What did the mechanic do?!?! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

cth350 · #16 10-19-2008, 10:44 PM

As my friend Ron says, "nothing is more expensive than a cheap mercedes".

Well, you might as well do what the mechanic did and undo the valve cover. Then see if anything wiggles. If it does, and only for cylinder one, then you know what's wrong. After that, you'll have to read the manual a bit to get a feel for what's in front of you.

If you live in an area with pick & pulls, find a dead M103 motor like yours to experiment with and take apart the valve train to see how it ticks.

Then again, if you're not mechanically inclined, don't do that and just pass the car on or find it a used motor.

-CTH

mpolli · #17 10-20-2008, 12:25 AM

Search is your friend. Search on "300E lifter". You will find lots of threads. Genarally lifters are not "too hard" to replace but it depends on your skill level. But everyone seems to agree that is the trouble and not really a huge deal unless it goes unfixed for a while and causes cam damage as Steve said. Steve's 3rd post is what you need to know. He is usually right even though I don't understand what he says half the time.

Hirnbeiss · #18 10-20-2008, 06:15 AM

[QUOTE=mpolli;1997232]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirnbeiss

I fgure a car always costs at least $200K/month: either in average maintenance expense, or in regular car payments.QUOTE]

You and Paris Hilton are the only 2 people spending this much on cars!

OK, OK it's budget season - I have too many K's on the brain!

I'll edit out.

david s poole · #19 10-20-2008, 09:44 AM

based on your info,i would think that your problem lies with the bolts that hold down the rocker assemblies.the head is aluminum and the bolts are steel and one or more of the bolts [probably on one assembly] have pulled loose.there are two choices.find the bolt[s] with the pulled threads and buy some bolts that are 10mm longer [at the threads]and you can take advantage of the extra unused threads at the bottom of the hole.tighten to about 15ft/lbs.or to do the job correctly,buy a helicoil kit and redo the damaged holes.this is a permanent fix.you can do this job yourself.good luck.

CWW · #20 10-20-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jed89300E

I know, I know. Promise it's true. What's more is I had to make him take the $100. He bought it for his son (16), and when the mechanic told him about the valve, he wrote it off. I think he paid $1,200 for it, which is why I insisted on giving him something for it. I tried to tell him that it couldn't be too bad since, after all, it IS a Mercedes, and only has 116K on it. Almost anything wrong with it would be worth fixing (he DOES have the money). He went ahead and bought his son some SUV and called me saying "come get this thing out of my driveway - it's taking up a spot". I think a lot of the kindness came from the fact that my wife had just wrecked our '94 Jetta into something that fell off of a semi (no lisence plate recorded) and she has nothing to drive. Also, poeple who are used to driving american cars don't realize that 120K on a MB is considered 'low mileage'. He simply did not know what he had. I'll take and upload pictures...I am not pulling anything...Promise!!

All I have to say is, if you have any more friends with cars like that, then you're MORE than welcome to send them my way.

I will happily do them the favor of taking a low-mile MB off their hands for $100, day and night 24/7 365. Lol.

CWW · #21 10-20-2008, 11:54 AM

Oh ya, one more thing.

When I used to drive really old cars instead of just moderately old cars, I had pretty good luck with using Rislone to free up stuck lifters. It's a simple concentrated solvent, doesn't cost much, and you can pick it up at autozone.

Run that for 1k miles in combination with some relatively thin oil, and then change the oil and filter and do it again. It eats out the varnish, and will probably solve your problem, if it really is a stuck lifter.

Some people swear by the idea of dumping a quart or two of ATF in the crankcase, since apparently it's got a lot more detergents in it than motor oil and even most motor oil additives, but I could never screw up the courage to try that myself.

Jed89300E · #22 10-20-2008, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david s poole

based on your info,i would think that your problem lies with the bolts that hold down the rocker assemblies.the head is aluminum and the bolts are steel and one or more of the bolts [probably on one assembly] have pulled loose.there are two choices.find the bolt[s] with the pulled threads and buy some bolts that are 10mm longer [at the threads]and you can take advantage of the extra unused threads at the bottom of the hole.tighten to about 15ft/lbs.or to do the job correctly,buy a helicoil kit and redo the damaged holes.this is a permanent fix.you can do this job yourself.good luck.

That makes sense. I feel confident doing this myself. Thanks a ton!

cliffmac · #23 10-20-2008, 08:49 PM

probably not coming up, but that really shouldn't stop the engine from running properly. More of an inconvience than a mechanical problem. Plus there are lifter cleaners available that may clear the problem, plus a lifter is no big deal to change, just have to pull the cam and drop a new one in. Good Luck...

dkveuro · #24 10-20-2008, 08:54 PM

Most likely the lash cap has popped off the element. Don't think a mallet will help with that !

Ticks are mostly due to worn cam ramp and follower finger pad worn.

Pull the cam cover you lazy begger and take a look, we all wanna know !

.

Johnhef · #25 10-20-2008, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david s poole

based on your info,i would think that your problem lies with the bolts that hold down the rocker assemblies.the head is aluminum and the bolts are steel and one or more of the bolts [probably on one assembly] have pulled loose.there are two choices.find the bolt[s] with the pulled threads and buy some bolts that are 10mm longer [at the threads]and you can take advantage of the extra unused threads at the bottom of the hole.tighten to about 15ft/lbs.or to do the job correctly,buy a helicoil kit and redo the damaged holes.this is a permanent fix.you can do this job yourself.good luck.

I was reading through the replies to your problem and came across this one, this is exactly what I was going to suggest... so I second it

Jed89300E · #26 10-21-2008, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnhef

I was reading through the replies to your problem and came across this one, this is exactly what I was going to suggest... so I second it

Thanks for that. This one makes the most sense, since there was some "tightening" of some "bolts" somewhere along the line. I have a pal with a helicoil kit and plenty of MB knowledge. We're going to get into it next week. I'll post an update and some pictures if anyone is interested. Thanks again to all for helping a newbie out.
Jed

hanno · #27 10-21-2008, 08:03 PM

Agree with the rocker assy bolt(s) at this stage, but believe that the cam/lifter was the cause of the initial ticking. "tightening" by a non-MB familiar tech will result in the bolt holes being stripped. I think the required torque is less than 15 lb.ft. I had to do 3/4 of them in a replacement head from an outfit that had "international" in their name. The international didn't include German

It had about 6 that wouldn't hold on the bench test, another group that just looked bad, and group "c" that didn't hold at final install. The kicker was the instructions that actually stated that a "heli-coil was something that anyone can do". I didn't argue with that, I just didn't take if for a huge hint.

waybomb · #28 10-21-2008, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jed89300E

Thanks for that. This one makes the most sense, since there was some "tightening" of some "bolts" somewhere along the line. I have a pal with a helicoil kit and plenty of MB knowledge. We're going to get into it next week. I'll post an update and some pictures if anyone is interested. Thanks again to all for helping a newbie out.
Jed

Do youreslf a favor. If there is room, use a Keensert instead of that helicoil spring.

david s poole · #29 10-22-2008, 12:26 PM

i still say that the easiest way is to procure bolts with longer threads and try them first to see if there are any other issues,as depending on how long it has been run like that,there could be a damaged rocker arm.usually don't see lifter issues with that engine unless very old thick oil left to sit for six mths or so.