Hi everyone,

I purchased a 2006 C55 AMG awhile ago but had something very strange happen today and yes, I searched the forum for about 10 minutes but could not find a thread with a situation like mine.


As a new member of this forum and new owner of a C55 AMG, I cannot be happier with the car sans this situation. The car is great and I feel in love with it, coming from having an S2000 the last 10 years as my DD. I purchased the car knowing problems would come eventually as the car has 128k miles on it. I am more than prepared to deal with the problems and maintaining the car properly as to see it well into the 200k miles club. First bump in the road.

I sped up (0-70) and a half mile later when I slow down to turn, I start hearing this ticking noise from the engine bay. I open the hood, sounded like the ticking was coming from the front of the engine. The ticking speeds up as the RPMs go up. At first the ticking was hardly noticeable, but later on the ticking was very loud, almost like rod knock.

I get home, pop the hood and the ticking stops for about a minute but comes back. The ticking has been going on for about 50 miles at this point, but later on in the day as I'm making a U-turn, the ticking completely stops. Two lights later, I notice smoke coming out of the engine bay. It was not thick smoke and it smelled like burning brakes. There were two instances at stops when the smoke was very noticeable (cloud).

I decided to take it home as I was less than 2 miles away but when I got home I could not open my hood as I may have closed the hood too hard earlier in the day. I cannot see where the smoke is coming from.

There is no smoke whatsoever coming out of my exhaust. The only time the smoke appears from the engine bay is when I gas it to get from 30 mph-60 mph quickly.

I'm going to schedule an appointment to have the car checked, but I wanted to get feedback from anyone who has shared a similar experience. Ticking is completely gone (for about 10-15 miles now), but there is still thin white smoke coming from the engine bay. When I park, it is bad. The smell is thick and that of burning brakes, thin white smoke continuously comes from the engine bay for a few minutes. When I checked the oil level, it prompts: "Engine oil level, Reduce oil level".

I would appreciate anyone's insight to my situation, hope to get to know you all better.


Best

 

I'd say you have a noisy lifter, overfilled oil, and valve covers leaking oil onto the exhaust manifolds.

 

Sounds about right ^^

If its constant then maybe an exhaust leak by the manifolds

 

Thank you for your response!

I started the car this morning and the ticking came back, but now it's a very loud knocking and the engine bay starts to smoke almost immediately.

Im hoping you guys are right and that it's just the lifter going and over filled oil leaking, that sounds like the best case scenario.

My appointment is tomorrow, I'm taking it to an indie shop owned by two MB master technicians. When I explained to him the problems, he said it was not a common issue but that may be because of the combination of the overfilled oil leaking.

Any more feedback is appreciated and I'll follow up once the car has been diagnosed.

 

Best of luck. I would have it towed there

 

By the way, if it is the lifters, will there be engine damage? That is my biggest concern.

 

Ticking is one thing, knocking is way beyond that. I wouldn't even start the car anymore. Have it towed and let them figure it out since it sounds like it's getting worse quickly.

I've raced engines with ticking lifters for years and never used oil or had anything catastrophic happen to them, but knocking is a must stop and go no further proposition.

I'd check all of the fluid levels and call it done. It's pro-time.

Best of luck.

 

Definitely a strange one, keep us informed!

 

There are two drain plugs - possible the last oil change was by someone not familiar and as a result overfilled it?

 

Kgb55 - It is possible, yes.

I had the car towed to the shop today, I'll update once I have a diagnosis from them.

Does anyone happen for to know the cost of labor on an engine swap for this car?

 

So the loud knocking sound and reason for the smoke coming out of the engine bay was because the AC compressor completely seized, the belt was stretched and will need to be replaced. Other than that, the mechanic saw no other problems at the time. I asked him to check everything to make sure it is all in working order. I should have her back by tomorrow evening and I cannot wait! :]


It is a huge relief for me, but I am extremely happy that it had nothing to do with the engine itself. I will ask the mechanic if he knows why the AC compressor ended up the way it did. When I took the car for a test drive, I did notice it taking about 10 minutes for the AC to start working.


Thanks again everyone who provided feedback, I very much appreciate it!


Best

 

That's about the best outcome to have to deal with.

 

Might ask him to check your pulley's. Mine at 80,000 miles crapped out, at least one did and I lost all power within minutes. I believe the pulleys have ceramic bearings and one of the pulleys bearings shredded and the belt slipped off as the pulley wobbled around. I had that pulley replaced as well as one of the others. Something to consider.

 

What was the name of the indie repair shop you took it to for service?

 

w00t!

 

Seriously! Glad to hear it wasn't anything major

 

They showed me the AC compressor that was pulled from the car, the pulley had blown to pieces. They said it was the second one they've seen in as many weeks and that it was uncommon, no preventative maintainence possible.

The shop is named Mercedes European Motors located on Mira Mar road in San Diego, CA.

The shop is owned and operated by two MB master technicians, both of which were present when I picked up my car (they were the only techs there).

The shop was a little messy but they looked to be very busy. I had my car back within 48 hours and couldn't be happier. Cost for everything including a new AC compressor, belt and labor was $1080.

 

Came across this in my files - probably a pre-emptive repair to prevent this failure.

 

I just picked up my first C55 a few weeks ago. I had the same issue. AC compressor seized and the pulley snapped right off. I was kinda worried when I found a broken pulley on the ground. Glad it wasn't anything major!