Tick, tick fixed tnx to Donnie! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JimF · #1 05-16-2002, 04:09 PM

Not sure that you would want to do this as a scheduled maintenance item.

Having gone through this, I now know what to do if the oil pressure drops/changes suddenly! Didn't have a clue before but now it would signal removal of the valve cover(s) to immediately fix.

But the bad part is, that you may not get a tick-tick sound right after the oil pressure changes. Thinking back, the oil pressure changed, then about 2 - 3 weeks later, the ticking started.

If you don't wait, you would have to pull both valve covers in the worst case to find the 'culprit'. It only takes ONE open oil tube to drop the oil pressure but without the tick-tick, it's a crap shoot as to which side it's on.

Re 'SOUND': Mine was a nice clean tick, with a 'clean' note. Not a 'smashing' sound but a more clean tick! Anyone can hear it from the outside although it's almost impossilbe to hear in the car with the windows up. Hope that answers your question.

400E · #2 05-16-2002, 09:03 PM

Thanks, Jim and Steve!
Good info to have . . .

Michael · #3 05-16-2002, 09:18 PM

Are the new parts updated/different part number?

Thanks for sharing. What kind of oil do you run, Jim? Are you the original owner?

Awesome harness, BTW-my car's not been over 100, and I beat it BAD on the track

JimF · #4 05-17-2002, 11:05 AM

The oil tube part number is the same as it is in the photo: 119 180 03 66. That's the PN that was in my car although the TSB says its 119 180 02 66.

Some discussion: Why the hell isn't that part just a single molded tube. What's with the plug in the end??? As a design engineer for 41 years, that design is just waiting to fail!!! Putting in an end cap that can blow out!

Since Mercedes issued a TSB in 1995, that means that this part is (and has been) a problem! So why haven't MB improved it?? Enough of that soapbox.

Bought the car three (3) years ago, and have had no major problems with it. I use 20-50 Valvoline every 3K miles.

#5 05-17-2002, 05:04 PM

Yes Jim and Steve, thanks for sharing!

There are many V8 M119.974 500E/E500, 400E (M119.975), S-Class, and SL-Class owners out there that are very fond of our little machines, every little shred of information like the kind you have provided ensures that these engines will be around a long, long time.

Regarding my maintenance question earlier, I was unsure if this is something that does happen to this engine eventually, given enough time. This is the first mention of Oil Tubes here that I can recall, so I am trying to get all the details straight.

Thanks Again.

mak · #6 01-01-2010, 11:27 PM

Like to know if the 103 engine have a similar oil pipe problem too? Any TSB
mak

long-gone · #7 01-02-2010, 12:14 AM

No, the M103 has no such tubes. I believe there's a machined oil gallery the length of the head with a metal plug in the end. If you send a 103 head to the machine shop for a rebuild, a good shop will take the plug out before cleaning and seal it back up again.
There's a metal (maybe plastic on later models?) oiler tube that sits over the valvetrain and drips oil onto the rockers but that's a somewhat different purpose item

johnflight1 · #8 01-02-2010, 03:20 AM

What should the oil press be at idle warmed up? I have 260k on mine and it is as quiet as a church mouse, but the press is just less than 1 bar at idle when warm.It is full bore when driving at speed.

JimF · #9 05-17-2002, 09:50 PM

It does appear that those tubes can fail at any time. Let's face it. A poorly manufactured end in the tube could fail immediately. So I don't know why MB would persists with this design. Another one of life's unanswered questions!

However practically speaking, it does appear that they last for awhile. In my case, it's somewhat indeterminate since the original parts were replaced. Org part number was xxx xxx 02 xx.

My car just turned 100k; I bought it with about 75K on it. So there's no real way of determining how long they will last. But rest assured that engine heat, oil pressure and time will get at least one of them!

jsap · #10 11-09-2006, 05:35 PM

I've been having ticking that's been increasing over the past two years, from a single tick tick tick to multiple ticks that change with the engine speed, so I just examined all of my oil tubes for broken plugs. But they're all intact!

So, now I'm out of luck on finding the solution to my problem.

Others have said that a worn motor mount could be the problem, but the mounts look fine on visual inspection.

But, I do have a couple of leads.

1) when I pushed the oil tubes, they actually pushed in under the cam braces by about 1/8". So, could the tubes all be clogged, so the oil pumps sucks and pushed them, causing the tubes to tick back and forth? Or, could the oil tube O-rings be bad, and need replacing (there's 32 of them, 2 for each tube)

2) when I got this car a couple of years ago, I switched to Mobile 1 Synthetic 0W-40. And during those two years, the ticking got worse gradually. I'm thinking about switching to Dino oil, or should I go with 10W-50 Synthetic, or half Dino and half Synthetic?

JimF · #11 11-09-2006, 07:13 PM

A bad lifter is a rare commodity in a M119 engine . . . it's possible, just not highly probable.

If you read MENU#19, you will see how I solved my problem in two steps;
use of an 'engine-flush' and then use of Auto-RX for 2000 miles.

If you have ever used an additive such as Slick 50, Prolong, etc., then you probably had the same problem as I did; partially plugged oil passages and probably a partially plugged lifter.

All I can say, it has worked for me.

jsap · #12 11-09-2006, 07:30 PM

I've been reading your page about this problem for a long time now, but there's two things that keeps me from trying the cleaner:

One is that I don't drive my car very much anymore, so it would take me four months to drive 1000 miles.

Another is that I thought Mobile 1 would act as a good cleaner itself.... But if I'm wrong, I can try the cleaner method....

Also, I've never used Slick 50 or other engine additives, and the ticking got worse gradually after using Synthetic....

gmercoleza · #13 11-09-2006, 07:43 PM

I have light ticking which appears to be coming from the valve train in my 85 380SE - M116 if I'm not mistaken. Nothing major, but I am very in tune to the smallest noise in all my vehicles and this one kind of detracts from an otherwise glass-smooth running engine. Is the M116 prone to this as well?

JimF · #14 05-13-2003, 09:03 PM

Well, the tick-tick is back!!!

As I was pondering how to tell the 'world' that Auto-RX didn't do anything different than the other products, I discovered that the tick-tick was on the LEFT side of the engine, NOT the right (as it has been). So see what happened last year, check this link to my page:
http://pages.prodigy.net/jforgione/MB_S500.html Select MENU #19 to see one those bad 'critters'!

Upon closer examination, it definitely was on the LEFT side, so off came the valve cover. Guess what? One of the infamous oil tubes was open. That, of course, was the cause of the ticking lifter!!!

So Auto-RX's fame is still intact and the inside of my engine is absolutely clean. Should have taken some pics but was at my tech's shop. The mileage is about 400, so will leave it in a few more hundred miles before changing.

Regards . . . . JimF

ke6dcj · #15 05-22-2003, 12:02 AM

I mentioned this to the local MB tech who also has a 500E, and he said that the 1992-1993 500E's are not susceptible since their tubes are made of metal.

All other models that used the 500E engine, and especially those after 1993, had plastic tubes, and were susceptible. He also said the dealer replaces these all the time on the M119 engine.

:-) neil
1988 360TE
1993 500E