I have a question for you please.

My wife's car has 58,000 miles on it. At 45,000 the upper valve covers had to be resealed at my request do to oily grimy build up along the gaskets. Now at 58,000 miles the left bank rockers and surrounding hardware had to be replaced. It was klattering like a diesel.

We just got the car back today. I took the engine cover off to have a look around and noticed that the right side valve cover gasket has a tremendous build up of the same oily grimy substance.

What might be causing the gaskets to keep leaking and what might have caused the left side rockers to all go? Could this be some kind of pressure problem in the engine?

The repairs are covered as she purchased a Mercedes extended warranty. However, the warranty expires in a year and the only way I will ever get my money out of this car is to drive it for another 10 years. If I have a lemon I should get rid of it now. FYI, the dealer has already swapped out the tranny with a factory rebuild because of shifting issues.

Thanks for your help.

 

German Engines dont have problems

 

I wouldn't call grime build-up an issue.. All engines get dirty and full of grime. Now an actual leak is another story but grime build up doesn't exactly constitute a leak.

Secondly, The rockers on this car are adjustable...

This is usually called a valve adjustment and involves setting the gap between your rocker arms and your lifters.This is not something that is done on a schedule, as these engines are basically bulletproof but they do need adjusting from time to time depending on how the car was being driven, or sometimes just because..

I started to test drive an earlier W220 that only had 58K on it but the engine was ticking because it needed a valve adjustment or something and I refused to even drive it.. The dealer said " well I'll get that fixed before you buy it" I said "Well you should have had it fixed before I started it there is no telling what other problems this obviously beaten to death car has..".. OF course I left that car sitting on his lot..

I have never heard of a whole rocker arm assembly needing replacement. They only would need to be replaced if they were damaged severely. as you stated that you car sounded like a diesel, I'm guessing there was something loose and went unattended for too long that led to the need to replace all of those parts. Good thing you have the extra warranty in this case because I'm sure that was expensive to have done.

Again, I wouldn't worry about grime build-up. You will see that a lot on these engines because the cover/intake tends to restrict the flow of air around the engine in places so it will collect dust and of course oil in is slightest form is a big attraction to dirt and grime.

I usually clean my engine at least twice a year or more if I remember. That way if you do have a small leak, you will be able to see it and get it corrected before it becomes a bigger leak.

Hope this helps.....

 

The leaks are not wet oil but rather something that resembles tar and it is only along the gasket seal. The car was babied since new. Dealer told me specifically the valves wer enot the issue but rather it was just the rocker arms, etc. We took the car in as soon as we started hearing the klatter so no sustained running of the engine with bad parts.

 

Then if its not an iol leak I realy wouldn;t stress over it.. there is on other substance that the engine uses so who knows..I'd still keep it clean and monitor it...

As far as the rockers go,, you are talking to a person who doesn't have any faith in any thing most of these dealers say about what is wrong with a car... That said, I'd just have to say at least it was a warranty repair so there should be no worries there either..

 

i just bought a star service manual library from MB for $94 and it covers the model lines 215 and 220 from 2001 up to 2006.best money i ever spent it's a dvd,just load it in your pc and stop wondering where the part is or what it looks like.We should all have this service manual,it gives you the info you need to determine if you are being treated professionally even if you are not mechanically inclined. bones

 

Uh, no they aren't adjustable. Check your books again. I don't know the shape of the car you testdrove, but it isn't too uncommon for them to "clatter" on start up until it builds oil pressure up fully if they have been sitting for a long (week or two) time. The rockers were replaced most likely because the entire assembly includes the hydraulic valve compensating element and they pay more to replace under warranty than just the compensating elements.

 

How do you mod an S430? Do you put xenon headlights in it? Or does that mean it has new wheels on it?

 

Hmmm You are right.. those lifters are hydraulic.. so no adjustment... That's good to know.

I must have been thinking about my 190..LOL

but about the chatter...

I don't agree with that. My car sits for weeks at a time and starts up fine... NO knocks. If you have good lifters there should be no leak down at least not to the point that the car knocks noticeably when you startup.. I might expect to hear this a little when I get up to 250 to 300kon the clock but not now...

and yes perhaps a quick light clatter for a half a second or so at startup might be considered normal. Sitting there idling for five minutes with a constant tick, tick ,tick is no sign of normality..

the car I "was" going to test drove had a constant knock in the valve train... now that I think bout it.. it could have very well been the Cats... mine sounded the same way and I thought it was the valves at first.. but either way,, he lost that sale because you shouldnt show a car like that...