shawn011274

Hey Guys,

I just did a spark plug change on my 2003 CLK 320, I was curious if anyone can read an engine or potential issues by the old plugs that came out?


FYI: The engine makes a bad grumbling/rapping noise type noise under any type of load, this was happening before the plug change, it seems slightly better now.

Yidney

Your side view shot is way too blurry to see the gap, but otherwise they look like regular old spark plugs. Spark plugs will not cause a "bad grumbling type noise". You'll need to be much more specific.

shawn011274

I just added a picture of 4 of the plugs, I am trying to upload a sound file with the grumbling/rapping type noise

Yidney

Those look like normal spark plugs. The electrodes still have nice crisp edges, so they are not even very worn. No sign of any issue with them. Post a clip of the noise.

shawn011274

Hi Yidney, I posted two wav files. The first is a upclose of the idling engine, the second is a wav of me driving and put some load on the engine. You may have to turn these way up.

Thanks In advance for your responses

Yidney

That does sound weird. The one at idle just sounds like a mike on a windy day. Very uneven sound. I really can't even guess. Any power loss or other issues besides the noise?

shawn011274

Thanks for your time Yidney. I bought the car in the current condition, so i do not know if it has less power. I did test drive a identical car with 30k less miles and it did not make that noise, but seems to have the same power.

other then the noise it seems to run fine, no codes, no smoke. I guess I will live with it.

DangermouseCLK

What is the gap measurement?

What about oil level? One of my cars gets tappety like that when low on oil.

shawn011274

Hi DangermouseCLK,

I used the stock gap, as I bought the plugs from the Mercedes dealership. They used my VIN and did not mention anything about the GAP needing to be changed. I checked my oil via the instrument cluster, and it says ok. Is there another way to check?

irokdastar

can you do a better video or audio clip and for longer. Are you talking about the ticking sound that increases when you press the gas almost sounds like a diesel ?

shawn011274

Hi Irokdaster,

The video clips are too large for upload for this site. Is there a email or place I could share a large (30 Mb) file?

I attached another audio clip that demonstrates the noise, unfortunately it is another 8 second clip. You make have to turn the volume all the way up.

irokdastar

Upload to youtube and paste the link here

insame1

Bang on the cat and see if it rattles.

shawn011274

Hi guys, here are two video links, one with me driving and one of the idling engine, I am trying to figure out if the noise is normal or if it has serious engine issues and I should "trade it in"




@insame1, I will bang on the catalytic converter and see if it rattles

shawn011274

Hi insame1, There is a slight rattle when I bang on the catalytic converter.

Quick update: I re torqued the spark plugs again, it its slightly better.

shawn011274

Here is the same drive with the re-torque



on a side note is the CLK 320 a c209/C208 or W209/208?

shawn011274

Hey Yidney or irokdaster, did you guys get a chance to check out the videos?

Yidney

Yes, but i have nothing else to add after my post above when I first heard it. There is only so much you can tell from a video. The sound is one dimensional - I can't tell where it's coming from. It's hard enough to identify engine sounds when you are standing right by the car. I can tell you that your focus on the spark plugs is off base. Give that up. Unless you totally forgot to torque the plugs, in which case you'd have bigger issues, the exact torque of a plug is not going to cause a sound. I think you are imagining that it's better. Have you had a mechanic listen to it?

Yidney

To answer your other question, your car is a 209, not a 208. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but i think we call them all W209s, and in England or elsewhere they call them C209s for some reason.

shawn011274

Hi Yidney,

Thanks for the input, I had the car checked out at mercedes when i first bought it. They said they didnt detect any strange noises, all of their system checks passed. I guess I will let it go...thanks again.. cheers!

Rudeney

W = "wagen" which is a car, but is more specifically a sedan. C = coupe, A = cabriolet, R = roadster.

insame1

If you can here things bouncy around inside the cat it is done. Time for a replacement. It can/will make noises, overheat the car, and reduce performance.