Help- Tappett noise !!

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petef

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
Messages
521
Location
chester
Car
Mercedes 200C
I took my car ( w124 ce ) to S & R MOTORS FORMBY as there was a tappetty noise coming from the engine that was annoying me. The garage changed the timing chain and all 8 tappetts ( all for £ 400 ) This cured the noise from cold but now its noisey when hot !!...and is constant. I took the car back and they blamed the new tappetts changing them under the warranty. This didnt cure the problem but i was told by the garage to let the tappetts "bed in" for at least a month. Dissatisfied i took the car back to the garage after two weeks (it is there now). The garage have advised me that its probably the followers. I think i am being given the run around !!..... Anyone got any ideas ? Most research i have done would suggest the valves / push rods ... or the chain has been incorrectly fitted. The sick thing is i could have taken it to Crewe Engines for a complete top end rebuild for £600 + vat ...I am not confident my car will be returned cured so have already contacted my legal insurers who have agreed to have the engine inspected. Will keep informed.....!!
 
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Good luck Pete - i also have a '91 230ce :) , how many miles has your car done ? mines just touched 140k and its dead quiet .....

Sounds a little tappety on first startup, but after about 15/20 secs it settles down nicely

Hope you get it sorted mate.

All the best

H
 
check the cam belt tensioner and the serpentine belt tensioner - both tend to make a noise when the engine is hot rather than cold.

Tappetts can take a while to bed in though

Andy
 
Having used S&R Motors before I can only say that Ray, the proprieter is a pretty good guy. I doubt very much that he is giving you the runaround. No one knows it all and maybe the initial diagnosis was close, but not close enough to the mark. I would sugest that you give him a fair crack of the whip before considering legal action.
 
When ya spendin £400 you dont want a diagnosis to be close.....!! you want the noise sortin that the car went in for.....or am i expecting too much ??....maybe i am being too cynical !!!....i will definitely let you know what happens.
 
petef said:
When ya spendin £400 you dont want a diagnosis to be close.....!! you want the noise sortin that the car went in for.....or am i expecting too much ??....maybe i am being too cynical !!!....i will definitely let you know what happens.

I absolutly agree. but if you are THAT particular then you should have gone to a stealers and paid a lot more, but would you still have the same symptoms?. I use S&R because the are a hell of a sight cheaper than the stealers as do a few members here. Non of us have ever had any problem with them. All I am saying is give them a chance, please.
 
S&R Motors

Ian B Walker said:
I absolutly agree. but if you are THAT particular then you should have gone to a stealers and paid a lot more, but would you still have the same symptoms?. I use S&R because the are a hell of a sight cheaper than the stealers as do a few members here. Non of us have ever had any problem with them. All I am saying is give them a chance, please.

I've used S & R in the past & couldn't fault them - even got a courtesy car for a couple of days @ no charge! I don't know how long this has been going on for but it seems to me that if the company is trying to sort out your problem why are you contacting your 'legal insurers?'

Is there more to this?

Hope it gets sorted tho!

Col
 
petef said:
I took my car ( w124 ce ) to S & R MOTORS FORMBY as there was a tappetty noise coming from the engine that was annoying me. The garage changed the timing chain and all 8 tappetts ( all for £ 400 ) This cured the noise from cold but now its noisey when hot !!...and is constant. I took the car back and they blamed the new tappetts changing them under the warranty. This didnt cure the problem but i was told by the garage to let the tappetts "bed in" for at least a month. Dissatisfied i took the car back to the garage after two weeks (it is there now). The garage have advised me that its probably the followers. I think i am being given the run around !!..... Anyone got any ideas ? Most research i have done would suggest the valves / push rods ... or the chain has been incorrectly fitted. The sick thing is i could have taken it to Crewe Engines for a complete top end rebuild for £600 + vat ...I am not confident my car will be returned cured so have already contacted my legal insurers who have agreed to have the engine inspected. Will keep informed.....!!

I must say that before you get out the big guns, make sure that you have given them a fair chance to resolve your problem.

In an ideal world, nothing ever goes wrong, everything works first time etc. In reality, especially when you are dealing with older cars, faults occur and sometimes they can take patience to deal with.

If it makes you feel any better, check out some of the more common threads here about MB dealers and much newer cars - one guy had a brand new CLK fail within a few hours! ;)

I wouldn't try comparing the level of service vs. price debate with main dealers again, after all, let's face it - £400 would be perhaps a fault investigation and an oil change at the main dealers!

Hope that you get it resolved soon, :)

Will
 
Take on board all ya comments....just frustrated as love the motor and wanted it running right. If i could have lived with the noise i wouldnt have got the work done....I chose the garage because of all the positive comments on here, ... they are always polite and you do get a courtesy car !!
 
Petef, peace dude. I know just how frustrated you can get when your pride and joy just doesnt feel or sound right. I truly hope everything turns out well and hope that you feel you can post your experience, good or bad. I in no way ment to get on a "High Horse". If it seemed that way then please accept my apologies.

Ian
 
Hi Ian, i didnt think you were on your high horse ! The good thing about this forum is that we can all share information and experiences. Other members perspectives/ comments are important and help to get a balanced view on matters !...I will keep you informed and hope it will be good news !!!
 
Things could be lookin up !! ...Garage informed me today that they are going to change the rocker arms...maybe i was too impatient.You all cant be wrong about this garage. I ve just had bad experiences from various garages in the past so i do not expect garages to resolve problems. Maybe i will be eating humble pie !! .......keep ya posted.
 
Well i got my car back on friday the 1st April ! ( nearly three weeks later, there was the Easter break )....garage said they changed rocker arms but that didnt cure problem. They then said that a bolt had sheared off on the exhaust manifold and this may be causing the tappett noise ???....When i picked it up I was advised noise had now been resolved....and to my joy it was..........for three days !! After 200 miles the tappett noise has returned ! There must be some mechanic or petrol head on this forum that knows what this problem is !! ...... and why would it run without the noise and then the noise gradually return ? ......
 
petef said:
Well i got my car back on friday the 1st April ! ( nearly three weeks later, there was the Easter break )....garage said they changed rocker arms but that didnt cure problem. They then said that a bolt had sheared off on the exhaust manifold and this may be causing the tappett noise ???....When i picked it up I was advised noise had now been resolved....and to my joy it was..........for three days !! After 200 miles the tappett noise has returned ! There must be some mechanic or petrol head on this forum that knows what this problem is !! ...... and why would it run without the noise and then the noise gradually return ? ......

Maybe the manifold gasket is letting by, or a crack in the manifold that has started to develop and worsen?

Can't really see or hear your car from the end of a keyboard - if it's still playing up go and see them again, or get a second opinion from a different garage (they should be able to at least locate the vicinity of the noise - eg, manifold or top end!)

Let us know how you get on. :)

Will
 
I'd be looking at the oil they've used - my guess is that a new oil filter and decent semi synthetic oil would quieten them down again.

Maybe I'm a bit of a perfectionist but after I've done any "internal" work on an engine (of my own) I'll change the oil a couple of times in quick succession just in case any swarf or gunk has got left behind.

If the noise isn't too loud I'd live with it and see if it settles down. Tappet noise can be a real pain to get rid of on "older" engines unless you go the "whole hog" and replace everything.


Andy
 
Agreed - an oil change must surely be worthwhile at least - even for the reassurance of knowing it has been done after the recent work. :)
 
I'd look again at the manifold. Once an exhaust manifold has been leaking it will be prone to do it again. The gasket may have burnt and cracked.

The garage can sort it in two ways - either take it all apart and replace the gasket, this can be a right swine of a job on an old car - necessitating a change of the gasket at the manifold / downpipe union, plus run the risk of breaking more studs at both joints. Worst case scenario is head has to come off to remove broken studs, and the manifold falls apart in your hands. Been there done that.

OR - they put a new bolt on to replace the old one, tighten it down good and hard and hope it sorts it. 10 minute job.

Maybe they did option 2 first to try and save you a day's labour? But as Will has said, you can't give a "legally-binding" opinion over the internet. I'd go back and talk calmly. Keep the grey suits where they belong for now.

PS - I'd get the oil change done anyway, it's a good idea after your your engine's been worked on as there will be bits of old gasket/dead mice etc floating about in it now.
 
petef said:
Well i got my car back on friday the 1st April ! ( nearly three weeks later, there was the Easter break )....garage said they changed rocker arms but that didnt cure problem. They then said that a bolt had sheared off on the exhaust manifold and this may be causing the tappett noise ???....When i picked it up I was advised noise had now been resolved....and to my joy it was..........for three days !! After 200 miles the tappett noise has returned ! There must be some mechanic or petrol head on this forum that knows what this problem is !! ...... and why would it run without the noise and then the noise gradually return ? ......

Just ask the garage what they did.

It could be the poly belt tensioner and just sounds like tappets or it could be a loose timing chain.
 
I will see how things go. The garage has really tried to resolve this problem and i was given a courtesy car throughout this period, which helped. Thanks for your comments, will keep posted.
 

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