . that is a possibility, I would think that the drain tube would be hard to miss, but I will check and will also check for absence of o-ring which could contribute to rattle. Car is an '82 300Sd Thanks!

Yes there is a fix. You drill a hole in the air cleaner where it comes in contact with the valve cover, and bolt in a rubber buffer.

You also may have a broken air cleaner bracket which causes a rattle/clank at start-up and shut-down.

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1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Kind of hate to do the buffer if I do not need to . . . .

x2. When I "mount" my air cleaner it does not line up with the oil tube. I don't know why, never been able to figure it out, but it doesn't - and if it slips out of place it tends to rattle pretty bad up to about 1200RPM.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

On the mount that bolts to the engine, there are two sets of holes for the buffers, make sure those are right, on the CD I do need to make sure the drain fits in properly.
On the SD I've wedged an exhaust pipe hanger between the housing and cam cover, no more rattling.

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83 SD

84 CD

Appearances can be deceiving. (I thought the same thing.) Try placing a rag, etc, between the housing and valve cover and see if it makes a difference.

For a more permanent solution, I split a piece of heater hose and placed it over the bracket on the top of the valve cover, using one of the bolts to secure it. No more rattle and no more replacing mounts every few months.

That was my problem and a new bracket fixed it.
But, I never did see where you identified the model.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/296386-fs-1-owner-83-mb-300d-turbo-rebuild-parts.html

thanks 1982 300sd

Also a 617 like my 83 300D. Remove the aircleaner housing and check the bracket. Mine had broken around one of the bolts that secures the bracket to the engine.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=296386

just removed bracket when I replaced mount as one mount was frozen and whole bracket had to be removed -I think if I bend up the mount arm closest to the passenger fender wheel the rattle will go away as pushing up here seems to make a difference - the drain tube is in the correct position -

I follwed advice in one of the threads where they said you can put a 1/2 or a 3/4 inch heater hose between the Air Filter Housing and the Intake Manifold and that has worked fine for me.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel