spr

before you get slammed for your naivate, c55's do not come stock with a blower you can add them after. A lifer is the intermediary device between the cam and then the rocker arm and then the valve in an overhead cam design. It functions to interpret the cam lobes into valve opening and closing-

spr

Let us know more about what happens with everyone's c55 lifter issues as I will be taking mine in soon to have that and other things checked. I would like to have some ammo to toss at them if they give me ****.

rbaker

I haven't checked on a C32, but $6k for cam & lifter replacement is ridiculous... I'd check prices at an independent shop since the dealer is telling you to screw off. The job doesn't look that difficult from the part diagrams I saw of these engines. Heck, for that amount, I'd think someone makes hotter cams you could install for more power (maybe Kleeman?).

rbaker

I'm going to take an oil sample from my car & send it to a lab for analysis this week. I don't like the look & smell of the oil. The oil looks as if some of the internal components are eating themselves, as I saw what appeared to be micro-fine metal particles to the naked eye in the valve cover area by the oil fil cap... not a huge amount, but enough to be worried. I'm not happy...

I looked over my dealer service records & noted that on some of my oil changes (service A's & such) the invoice says "Customer request change oil with Dura-blend oil". WTF? I never requested Dura-blend Valvoline oil! I called & asked the service guys about this & they of course assured me they "would never put that oil in any AMG, they always use Mobil 1" so that's just a computer print out that's meaningless. But how would a customer (or them) know if some new tech didn't know the difference & used the wrong oil resulting in premature engine wear? It's only got 27K miles!

I'm going to try & drop it off at the dealer Friday so I'll keep you posted.

fivepointfivev8

rbaker, are you saying they didn't fix this? Above you indicated they looked at this? And at 27k miles??? What's the latest?

rbaker

They tried to fix it... they agreed with me that it sounded like a lifter tick by #1 or #2 cylinder. Said they changed all the lifters & rockers (with shafts) on that bank. Still have the tick... they told me to drive it a bit & see if it goes away! It hasn't...

I've been too busy to take it back in yet, but I'm going to try & drop it back off Saturday before I leave on a business trip & see if they can track it down. I fear that it's much more than a lifter tick... this car had an oiling problem due to an improperly installed oil galley seal that was fixed 3 days after I bought it. Question is, if I need a whole new engine (from excess internal wear from a oiling problem, etc.) will they cough up a new one? If not, I don't want the car anymore...

spr

More likley, if the rockers are not adjustable, and there is only so much clearance built into the hydrolic lifter operation tolerance, then when the oil level is low causing the lifters not to pump up enough and creating slap and subsequent wear on the cam, after a while the cam will wear down and there will still be slap even if the upper assymbly is replaced- NO?

rbaker

Yes, that makes sense, and I believe you are correct there is no adjustment in the rockers/lifter clearance, but I thought the diagrams I've seen show a roller follower on the rocker arm where it rides on the cam? Seems like there would have to be something seriously wrong for that type of contact surface to wear out the cam lobe. Weird thing is it still comes & goes, although I haven't driven the car much this week.

spr

Is it a roller lifter and cam??? Cool. That would make the most sense given technology. I have never seen a pic of the motor and am just speaking off general knowledge of other OHC motors.

spr

hmm. From clicking on the post and website refering to the c55 engine construction It seems that they are roller rockers. and that the other side of the rocker is right on the valve. How is it hydrolic??? Is the hydrolic part of it actually built into the rocker arm?? Huh. I guess that is why the other guy had the entire assymbly replaced.

rbaker

Being used to American V8's first, then Asian & Euro high revving 4's and 6's, this setup is slightly weird... from the engine parts diagrams I've seen (attached), there are 2 shafts/rails the rockers mount (& pivot) on, the cam is in the middle riding on roller bearing ends of the rockers, then the rockers pivot & have a small hydraulic tappet on the valve contact side. #44 in the attached image is the lifter (or hydraulic element as MBZ calls it). Definitely weird from what I was used to seeing. I noticed on the AMG parts diagram it says the individual lifters aren't replaceable for an AMG (must do the whole assembly), but are for other models. So maybe they use different one's on the AMG?

spr

neat yeah from that aforementioned pic I thought it to be the same as well.

rbaker

So I get back from my biz trip to Europe this week (was out ther for some projects that we supply speakers & electronics to Aston Martin, Jag...) and wonder whats up with my C55. I had asked the dealer's service writer to email me the status when I dropped off the car, since I was out of the country last week... nothing, zip, zero, nada from them after 1 week. Not that I really cared, as I was gone, but I was rather worried since I hadn't heard anything. I called them today to see what's up & they informed me that a MBZ field rep or someone came out to help diagnose the engine & said there is nothing wrong with my car and that I just have carbon build up so run a couple tanks through it with some fuel system/combustion chamber cleaner. Ya, I guess that explains the buzzing sound from under the oil pan & particles I saw in the oil too...

Has anyone ever had an MBZ with enough carbon build up after 27k miles where it caused ticking/knocking sounds? I've certainly NEVER experienced that with the other 15-20 cars I've owned! I use Chevron Premium fuel 99% of the time. The dealer said they've seen it a couple times before, but that it is rare.

The service writer also informed me the field rep came out to help diagnose it, and he was tempted to void the warranty on my ENTIRE car since I changed the exhaust & pulleys (my hunch is he probably wanted to do that before the engine failed just to get out of replacing it), but the service writer sounded like they talked him out of it for now... guess the rep never heard of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. All this really makes me really want to buy another MBZ product... and to think I switched to MBZ from my previous BMW's to try & have fewer problems! Ya right!

BTW, they said they also checked the internet forums to look up what mods I did to the car to see if they could find another excuse to get out of covering it. Glad I haven't installed any of the other parts that I was considering. They even went so far as to say MBZ has voided entire warranties before even for K&N air filters being used.

I asked them what they recommended I do after this expert diagnosis. They suggested I run a couple tanks of fuel system cleaner through it & see if it gets better. I asked what the MBZ procedure is to remove carbon from the combustion chambers (as I'm used to most MFG's having some special chemical & dealer procedure to help loosen the carbon from the chambers, just not typically for an engine with only 27k miles) and his response was "we could remove the heads & scrape it off" but of course I'd have to pay for that... to say Mercedes service departments, field reps & such are "special" people would be an understatement. Who's ever heard of a car with such few miles needing to have the heads removed for carbon build up unless something was seriously wrong when they built the engine?

They also said they wouldn't warranty any failure related to the carbon build up, as it's considered a "fuel type/grade" failure and MBZ can't be held liable for what fuel customers put in their cars. Hmm, I guess the same fuel from the same station that I put in my Mini Cooper S JCW, 2xBMW's, and Aprilia Motorcycle just was selective enough to "only" pick on the Mercedes and carbonize it's engine...

Guess I'll run the couple tanks of fuel system & combustion chamber cleaner though it and see what happens... they said I could bring it back if it's still ticking at that point. Why did I buy a German car again?

And while on the trip back to my office tonight, a small cloud of smoke came up from under the hood... nice... hopefully just oil they spilled somewhere that eventually got kicked up on the exhaust.

splinter

Geez, what a disconcerting experience you’ve suffered through. Nobody would fault you in the least for bolting after that kind of BS treatment. How does “carbon build up” manifest itself as metallic particles in the oil? That’s a stretch. Seems as if it may disassemble itself on your way home from Tijuana after refueling at Pemex.

One man, one engine…so the wizards in Affalterbach assembled your longblock so that its piston-to-head (or valves) clearance is such that >30k miles is TBO? Let us know how you like the Z06…best wishes.

fivepointfivev8

This is great... so forums such like this one can be used against us... that's encouraging.

There is, in the fine print of my extended warranty that ANY modification will void the warranty, and it includes even larger wheels. Ah, the hell with it, this is the kind of frustration I can't deal with.

Cory @ Kleemann

Semi-common on C, CLK and SLK55's that are not driven on a regular basis, or are only driven short distances. The cause is carbon build up. The solution: Go drive the snot out of your car (3500 RPM+) for 30+ minutes. I saw the same problem on a C55 we put a 4000 mile junk yard engine in (customers wife drove through 40+ inches of standing water which hydrolocked the original motor). I drove that car at 4000 RPM and above (didn't get out of 3rd gear) for about 40 minutes, and the ticking went away- quiet as a mouse now. The trick is not letting RPM's drop below 3500-4000 RPM for 30+ minutes.

splinter

He tried that, as he tracked it regularly.

It’s already fixed though…by replacing it with a Z06.