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I need some real help. I have in cylinder one. The car was running rough no light. I parked in the driveway to put it in the garage and then it wouldn’t start. I pulled cylinder 1 (the closest to the oil cap) and it was filled with oil. Of course it won’t start to move it 50 feet into the warm garage. Any ideas? Plug looks old but fine just covered in oil. Pulled the coil in the next cylinder and it looks fine.
Important note about 2 weeks ago I put a quart of oil in and didn’t tighten the cap all the way. I could smell oil in the vents after a week and then I tightened it. No running issues.
First thing that comes to mind - make sure the recess where spark plug #1 goes isn't filled with oil. Then I'd also wipe down spark plug #1 and see if that fixes the problem.
The recess was filled with oil. I cleaned it out then pulled the spark plug. The bottom of the plug was covered in oil. I looked into the cylinder and there is oil in it. A considerable amount. The funny thing is the car did not throw any codes or show a loss of power but idled roughly before I parked it. Then I parked it and it wouldn’t start.
Cylinder 2 recess was not filled with oil after I pulled the coil.
I checked all four plugs. There is oil on the bottom of 3 of 4. The plug looks like it was burning right beyond being drenched in oil. Is this the cause of a bad valve cover gasket? I hope.
i attempted to post pictures and they went in my album.
Any help elm would be great.
Thanks
Last edited by Minkompresser; Oct 1, 2018 at 09:40 PM.
You have an M271 engine. Use that when you search.
It's not uncommon for the gaskets to leak oil into the holes. You need new gaskets. Also, you must put the cover on with a good low-torque torque wrench.
As for codes, you have a POS code reader.
You want to get at least an icarsoft MB car reader.
Awesome. I would be great if it was just the valve cover gasket. I just didn't know if it could still be the valve cover because it was the bottom of the plug that was wet. I was just afraid it was the head gasket, but I am not losing any water and the car has not been running hot. The car had just finished a long trip and it did this after it came back from the store. I will order the part tonight and start working on it. I guess I have nothing to lose.
Thanks for your feedback.
Your right. It is a cheap Walmart code reader I bought for my wife's SUV
I pulled the valve cover. It was pretty easy once you clear the harness. The timing chain is super loose. I can pick up the chain and move it a tooth if I want to. Exactly how Loose is the chain supposed to be? Is this yet another stretched timing chain? I am going to buy a cheap borescope and check the valves.
Properly, there should NEVER be ANY slack in the timing chain - ever. In general, once the timing chain adjuster gets past ~80% of maximum, BOTH the adjuster and the timing chain must be replaced.
If there is ANY slack in the timing chain, then the timing chain and adjuster are long past being *******ed and both are a joke.
Realize that the timing chain adjuster moves slightly back and forth as the engine is running. That's why ~75%-80% is often near where the limit is drawn.
Fwiw, **IMHO**, MB didn't want people to know that the W203 C-Class was a MASSIVE step DOWNWARDS in MB reliability. Hence, why MB didn't do the responsible thing and specify replacement mileage/time on many of the components.
Fwiw#2, imho (and others), the W203 and the much lower relative cost basically SAVED MB!
BMW decided to stay higher end. That worked for a while. Just look at the world-wide and the USA sales numbers for both.
And, now, look and the MANY "C" Class vehicles that MB offers.
Imho, the current "C-Class" is near E-Class reliability. Imho, the CLA, CLS, C-bla-bla-bla vehicles have taken over where the W203 price-point was in it's time. So, *imho*, those other vehicles will also be ~70K miles ~8 year vehicles, before they start to hit the more significant portion of the failure rate curve (~2-3 sigma).
Fwiw, *I* say replace the timing chain on an M271 every 70K miles. Then again, I have (too much ) failure rate analysis (boring!!) experience.
Also, get an IWIS chain, or an MB chain. *I* buy directly from a dealer. I also know how parts stores can get counterfeit parts, even though they try very hard not to sell counterfeit parts.
If the timing chain goes on an M271 engine, that engine is JUNK! So, imho, it's not worth saying a few dollars.
Also, use a proper timing chain tool. Otherwise, the amount of compression/stress that is put on the master-link will likely be too much or too little. Both will lead to a pre-mature chain failure.
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