Hi , I just upgraded to a lovely '88 300 sel ,, very smooth quiet car ,, just as you would expect .
BUT ,, when I got it home from the dealer , and left it overnight ,, the first cold start I gave it , it rattled until the oil pressure came up.
Sounds very much like loose valve adjustment , or maybe cam chain .... went smooth and quiet as soon as the oil pressure cam up.
Car has 130,000 miles ( 210,000kms )
No record of servicing was available ,, probably why it was so cheap .
But it runs so good apart from the startup noise .
Anyone experienced this ?

__________________
'72 240D
'76 300D
'88 300sel
'40 Chev pickup , the shop hack.
'73 Monte Carlo Landau, for "Super Chevy Sunday"

Lifters are going bad, fairly common and easy to fix. Test lifters by trying to compress with a screwdriver. If you can squash them, they are shot.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

o k, thanks ,, so I guess that they must be hydraulic ..
I did think that they ran directly onto the cam , like my wifes 300D ,,
but if I understand you correctly , they are different to the Diesel style . ?

__________________
'72 240D
'76 300D
'88 300sel
'40 Chev pickup , the shop hack.
'73 Monte Carlo Landau, for "Super Chevy Sunday"

The M103 has tappets in the ends of the rocker arms, no need to remove the cam to change them. The rockers pivot on the cam bearing housings.

Very slick design.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Shouldn't this topic be moved to Tech Help?

Thanks Peter , I will look into that .
DslBnz , this can be moved any where , any time , just let me know .
I had no idea where to put it , ,, guess I was lucky Peter was cruisin' eh. .

__________________
'72 240D
'76 300D
'88 300sel
'40 Chev pickup , the shop hack.
'73 Monte Carlo Landau, for "Super Chevy Sunday"

I have the same noise on my 88 300CE, lifters for sure .

__________________
Democracy dies in darkness, you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Mine are whisper quiet -- only 50,000 miles on them! Head was done (new cam, lifters, rockers, valves) at 160,000 miles.

Notation on the ticket says "need to change the oil more often".

Expensive lesson, eh? Good for me, though -- Mom only puts about 8000 miles a year, max, on the car, so I'll only have to do that job again if I start driving it to work every day.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!