lifters ticking
 

'92 300SE. Sometimes as short as overnight, others it takes a day or so, but eventually, several of the valve lifters leak down and I get a ticka-ticka-ticka sound at startup.

All but one of the ticking lifters are fully silenced by the time the oil pressure hits 3 on the gauge - maybe 2-3 seconds after startup.

One persistent beggar will tick for some time afterwards, but once there's a little heat in the motor, he's quiet, too.

I run Castrol 20W-50 and change it regularly.

My mechanic suggests I try an oil treatment like seafoam on a couple of cycles to see if we can clean out what is probably some coking of the oil around the check-balls in the lifters.

Car runs fine, smooth at idle, etc.

I'd like to avoid paying probably $1500 to have the lifters replaced. I can do the work myself, but I simply don't have the time.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) silenced my noisy lifters. I put 1/2 quart in the crankcase, and a quart or so in the gas tank. It took a few days but it made a difference.

cdplayer
 

I have read some suggesting to use Mobil 1 synthetic.
My SEC has 237,000 and tics too. Well, it did. I tried synthetic right after I got the car to clean it out. Boy does this stuff clean!
Then after 7000 miles or so I went back to my regular high mileage oil.

I noticed the ticking had returned. So I am currently using Mobil 1 15wt 50.

$8.00 a quart is a little stiff to handle, but this stuff really works.
Ticking gone again.

Heck if it works
great
Sure beats a engine rebuild...

Might even try it myself...

:D

I had that trouble with my 84 500sec when I first got it. I put rotella in it. I switched to mobil one 10w30 and it went away. Thinking it was cleaned out I went back to rotella and it came back. Then I switched to mobil one permanently. I ran the mobil one a bit longer and the money thing worked out about equal.

Tom W

Why use a lighter oil?
don't specs go 20W50 on hi mile engines?

20W50 is extremely heavy, I don't see why you would run it in any car.

Try some synthetic 5w40, see if that doesn't clear them up. I know Delvac 1 helped the lifters on my 603 a lot.

The owners manual for my car recommends 20w-40 or 20w-50 from temps of 32f up to "oh my gawd it's hottt".

It also shows 15w-40 and 15w-50 with same upper temp allowance, but downward to 5f, 10w-40 down to 0 f, and 5w-50 for any temp range found on planet Earth.

I picked 20w-50 because my mechanic recommended it, and we do get those "oh my gawd it's hottt" days down here in Houston.

Understand, the lifters aren't ticking when the motor is running - only at initial startup. I don't think the viscosity of the oil is going to determine how quickly the lifter leaks down. In fact, I would think a thinner oil might leak down more quickly. That assumption is based on my thinking that the problem is related to coking of the oil around the check-ball and sealing surfaces in the lifter, allowing the oil to leak back out when the pressure drops.

I will concede that the single lifter that is sometimes reluctant to pump up, but does so once the motor warms up, is slow to pump up because of the thicker oil.

With the amount of miles I put on the car, and my penchant for doing 3000 mile changes, I've stockpiled 20w-50 oil - grabbing what I can when the local Advance Autoparts puts it on sale. I'm fairly certain I can return it and swap for a lower viscosity oil, but I'm not convinced that's going to do anything for me.

driving in so cal we don't go below freezing

Always use 20W 50 in my volvo

summer can run 90's 100's

yesterday was mid 80's

20W 50 seems to work here

I have always thought it was recomended for older hi mile engines

I always used it on my older cars before the 500sec. It just didn't work out for that motor. The mobil 1 10w30 worked fine, including about eight autocross events last summer.

Tom W

Something to consider

Might try the synthetic next time

500 sec takes 9 qts

Shop out in 9 qts pennzoil 20w 50 7.5...whats the 7.5?

:freak:

Still would want to go with 15 W 50 in so cal

Thats where something like Delvac 1 would come in. It cleans like crazy and really helped the lifters on my 603. 90% of the ticking went away.

Never heard of Delvac
guess soemthing esle to look up...

:ukliam3:

Be careful using diesel rated lube oils in gas engines. Some of the additives can foul the cat.

Ouch
:eek: