I just purchased a 380 SEC, from a fellow over at benzworld. My intentions with the car when i have time will be to swap in a diesel and give myself a second 300 SDC, well on to the topic of this post.

There is ticking, coming from the valve cover, and when I looked through the oil cap, the cam lobe appeared to have some damage on it.

The car has good oil pressure, and does not overheat, I drove it 500 miles today to get it home, but the ticking seemed to become more evident later in the day.

Does this ticking indicate an impending timeing chain failure, The heads on this engine are marked with junkyard grease pen, 85 380 SE, and the car is an 83 380 SEC, so it appears the heads have been changed.

I have no history of this car, but is is relatively safe to drive with the "ticking" noise. I noticed that the car runs alittle rich, and does not have an abundance of power.

The previous owner claimed that the car had been ticking for as long as he owned it.

Lets hear your thoughts

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1984 Euro 300SDC, (4spd standard)
1986 Toyota Landcruiser Diesel HJ60 5spd X2

Gone but not forgotten (some sold, some stripped)
1983 300 SD, 1985 300 SD, 1983 240D, 1986 300 SDL, 1985 300 SDL, 1983 300 D, 1984 300 D, 1985 300SD, 1987 300 SDL, 1983 300 SD, 1985 300 TD Euro, 1983 380SEC, 1990 300 D, 1987 300D, 1982 300D, 1982 300D, 1994 E420, 1987 300 TD, 1987 300 D, 1984 300 D