Intermittent Tick and Rattle - Cat?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 30
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From: Minnesota
1998 E430 Sport and 2003 E500
Intermittent Tick and Rattle - Cat?
Hi - I have a 2003 E500 w/63K miles. It has a noticeable 'tick' at times on low speed acceleration. Dealer's "best mechanic" looked and listened, but said he didn't note a tick I was probably hearing resonance through the cats. I picked the car up and no funny sounds, so seems to be sporadic.
Two days ago I was sitting in a bank drive-thru and rev'd the motor a bit in park... there was a ticking that 'wound up' and was very noticeable as the engine settled to idle. Sound appears to be coming from the center of the car and is NOT under the hood. Noise was not present next morning.
Today, after 10 minutes of driving, rev'd at a standstill again, and noise was back. Tick under acceleration (similar to a lifter tick). No misses, great acceleration, no vibration or shaking, no smells, etc.
63K and out of warranty. Will visit the dealer in the morning and hope my 'imaginative' noise is present. Catalytic converter possibly? Can anyone tell me if this would be covered at 7 yrs and 63K miles?
Thanks
Two days ago I was sitting in a bank drive-thru and rev'd the motor a bit in park... there was a ticking that 'wound up' and was very noticeable as the engine settled to idle. Sound appears to be coming from the center of the car and is NOT under the hood. Noise was not present next morning.
Today, after 10 minutes of driving, rev'd at a standstill again, and noise was back. Tick under acceleration (similar to a lifter tick). No misses, great acceleration, no vibration or shaking, no smells, etc.
63K and out of warranty. Will visit the dealer in the morning and hope my 'imaginative' noise is present. Catalytic converter possibly? Can anyone tell me if this would be covered at 7 yrs and 63K miles?
Thanks
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
1998 E430 Sport and 2003 E500
FYI - For anyone having a tick under acceleration or rattle as the car settles to idle at a standstill in P or N, it was a cat on the RH side of the car.
Dealer replaced the entire pipe assembly on PS under MB warranty.
Dealer replaced the entire pipe assembly on PS under MB warranty.
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 4
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2003 E320 - 2003 E500
I just purchased a 2003 E500 with 34,000 miles. Everytime I would accelerate, the engine would sound like it had bad lifters. I have a subscription to AllDataDIY.com, so I pulled up the TSB's. I dreplaced the waterpump, the idler pulley, the belt tensioner and the belt itself. I also checked the alternator pulley and A/C pulley. None of this solved the problem. The next TSB said it was the motor mounts. I replacve the old motor mounts Saturday with the new mounts and no more pistonslap/valve lifter sound. The TSB gave the part number for the new motor mounts. A211 240 30 17. Up to 2/6/03, the E500 had a less than adequate motor mount which lets the motor rock on acceleration. I did my own motor mounts... It was a PIA. 2-3 hour job. If you can afford it, let the mechanic have this one!
