gt4awd

Since purchasing my c32 it's always had a ticking noise on the passenger side cylinder bank. My old Sportcoupe had a similar tick, and never had issues so I've kind of just ignored it. I believe the sound has become slightly louder, and I feel as if something is wrong with the engine. Mainly more vibration. Every time I've thought something was wrong it does turn out being the case.

If there is a valve click does that mean the valve is bad? Should I be worried about this especially with my modifications? Is a valve R&R something I could accomplish myself? Keep in mind I've done a lot of work to this c32 mostly all myself. Wondering what goes into removal, and installation of new valves? Could the sound be something else other than a valve? Is this a common problem? Any advise is appreciated. Thanks!

mustang281man

R u sure it's not the purge valve?

gt4awd

Positive it's not the purge valve. That thing has always made sound. The sound is from passenger side cylinder bank.

dontbanme

Have you ruled out an exhaust leak?

Dingleberry

does the tick frequency increase proportionally with revs?

gt4awd

The tick is loudest at the rear side of engine valve cover, and does increase with RPM. I reset the ECU this morning which seemed to help some.

JamesC32

Did you ever fix the valve ticking sound on the rear passenger side engine bay? I have a 2003 C32 with the same symptoms. JamesC32.

c32jet

I have same problem and it sounds serious to me. Clicks like a ****. I have a thread in the c32 forum over on benzworld with pics and vids. Driving me nuts.

Anyone have a fix or recommendations on what to review. I can state the purge valve is not it.

Is it possible that something got into my air intake boxes when I was swapping out the OEMs for K&Ns? Just not really sure what the inside of the engine looks like where I think the sound is coming from. Check out my videos and let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

amgen

If it´s not a mechanical problem, try a little bit thicker oil like the
Mobil 1 5-50 and see if that helps.

JamesC32

I never have figured mine out,, where did you post your video? was wondering if it sounds like the same as mine,

JamesC32

I would not put thicker oil in it myself,,,that sounds like you would be asking for trouble

amgen

If you look into your servicebook, you´ll see that the 5-50 is ok.
I had the 0-40 before but when going with the 5-50, I noticed
a slightly more silent engine,
The 5-50 isn´t perfect at cold starts in freezing conditions, but...

I have a long experince with the 5-50 in different cars and my
tuned engines have always stayed tight with no excessive oildrinking,
in Mixed Driving.

Different tuners have told me the same.

Only my cents.

But no oil can help a bent valve or other mechanical failures of course.

c32jet

Below is my thread. After checking it out, let me know here if this is the same issue as yours.... thx.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w203...ideo-pics.html

Not sure if cross posting the sites is cool or not, so admins if you need to scrub this post, let me know and I can recreate the content here for the benefit of the members on this forum.

Quickvr4

If these cars use hydraulic lifters that is most likely the culprit.

JamesC32

Yes that sounds like mine!! I don't think mine is quite as loud as yours though,, it may just be the video making it sound louder,, maybe try some 5-50 like AMGEN suggested since he said it was in the manual as being OK,, it is getting close to winter time though

JamesC32

I tried changing the plugs, the plug wires, and the exhaust gaskets and still the same thing, changed my oil and oil filter with mobil 0-40, and I also changed my supercharger bearing and supercharger oil too, It drives me crazy not knowing either,,,I might try the 5-50 oil if I can find it,,

jvakos

JamesC32 / C32Jet - read all your posts here on the left side engine ticking noise which i have had the past month.

Did you determine if this was anything with your camshafts, valves?

I just had an oil change at 110,000 miles with a different indy benz shop that I dont normally go to, so the point C32Jet made about broken oil stick / filter which he changed and reduced the noise is something i'm also curious if that could be the problem???

i cannot get the car into the normal indy benz shop that always go to until mid next week due to the US thanksgiving holidy, so am nervous to drive it and risk any issues. althought right now aside from the noise, the car is running incredibly and still a beast.

JamesC32

I've never done anything about mine, been ignoring it, when its cold it doesn't make the noise only when the engine warms up, I've got 110,000 miles on mine too, still seams to run strong, I would like to know if there is a fix for it or not though, or if they all just make that noise, I don't really know

jvakos

trying to figure out a loud ticking sound coming from my engine the past month, seems like its coming from the left side engine toward the firewall/rear (at, or near the throttle body)

thanks to the many posts i searched on MBworld about similar noise in the engine, i found one that said they did the ECU reset and that temporarily fixed the issue so i tried that tonight.

I did the ECU reset and the noise was GONE which leads me to believe its coming from the Throttle Body and not the cams/lifters.

The noise came back after about 15 mins of driving and i did the ECU reset again and this time the noise never came back after 45 mins of driving and 6-7 pulls at WOT on the highway.

my throttle body is a used/rebuilt one that was put on this year when my original throttle body went out.

Question is, can a faulty throttle body typically make this loud ticking sound when its about to fail?

if so, why could the ECU reset temporarily fix the issue?

Kostas20

I am so glad there is discussion regarding this issue again. I feel like this is actually a fairly common occurrence that has somehow not had any documented solution or even an understanding of the root cause!

I jump started a thread about a month ago that got a bit of traction based on potential sludge or oil build up. Seafoam was added to the oil and it seemed to remedy the issue for a period of time but it eventually came back.

I originally thought my ticking was coming from the throttle body as well - based on where the sound seemed to be coming from. But moved past this when each "tick" started to sound more like a rush of air, as if from an exhaust leak. Since I couldn't locate any exhaust I moved more towards sludge potentially not allowing a valve to fully seat, which was allowing a very small amount of exhaust gas to enter the valve train.

Not sure if you guys have a similar assessment of the ticking sound or if yours is clearly more of a mechanical tick.

I have yet to try the sea foam in the oil because I have only had about 2000km since my last oil change and my understanding is you want to add seafoam and then perform an oil change around 100-200km after adding.

Will try to get around to doing an ECU reset myself tonight to see what the outcome is.

jvakos

Kostas - this ticking sound has been driving me crazy trying to figure out what it was. here is a video (it was shot to show my wobbling tensioner pulley) where you hear the ticking sound and towards the end see where its coming from left side towards the rear.

I did this ECU reset twice last night and been driving a lot today and pretty hard too and so far none of that ticking sound is back. I am "assuming" it was coming from the throttle body since my understanding is thats what the ECU reset impacts, but maybe it does something to the valves too?????

Kostas20

Yes that sound does sound very, very familiar.

I have noticed lately that car seems to idle a bit rough as well, and I am fairly confident this has started to happen in sync with the ticking sound.

Anyone else find this, with the ticking sound?

It is only at idle that I notice it, almost feels like a slight misfire, but very slight. I also have no codes. Other than that, there has been no performance issues at all.

jvakos

Kostas - try that ECU reset for kicks to see if it helps. search the boards here for ECU reset and you'll find the steps.

it may not be what is causing your situation. but i think if you have a rough idle it could be your throttle body. mine died about 6 months ago and the car idle was horrible and could not accelerate beyond 15-20 mph. got a re-built one and the car actually was more responsive on the throttle and everything been pretty good until this ticking sound (but again the ECU reset for some reason fixed that temporarily)

Kostas20

Tried it last night, started it up let it run for a bit but no marked improvement. I couldn't take it out for a drive to see if it got better once it warmed up because we have a lot of snow here in Calgary right now and I try to limit the interaction with snow (salt).

But it was still the same, on start up and running for about 10 minutes.

This has been driving me crazy for a few months now.

Solo wing

I had what sounded like a valve train noise once, I traced it to the left bank close to the firewall.
Car was fine and quiet, we had a sudden storm (-35c wind chill) in Toronto last Christmas, that's when the noise first appeared during a cold start.
I replaced the oil filter from paper to fleece. Changed the oil from 0w-40w to 5w-40. Different top-tier fuel but to no avail. I have to mention that the noise was loud at cold starts but would quite down a bit after warming up. It drove me crazy, after 9 months and many road trips - Ottawa to D.C and the noise is still there.

What I finally did was putting Chevron Fuel system cleaner.
Only two additives are approved by Mercedes, In the w210 manual (Mercedes & Chevron).
I took the car for a drive, floored the hell out of it and I could not believe my eyes!!! A huge black cloud just shoot out of the exhaust!
Next morning and until today -> No more ticking/clicking noise

Good luck.