Hello Friends,
I have a 96 SL320, The car has 124,000 miles on it. After I replaced all my leaky seals in the 104, I finally switched to synthetic oil. The gas mileage has increased, but now when I start my engine in the morning I get a ticking noise, sounds like a lifter. It goes away after the engine warms up. Oil pressure is better than ever, but this ticking noise in the AM is a concern. Should I be worried? My old 280CE ticked like a diesel all the time and ran fine, but this one never has. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Maybe flush the engine?
Best Regards,
Brian

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Brian W. Heitman

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Had the same problem. Even replaced the lifters - did not fix it. Not a total loss because I was able to stop the front cover leak.

What I was able to do to stop it was put in Mobil1 15W-50. As the temps got colder in the east here, I put in Mobil1 Delvac 5W-40. There's no lifter noise anymore.

If I could not find the Delvac, I would have stuck with the 15W-50. Some may argue that its not good - gets too thick in the cold. I can't argue with my ears: [ 0W40 = Noise at startup ] v.s. [ 15W-50 = No noise at startup]

This could be caused by the synthetic oil because it flows much better and therefore can flow OUT of the lifters overnight much easier than dyno oil did. Consequently, it takes some time for the lifters to pump back up in the morning. I used to own a 1990 300ce that had the 104 engine. The previous owner always used Amsoil synthetic and I thought the car had disconcertingly loud valvetrain noise at idle. I switched to dyno oil and the valvetrain noise subsided significantly. Thereafter I always used dyno oil just becasue the valvetrain noise with synthetic worried me so much.

Greg

You know I think you might of hit it right on, I used 0w-40w, I am going to go ahead and change over to 15w-50w. That makes sense. That 104 is a peppy little motor and for that many miles it still really goes! I just want to make sure I don't mess it up with the wrong oil. Thaks or the advice. I will change over this weekend and report back!
Happy Benzing!
B

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Brian W. Heitman

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How long does it take for the ticking to go away ? If its only for until it gets oil pressure, you may want to consider the timing chain tensioner/sliders if you havent done so already.

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I had the same click or tickle sound after I start the engine on my wife's 98 SL500. I thought is lifter, but I open the hood and found the sound is comes from right front small purge valve, not from the engine.