Would really appreciate our Tech opinions based upon their experience with this motor's (3.2L- 24 valve) lifters & valve repair/problems.

Have a '94 E320 Coupe Starmark (purch at 60k miles) currently has 84K miles. Car is at San Francisco Factory Authorized Service receiving all new lifters (again). All lifters and all valves were replaced about 8k miles ago.

I'm wondering what may have caused premature lifter/ valve failure in the first place, and now- what possible culprits may have caused premature lifter failure again less than ~8k miles later?

I visited the shop last week and took a quick look at the cams. I observed that the lobe closest to the firewall on each cam, appeared to have more wear compared to the other lobes on each cam. Is this normal for an 84K 3.2L-24 valve motor? I'm wondering if cam lobe excessive wear may be cause of original valve/ lifter failure and recurring lifter failure? I posed this question to service advisor whom came back with an opinion from shop foreman- that wear appeared normal and would not be cause of valve/ lifter failure (no measurements).

The message continued from shop foreman that the lifter failure was probably due to installation of faulty lifter(s) - ~8k miles ago.

So I continue to wonder if the original (repl. lifters/ & valves) and current diagnosis (repl. lifters) is reasonable to fix probable causes and if the car is truely being repaired correctly? My service advisor indicates that the procedure to diagnose includes starting car periodically (ea. 20 minutes) but I'm unaware of the review procedures beyond this.

The car has been meticulously maintained (oil changes 2500-3000miles) and not abused. The temp. fluxes between a tad over 80 to 100 and oil pressure has always appeared within normal ranges.

I have about 15k miles left on the Starmark warranty and my wondering has led to concern that the repairs will truely address the causes of the failures and these problems will not unduly recurr after the 100K mile warranty expires. Its a great looking and running vehicle and it would be a sad story to see this gremlin recurr.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

-fad

[This message has been edited by -fad (edited 10-23-2000).]

[This message has been edited by -fad (edited 10-23-2000).]

[This message has been edited by -fad (edited 10-24-2000).]