smoking and ticking after week parking?
 

Is it normal for a car, any car for that matter with 70K miles to smoke (gray color) and its lifters to tick after it has been sitting for a week? It goes out after a few minutes, but this is the second time it has happened, and it is after tha car has been parked for a week. (ml320)

This is the excuse the dealer is giving me, is this right? "fuel deposits they say"...:confused:

I don't know if it that is typical occurrence for the 3.2, but the dealers explanation sounds silly.

From your description, the issue appears to be oil related: Ticking related to lubrication of the top end of the motor and valve stem seals -- when the exhaust valve opens some combustion products will be blown into the valve gallery and out the pipe.

thanks...
 

yeah that sounds more plausible. My Dad suggested it was the valve seals, and yours and his seem to make more sense than the silly dealer suggestion.

You're welcome. The question is... Is this a typical occurrence for 70k?

The ticking may disappear as quickly as it came. There's not always a rhyme or reason. It could just be a soft deposit temporarily lodged in the valve train. I had it happen to two of my cars recently. These cars are babied. The problem just disappeared, and may never occur again.

Condensation in the crankcase is common after one of our 3.2 motors sit for a while in damp conditions. I am dealing with this issue now with my ML320. I have been told to change the oil and take it for a long highway drive to clean it out.

Holy old thread. The 360 I put in my '63 Dart sat for over a year before I got it in the car and running. It didn't smoke or tick. Later, I let my '86 Lincoln Town Car sit in a parking lot for four months while I was on deployment. It fired right up with the old gas. No smoking or ticking, but it didn't run smoothly until I ran the tank low and filled up with fresh gas.