86' 300E lifter noise - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

blairbuc · #16 07-09-2004, 10:00 PM

Granted, you now have more issues than just ticking lifters but take note. I have a 90 and brother has a 92 300-E 2.6. They have knocked since day one until full oil pressure is up. Both cars lived on synthetic (mostly Amsoil). Both received care way beyond the norm. The 92 was brought in for new lifters at 87,000 miles. The old lifters when pulled showed no wear, the mill marks were not even polished down. The brand new lifters remaind silent for 2 days and then the ticking came back. Seems to be the nature of the beast with this engine. I don't think these engines like the new thin oils such as the 0-30's, 5-30's or even the 10-30's. My 90 does much better on Amsoil synthetic 20-50 race in the summer and 15-40 in winter. These engines were machined lose back in their days. My 98 Chevy is machined tighter and must run on the thin oil. Oh, getting back to the lifter change out that did nothing, every lifter was changed. You would be nuts to not to do them all.

samiam4 · #17 07-09-2004, 10:39 PM

blair,

I'm not sure where you are getting your information? Mercedes does not currently approve many of the 0W30,10W30,5W30 motor oils for their engines... Talking with my local dealership, NA got 15W50 mobil-1 until the 0W40 stuff was avaliable. Are you going by your old owners manual or the currently approve lubricant list??

Go check your cylinder to piston wall clearances- I'm absolutely positive Mercedes has been tight since post WWII. Chevy might now be approaching these tolerance... but *I'd* be suprised.

Never heard a tick out of my 300E. The diesel when the valves are adjusted are quite except for the distinct combustion knock.

ciao,

Michael

samiam4 · #18 07-09-2004, 10:42 PM

??

I thought the lower viscosities now - 5W20 and such were just a cheap way to get an extra few tenths on the CAFE requirement. I'll be sketical- but hey I'm not a new car buyer. I generally drive them new, and then wait till it's 3-4 years old to purchase a second-hand cream puff. Well, that's the idea...

Michael

blairbuc · #19 07-10-2004, 12:08 AM

Siaman

Read my post again. I'm not promoting the thin oils on the old cars. Clearly they are available today and some people ignor the manual. Again, my 90 300-E likes 20-50 summer - 15-40 winter. I once tried a 5-30, it knocked more and I took it out the same day. As far as tolerance on new cars. you can void a GM warrenty on their engines for years now if you go over a 10-30, so it's an indication they have more concerns than just milage. Personally I like a "not so tight" engine that takes a thicker bodied oil. I think they pass small micron dirt easier and last longer.

#20 07-11-2004, 09:38 AM

I do not believe that the E-420 hydraulic lifters have any shims. I hope that I am correct in assumming this, because I am now have lifter noise and the oil tubes are all fine?? Any help would be appreciated. Ben

can-do · #21 07-11-2004, 08:44 PM

Greetings All,

I hope we aren't going to start a flame war over oil on my post.
Michael, you were right about the bolt size, but I double checked at NAPA before buying the helicoil kit. I thought I might screw the job up because of the close tolerance at the rear firewall and having to use a wrench to tap the hole once I drilled it out, but this job actually went smoother than any others I've done on either Benz. I think more time was spent prepping the area for metal shavings than anything else. Luckily I have the extremely small attachments to a shop vac that even allowed me to suck out each drilled and tapped hole as I went. That was a God send and well worth the $5.00 my wife paid for it the other year. I was extremely skeptical about replacing the lifters after seeing the rear rocker detached from the block, so I didn't purchase or install any new ones, just to see if the noise was isolated to the problem at hand once I got it back together.
Well needless to say there isn't any ticking, clicking or tapping after the job was done and the engine was buttoned up. The wife thinks she has a new engine now, or so she says. I guess I'm waiting to see if any of the others will break loose in the near future. I figured if they torqued down to spec I wasn't about to remove them and drill them out until they actually start to fail. I would say my indicator to this problem is ticking that doesn't go away but slowly gets louder. So my advice to anyone out there with more than a slight ticking sound coming from their valve train, is to pull the cover and investigate the source before it's too late, and to check the torque on the rocker arms once you have the cover off if all seems fine to the eye. Spinning bolts that won't torque down will end up vibrating out or pull out all together if they are at either end of your cam.

Once again, a special Thanks to Michael for chiming in and helping me get this tank back on the pavement.

Charles