Intermitant Tapping
Good day,
My 1991 300GES has 85,000 miles on the clock and has always been dealer maintained. Recently I was stuck in horrible traffic for many hours, (Notting Hill Festival), and afterwards I heard what sounding like tapping. The next time I started the car it was tapping badly, but settled down once the engine warmed up. it has come and gone since. It seems to get worse when the car is warmed, then rapidly cooled. I'm guessing it's a sticking valve or bad spring, made worse by expansion and subsequent compression of the head due to heat. Anyone have any other ideas? And, can anyone recommend a place for service in the London area?
Thanks in advance for your assistance. I plan to sell the vehicle after having it fixed, but do not feel comfortable selling until I am sure it is sorted.
Rgds,
Robert
Hmmm, Notting hill festival / tapping banging :? is there a melody :twisted:
Unless I am mistaken the engine in your G is the same or similar to the 300e WDB124 – overhead cam, hydraulic lifters. These can get clogged and can tap rhythmically. I had this problem in a 300e and after changing the oil a couple of times it got better but didn’t go completely. As the valve clearance is automatic you can’t adjust it. This is of course if your noise is what I think it is: you can feel it or use a piece of wood against the cam cover when it’s running and put that to your ear. If that’s the noise you hear its not serious maybe some crud in the lifters – change the oil - I use a semi-synthetic 10w-40 – I have always found that anything thinner makes my cars sound like a weaving shed. You could use fully synthetic if you have no oil leaks – there is a lot of argument about using synthetic oil in older engines but the manufacturers Mobil and Redline now claim that their products don’t cause oil leaks and are compatible with older engines. VW’s Synta Gold, (quite cheap from German and Swedish) (fully synthetic) 10w-40 is good, Redline also do a 10w40 but it’s not cheap – http://www.redlineoil.co.uk/products/10w40.htm
And synthetics have a greater detergent quality which could help clean out the crud in the lifters.
Mobil 1 is too thin and would make the noise worse, but I have found that good oil can really make a difference in noise and change it regularly – 3000 mile for Dino oil, synthetics last a bit longer. At the moment I use GM semi-synthetic 10w40 on my 280ge
Just did the steering damper on my truck see this thread http://forums.mbnz.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1189029&posts=1...
Hi Robert, just avin a larf. Sorry if it brought back bad memories. Shame there was no melody to accompany the tapping though :)
Use a good friction modifier like Forte. and a good oil as recomended above.
. . . overhead cam, hydraulic lifters. These can get clogged and can tap rhythmically.
In of all places a Land Rover discussion board I have read about a product called Seafoam that is an engine/fuel system treatment. Some models of Rovers are particularly prone to carbon build up in the valve train. Many members of that board seem to have had success with this product. Unfortunately I have no personal experience to offer, only anecdotal recommendations.
Best of luck.
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Ernest,
Thanks for the detailed response, I really appreciate it. I'll have the oil changed as you suggest and see if that helps. I have to have a shimmy in the steering whell taken care of also, (pretty sure it is the steering damper as I've take care of everything else) so I'll have them change the oil at the same time.
Rgds,
Robert
oh, and to rustbucket, it was just about the most horrible experience of my entire life, no melody was ever heard.