Thank you Petr for the video which has prompted me to check mine.

So I am thinking I too have collapsed lifters on the 87 wagon because I am getting a pretty loud ticking when driving. This all seemed to appear after the last oil change in which I mistakenly overfilled by about 1.5 qts. I have since drained an refilled again to about 7.5L with the same Rotella T6 (been using that brand since I got it last year). The ticking is still there and a diesel purge didn't do much so injectors may be not the culprit.

How long do the lifters last if they are tick-ticking away. I ask because I wont be able to pull the valve cover and check for about a week; work and waiting for the gasket and other parts from PP.

This is my kids DD, so not many miles per week.

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Treetops
06 E320 CDI 127K Miles
87 300TD 231K Miles

99 E300 269K Miles-Sold

I think they will last indefinitely? I would get concerned about camshaft wear over a long period of time. I was about 400 miles from home when my '87 wagon developed a nasty lifter tick. Called my favorite mechanic for a consult, he advised that it would do no harm to drive back for him to do the work. I made contact with a local MBCA diesel guy, drove the wagon over to his place so we could pop the valve cover and see what was going on, by the time I got the car to his house the noise was largely gone.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

I kept the 12 set of lifter buckets from the first om603..230k....(cracked 17 head) The junk yard replacement ($1600) om603 had an uncracked #17 with 160k...and ran %100..(Lucky)...After 30k, I did hear lifter imbalance over the nailing), (bye the way...B-20 or greater biodiesel) makes a diesel engine very happy) or noisy taps..and because I had spares, I swapped them out...and it did make difference...however small! It's easy to do...but like me, you must be real.. anal!