Does anyone know if a lower timing rail hadfailded, would I get the intermittent noise that I'm describing above. Or, would the nose always occur without regard to factors such as the car setting, and starting when warm.

I'm thinking hard about pulling the lower oil slump pan this weekend to verify there are no timing rails parts floating around. Since I changed the oil this past weekend with Mobil 5w 50 at $5 per quart., I'm not wanting to wast any "liquid gold." Guess I could try and recapture the oil for reuse back into the engine.

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Russell McMahon
Tulsa, OK
2001 CLK 320
1992 400se
1993 400e
2000 320ML