Noisey lifter/tappets?

[John20]

Hi guys... so I've recently obtained a lovely C200 W204 85k miles 2008 year. The car was flawless during the test drive both inside and outside. After driving home 200 miles away, I noticed when pulling up there was some intermittent rattle/tapping noise that seemed to match with the RPMs and would disappear and reappear at random times.

From searching on the old google, I'm starting to believe it's the Lifters or Tappets that are making this noise and I'm wondering what to do about it. Could something such as using E10 Fuel be causing this? the car was serviced 2 months ago so the engine oil should be pretty good I would of thought? though I'm considering getting it changed again.

Anything you guys feel I should do to fix this?

 

[StMarks]

Don't have much luck, do you John20.
" Rattling / Tapping Noises" could be any number of things. Some could be very serious indeed, but diagnosing the precise cause from the description you have given may be difficult.
Did you buy from a dealer again.? -If so, perhaps the first thing to do would be to give them a call and explain your concerns to see what they think.?

 

[optimusprime]

Do as StMarks post reads above . You wont know if the engine oil in there is the right viscosity for the engine ...But if you want to go it on your own i would drain it out and fit new oil filter and then refill with the right oil for your car What Type of Engine Oil for Mercedes-Benz C-Class W204 2007-2010

 

[John20]

Don't have much luck, do you John20.
" Rattling / Tapping Noises" could be any number of things. Some could be very serious indeed, but diagnosing the precise cause from the description you have given may be difficult.
Did you buy from a dealer again.? -If so, perhaps the first thing to do would be to give them a call and explain your concerns to see what they think.?

Hi, you're absolutely right. My luck is almost always bad... unfortunately. The car is spotless and faultless in all ways so hopefully this is a minor thing and we can get it repaired. I did buy from a trader, so i will call them and see what they say. Perhaps I can record a video showing the noise perhaps that will help to identify it. I saw a video on youtube demonstrating different sounds and the one that matched so much was the one about Lifters/Tappets

Do as StMarks post reads above . You wont know if the engine oil in there is the right viscosity for the engine ...But if you want to go it on your own i would drain it out and fit new oil filter and then refill with the right oil for your car What Type of Engine Oil for Mercedes-Benz C-Class W204 2007-2010

Yeah I was thinking about getting the oil changed to see if it helped. If not, then further diagnosis would be needed. But perhaps getting it into a garage first before changing oil is best.

I've spoken to the dealership they've said give it a few days, see if its making the noise still and then call them back. I feel a bit uneasy waiting like that though...

 

[StMarks]

I've spoken to the dealership they've said give it a few days, see if its making the noise still and then call them back. I feel a bit uneasy waiting like that though...

Fwiw that sounds like the worst possible option imho.:
If there is a mechanical issue, the more it is used without repair the worse the resultant damage is likely to be. Furthermore the longer you possess and use the vehicle, the more it can be argued in law that you have accepted the product.
If there has been a sub-standard service & the simply the wrong grade of oil is the cause, that wants to be rectified asap. ( The same reason as with any other mechanical cause stated above).

 

[John20]

Fwiw that sounds like the worst possible option imho.:
If there is a mechanical issue, the more it is used without repair the worse the resultant damage is likely to be. Furthermore the longer you possess and use the vehicle, the more it can be argued in law that you have accepted the product.
If there has been a sub-standard service & the simply the wrong grade of oil is the cause, that wants to be rectified asap. ( The same reason as with any other mechanical cause stated above).

Yep,exactly my thoughts too. I think I will get it into a garage and let them have a look see what they can figure out. In the mean time, I will check the oil levels because the garage suggested doing that I havn't yet but I'm positive that wont be the issue to be honest. I'm tempted to change the oil and oil filter myself but never done it before...so little uneasy... but then at least I know what oil is in the engine.

I've been reading and I've seen Castrol Edge 5W30 Oil 4L apparenty is a good oil for keeping wear and tear down, and cleaning the internal parts etc. I think I need 5.5ltrs

 

[ray_hennig]

believe it's the Lifters or Tappets that are making this noise

My son had that with his 1991 190D 2.5. Repeated, regular - every 8000 KM - oil changes with MB fully synthetic 5W30 seems to have cured it. Oh, and the filters always come from MB.

RayH

 

[John20]

My son had that with his 1991 190D 2.5. Repeated, regular oil changes with MB fully synthetic 5W30 seems to have cured it.

RayH

I'm hoping it's something like this as I really don't want to have to return the car. This car is even more nicer than the last one! lol

I wished I had someone compotent on cars near me to kind of supervise me changing the oil to make sure I don't do anything silly! but it seems so straight forward. I'm very concerned about getting under the car...so I think I will get one of those "pumps" to pump the oil out through the dipstick and drain ti that way.

 

[Bellow]

the car was serviced 2 months ago so the engine oil should be pretty good I would of thought? though I'm considering getting it changed again.

Ask yourself the probability of the wrong oil being used (vs the probability of the correct oil being used) then the probability that an oil of very slightly different viscosity can cause lifters to be noisy - but nothing else.
Also, if there is an issue of mechanical wear, the current oil holds the clues (retrievable via oil analysis). Leave the oil where it is and instead home in on the actual problem.

 

[John20]

Ask yourself the probability of the wrong oil being used (vs the probability of the correct oil being used) then the probability that an oil of very slightly different viscosity can cause lifters to be noisy - but nothing else.
Also, if there is an issue of mechanical wear, the current oil holds the clues (retrievable via oil analysis). Leave the oil where it is and instead home in on the actual problem.

I see! so if I changed the oil and the problem persists, I could have removed the clues by changing the oil.... gotcha. I guess garage is the next step then! Damn was hoping to avoid that

 

[Bellow]

I've spoken to the dealership they've said give it a few days, see if its making the noise still and then call them back. I feel a bit uneasy waiting like that though...

The above seems the safest course of action in case the source of the noise is from inside the engine. Discuss in advance with the garage the possibility of worsening the situation with driving it 200 miles to them.

Can you reproduce the sound with the car stationary? If so, have a probe around in the engine bay for the cause being external to the engine - eg, loose and rattling heat shield, bracket, etc, etc. Find something there and the need to drive the 200 miles is likely obviated and if still necessary, than can be undertaken without fear of internal engine damage. If the noise is being generated inside the engine, it should be more audible when you remove the oil filler cap.

 

[Benzowner]

I hope it's not, but could the sound be a rattly timing chain and not tappets?

 

[colinallcars]

Yep,exactly my thoughts too. I think I will get it into a garage and let them have a look see what they can figure out. In the mean time, I will check the oil levels because the garage suggested doing that I havn't yet but I'm positive that wont be the issue to be honest. I'm tempted to change the oil and oil filter myself but never done it before...so little uneasy... but then at least I know what oil is in the engine.

I've been reading and I've seen Castrol Edge 5W30 Oil 4L apparenty is a good oil for keeping wear and tear down, and cleaning the internal parts etc. I think I need 5.5ltrs

Don’t go doing anything independently, you may end up letting the supplying dealer off the hook. Channel everything through them, they may agree to letting a local garage assess the issue.

 

[John20]

I hope it's not, but could the sound be a rattly timing chain and not tappets?

I did wonder this but from the symptoms, it didn;t seem to fit the criteria. The symptoms that closest matching mine was the rattle but the rattle was said to stop shortly after the engine started, unless it was really bad and in that case would be constant. Mine isn't really like that. Perhaps I will try to record it and post it here when I finish work later.

 

[John20]

Don’t go doing anything independently, you may end up letting the supplying dealer off the hook. Channel everything through them, they may agree to letting a local garage assess the issue.

Yeah that's a good point....hmm... not sure what to do right now then. Dealership/garage said to try it for a few days... see what happens...check engine oil level, check if the AC being on is causing it. He said the fan might be doing it. (Unlikely in my opinion) Then most worringly ... he said "try to ignore the sound, when you look for noises you will hear them but its nothing to worry about" which ....erm...no. That's just the dealerships attempt to make me not return the car within the legal time I'm allowed to which is 14days for any reason I feel... and 30 days if it's defective.

 

[Bellow]

.check engine oil level,

Do that. If the level is low enough (starvation low) it will be the top end that gets starved first and that's where the lifters are. If (and it is just an if) the level is that low, the entire engine is in jeopardy.

 

[John20]

Do that. If the level is low enough (starvation low) it will be the top end that gets starved first and that's where the lifters are. If (and it is just an if) the level is that low, the entire engine is in jeopardy.

Yeah I will check it. I'm fairly confident this is probably not the issue but we shall see! I'm gonna see if I can record a video of the noise too later. Maybe this will help to identify the issue.

 

[John20]

Hi guys. So I got in the car and was testing about 30mins. I honestly couldn't reproduce the sound I was hearing before... I'm really confused. The only thing I hadn't tested... was having the AC turned on but otherwise the engine seemed pretty normal to me.... I did a cold start and recorded along with some warm engine running noise. Let me know if you think this is all normal, I can't seem to hear the noise exactly as before... but be interesting if this all sounds normal to you guys just to be safe.

Cold start recording:

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[ChipChop]

Sounds fine to me.

The aux belt system can be a source of odd engine bay noises with multiple pulleys each with bearings. Easy enough to check if a noise is coming from these by briefly running the engine with the belt removed. As this system may be driving the water pump only run the engine for a short time with the belt off otherwise you will risk overheating.
Also before you remove the aux belt draw a diagram of the belts route through the various pulleys.

 

[W1ghty]

Isn’t this the M271 engine ?
Known for timing chain/cam issues starting possibly from 80k miles