1979 450sl cam noise

[mbboy]

Originally Posted by sublettd

What's really puzzling was that we figured when we pulled the other valve cover we'd see the same thing occurring on that side. Pulled the cover and everything on that side was beautifully pristine. Maybe the rocker arms we put on the passenger side had not been hardened. They were certainly being lubricated. If anyone has any theories, I'd be interested in hearing them. Thanks.

I had to replace the rockers on the passenger side of my 81 380sl after a valve job, but the other side was fine, For some reason, the passenger side seems to be more problematic than the driver's side. Did you reshim the valves after you changed the cams and rockers?

[benzportland]

With respect to the oil tubes I have heard that there were two different sizes, I believe it was 8 mm and 10 mm but that somewhat frequently the wrong size is used?

[benzportland]

I've ordered the Bergsma book "Surviving Catastrophic V8 Engine Failures" for the 450sl so I'll let y'all know how helpful that is.

[sublettd]

My posts have been in relation to the 500SL (Euro).

You are correct about replacing the oilers. They are one-time use and are one of the few inexpensive things on the SL. No sense in scrimping here.

As to replacing Camshafts and Rocker Arms. My mechanic is adamant that you never replace just one rocker arm when replacing the camshaft. He's worked on MB for over thirty years and sold me all my parts at cost. So he has no profit motive in his statement. After installing the new rocker arm(s), you must check the valve clearance. It isn't hard, but does require a special MB tool.

I kept the old camshafts and am now wishing I'd kept the old cam towers, but we did replace the old ones with OE. Because the camshafts showed very slight wear after putting almost 150,000 miles on them, I opted to go ahead and replace them since we were doing a complete engine rebuild. If I have another problem with the rocker arms on either side, I'll be reinstalling the old camshafts and buying new rocker arms from the dealership. Doesn't make sense that ther should be a recurring problem with the cams and rocker arms.

Anyway, I should get the car back early next week after putting new cushions and leather skins on the seats. If anyone is interested, I have two black sheepskin seat covers for sale for about $200.00. I'll pay the shipping. They are fairly new and show no signs of wear. I'll be making another post regarding them in the SL forum, but in case anyone reading here wants them, you'll get first dibs.

[benzportland]

Congrats on the new seats! That's a little further down my own list. I looked at the "Catastrophic Failures" book and between that and the factory service manual I picked up, I just may be able to do this myself. What the book says about the oilers is alarming: The author says he has found them broken or even detached inside the cam cover, because the small plastic clips which hold them in place simply break down over time. Made me think everyone should check and replace these occassionally.

[450slcguy]

Originally Posted by benzportland

With respect to the oil tubes I have heard that there were two different sizes, I believe it was 8 mm and 10 mm but that somewhat frequently the wrong size is used?

The 450 uses the larger ones. No way can the smaller could be used, they won't fit on the metal oiler rail.

[benzportland]

I must have gotten that vice/versa.

[benzportland]

Originally Posted by 450slcguy

The 450 uses the larger ones. No way can the smaller could be used, they won't fit on the metal oiler rail.

But someone apparently did. I finally got around to taking the covers off and taking out the tubes to clean them. I set them on my bench and noticed one is an 8mm, the other is a 10mm. The 8mm fit just fine onto the towers as it also had the clips for an 8mm tube. The 8mm was pretty well clogged on one end, and under that end on the camshaft is a scratch which is easily discernible with my fingernail. I am guessing there is some connection between the smaller oiler tube and wear to that camshaft?