I have a 97 e420, and my car is making a loud clicking noise, and it gets louder as the rpms go up, and i took the car to a mechanic, and he said that its better to either junk the car or trade it in for a lexus ( and i said HELL NO!!), but then he said if i take it to the dealership it will cost $5000 to put a new engine in. So im gonna take the car to the dealership soon, but before i do, i was just wondering if anybody had an idea of what the problem would be.

Thaks

 

Is your car affected by the harmonic balancer recall ?

I wouldnt take my car to a mechanic who tries to sell me a different car any more than I would take my car to a salesman and ask him to fix it. At some point in time you need to deal with someone who knows what the problem is.

The macroscopic view is ..... car > engine > section of engine > part in section > fault in part.

Someone who cant follow that path shouldnt be working on your car.

 

1997 e420 doesn't have harmonic balancer recall. I'm thinking it's the ever so famous ticking lifter problem that these motors are famous for. do a search on the forum for ticking lifters, had the same problem i fixed it my self. This is probably what it is.

 

This sounds like the infamous broken oil tube caps. I replaced one about 2 years ago and the ticking vanished. It reappered in different area, so I then replaced all of them. Ticking gone. Most of the cost is labor...good luck.

 

Thanks alot guys, ill check up on the suggestions you gave me.

 

Here is a how to, very common problem:
http://www.baxnet.com/merc/oilguides/story.htm

btw for a crate M119 think more then $5k. $19k was the last number I heard...

 

..I agree with benzmodz, what kind of a "mechanic" condemns a customer's engine without telling you exactly why. Sounds like he has somthing against Mercedes owners, or their cars. Did he even check your oil? Dont tell me you took it to a jiffylube it, or an oily can henrys for an engine diag on a Benz, cause if you did, that would explain it....

 

lol, no he didnt check the oil, but i found out that the noise wasnt a clicking noise, its actually a ratteling noise, coming from underneath the car, by the engine, i think it has something to do with the exhaust system, mayeb, and oh i know this sound stupid, but where is the catylic converter located?

 

and when i moved the car, it like keeps on jerking forward, and when i was looking for the problem, i could smell a strong scent of gas. Any ideas??