Cams looked okay to me. There were some spots between the base circle and the tip of the lobe where the cam has not been maintaining full contact with the lifter. This was only evident on a few lobes, especially one of the number 6 exhaust lobes (the valve springs should probably be replaced periodically as a wear item). The majority of the cam lobes seemed nice and clean all around, no signs of serious metal wear on the lobes, they seemed to be uniformly smooth. I don't have a dial gauge to measure lift, so I can't say exactly how worn they are. I'll try to find out what happens and update everyone.

* Reading all these posts is giving me a headache. Is the engine oil level correct or isn't it? Does the engine have oil pressure at idle or doesn't it? At this point, listening to the owner's input isn't helping! Get some hard facts!!
* If there's no oil pressure at idle, the engine should be clattering. And if it's been clattering for several minutes of running you've done bearing damage. Hopefully she's not friend or relation and you can bail out of this deal soon.

__________________
ASE Master Tech
Quality Enterprises
Mercedes Svc. & Restoration
Sheridan, IN
317.769.3536

I spoke to this car's owner and found the real cause of the lost oil pressure was a broken oil pump chain. How often does that happen? She had it fixed by a reputable shop and they pulled the engine to fix it, replacing several leaky gaskets while it was out. I believe they also replaced the oil pump.