M104 Ticking at Start Up
 

I have a '95 C280 with 87k on the 104 engine. I've been running 15W40 conventional oil and have started to notice a slight ticking at start up. It goes away when the car warms up. Any ideas what it could be? How to stop it and should I worry about it? Is this normal?

i bet
 

you will find it will stop if you go to a thinner oil. i used 1540 in my 500sec for a little while too, but one lifter would stick on startup til i had 1500 miles on the oil change. i switched to 1030 mobil 1 and have no problem since.

tom w

try running lighter oil... 15W40 on C280..... too thick on cold start!!!

Thanks for the information. I of course just changed the oil yesterday, so it will be awhile until I change it again. Do you recommend 10W30 or 0W30 synthetic?