Is my baby mortally wounded?
 

300E 124 103 Engine. About 250,000 miles.

This morning I was driving my car, just like every morning. I was about three miles from home, going about 30MPH. I starting noticing a rattling noise, not unlike a pinging noise due to bad gasoline.

After a couple of blocks I stopped at a red light. The engine was rattling louder now, and its usual smooth idle seemed a bit rough. The light turned green and I proceeded. By now the rattling was louder...loud enough for me to pull off the road.

This was about the time I noticed that the oil pressure gauge was sitting at zero.

I shut it down. I had probably driven about 1/2 mile after the rattle was loud enough to hear. The coolant had just come up to full temp on the gauge and I imagine the bottom end was still quite cool.

The oil level is NOT low but there is no oil pressure.

So, I was considering replacing the pump (or the chain if it is broken).

Any thoughts?

that is a good possibllity but
 

i would also check the oil cooler lines.

might not be damaged. just have to fix the oil pressure problem and see what happens when you fire it up.

tom w

You could have dropped the oil pump chain. Rare, but possible. I've seen it on w124 diesels, but never a gasser.
Can you turn the engine over w/ a socket and breaker bar?
Best of Luck.

Yes it will turn over and is not locked up. It was still running when I shut it down.

I don't know what else it could be but the oil pump itself or the chain. The oil is still on board.

If the oil pump isn't running, I'd get it towed. Don't start the engine up until theres oil flowing again.

ditto
 

no driving or running.

tom w

If the noise was due to a lack of oil pressure on a 250k motor, good luck. You might pull the pan to verify the cause, but I'd be sure to check a couple rod bearings before I spent any money on the pressure repair.

We towed it here to the house and now my wounded steed is sitting in the driveway.

I had an oil pump drive chain break on a Mitsubishi engine once.

Does anyone know, is there room to lower the oil pan just enough to see the chain without raising the engine?

WRT difficulty...which is harder, removing the oil pan or replacing the water pump? I've done the water pump and I know people complain about it being a pain. Folks don't seem to need to pull the oil pan very often so there's not as much info on it.

Thanks

You can not remove the pan without lifting the motor, but there is room enough to lift the motor without removing it.

A friend of mine lost his oil filter on the highway. Nevertheless he decided to drive his relatively new Saab 75 km home, without any oil at all!!! The strange part is that the engine survived and has done an additional 100.000 km since that without any problems, so don't panic too much, there is a fair chance that your engine is okay.

Brg,
Karsten