When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
whistling and ticking noise from the engine 2009 S600
Still very new to the m275 engine so this might be very dumb questions, I noticed a "whistling" kind of noise from the front of the engine, see video 1, the sound is pretty obvious 20 seconds into the video. Is it just idler pulley, or something else? Doesn't really sound like air leak..
I can also hear an obvious ticking sound. See video 2. I only recorded 10 seconds of this ticking sound, but it actually ticks faster sometimes on its own, with no change in RPM. The front of the car is lifted and put on jack stands and no loads on the front suspension, with the rear still on the ground.
slip off the drive belt and spin the top three small idler / tensioner pulleys to check bearings
they are made of chocolate and get noisy, then fail and love to throw the belt
cheap - gates ones are often INA OEM in the box
at 69k miles I have swapped the top one twice and the other two once (and the AC pump one - as thats the wrong width 2mm less than audi spec)
on my V8 the PAS and water pump sound like they were built to panzer noise regs not a motor car in the 2000's - that should not actually be much of a surprise - NVH - was never a Merc design philosophy - they used to focus on style, safety and longevity
obviously
style - clearly the drugs german designers take are pretty special - have you seen the catastrophe of dashboards and front grilles they offend us with these days
safety - since EuroNCAP in the 90s its become effectively mandatory across the world, so that dropped off a unique sales point,
longevity - ha ha, designed to fail for 30 years...
Still very new to the m275 engine so this might be very dumb questions, I noticed a "whistling" kind of noise from the front of the engine, see video 1, the sound is pretty obvious 20 seconds into the video. Is it just idler pulley, or something else? Doesn't really sound like air leak..
I can also hear an obvious ticking sound. See video 2. I only recorded 10 seconds of this ticking sound, but it actually ticks faster sometimes on its own, with no change in RPM. The front of the car is lifted and put on jack stands and no loads on the front suspension, with the rear still on the ground.
2007 S600, 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT8, 2000 C5 Corvette, 2017 Mustang GT, 2023 300C, and a 2019 Lincoln
The first sound to me sounds like the idler pulley and tensioner. These are maintenance parts and if yours has never been changed, it is due!! The second sound to me sounds like the ABC pump. That is not a maintenance item but if you are pushing 100K miles on that ABC pump, you may be due for that also. My 2007 S600 has all of these same sounds from time to time.
If it was me, I would do the pulleys and tensioner and maybe a new serpentine belt but I would wait on the ABC pump until it gets worse. The pulleys and tensioner and belt are not expensive. The ABC pump is very expensive.
Thanks you guys! yeah I'll probably ignore the ticking sound for now, as long as it's not related to camshaft slapping valves I'm OK with ignoring it. I'll try to determine if the idler pulleys are bad, they are indeed pretty cheap so that's a relief
2007 S600, 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT8, 2000 C5 Corvette, 2017 Mustang GT, 2023 300C, and a 2019 Lincoln
When you do the pulleys, do the tensioner also. And a new belt. As BOTUS alerted you, the bearings in these pulleys are made of very soft metal. The V12 seems to eat right through them with ease. The noise is talking to you; the question is whether you will listen!! I have already found out that not listening always results in more inconvenience and cost.
And of course, IMO, there is no finer automobile in the World than a well maintained S Class.
Yeah, eats tensioners. As for the tandem pump, I think the accumulator is replaceable on it?
It's kind of funny, inside the car of course it is quiet. But with the hood open and you are diagnosing issues the damn thing sounds like a steam locomotive that makes you sort of squirm. But at the end of the end of the day, the motor is a big gal with a ton of moving parts going on in that engine bay.
The nitrogen bomb threads into the tandem pump. Once you have replaced it (assuming it has failed) you will realize just how noisy it was.
Righty tighty... lefty loosey. Clean up around where it threads into the pump with a can of brake cleaner or two before removal. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Let no ick get in the pump.
Idlers. Yup. Replaced them several times in the 221 car. With the belt off.... spin the water pump. That bearing fails too. Give it a fresh SERP belt tensioner. I like all that junk to be the same age.
Easy work with the radiator fan removed. It doesn’t just jump out of there. You’ll see.
Last edited by JohnLane; Sep 14, 2024 at 01:22 AM.
The nitrogen bomb threads into the tandem pump. Once you have replaced it (assuming it has failed) you will realize just how noisy it was.
Righty tighty... lefty loosey. Clean up around where it threads into the pump with a can of brake cleaner or two before removal. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Let no ick get in the pump.
Idlers. Yup. Replaced them several times in the 221 car. With the belt off.... spin the water pump. That bearing fails too. Give it a fresh SERP belt tensioner. I like all that junk to be the same age.
Easy work with the radiator fan removed. It doesn’t just jump out of there. You’ll see.
My pump was replaced by the previous owner about 7 or 8 years ago. I replaced the front and rear accumulators recently...any opinions regarding the pulsation dampner on the pump? Might this be wearing out after 7-8 years?
My pump was replaced by the previous owner about 7 or 8 years ago. I replaced the front and rear accumulators recently...any opinions regarding the pulsation dampner on the pump? Might this be wearing out after 7-8 years?
Are you hearing a growling noise in the car.... most noticeable at idle.... changes with engine speed? If so the nitrogen bomb has given up.
Are you hearing a growling noise in the car.... most noticeable at idle.... changes with engine speed? If so the nitrogen bomb has given up.
It should be SILENT at idle in the car.
I don't think growling, but I do hear the ticking sound the op discussed. Maybe for $250 I should go ahead and replace? I'm not sure what is the reasonable life expectancy of the bomb.
I don't think growling, but I do hear the ticking sound the op discussed. Maybe for $250 I should go ahead and replace? I'm not sure what is the reasonable life expectancy of the bomb.
Ticking sound seems a lot like a canister purge solenoid. My 221 S-65 did it. Didn’t ever hear it in the car or with hood open so never cared enough to chase after it.
Nitrogen bomb doesn’t hurt anything when it lets it’s nitrogen out so you could let it go.... I prefer to be more proactive.
Many suggest performing a rodeo after. I’ve just replaced them with and without the rodeo. No discernible difference and I’m fussy about how it behaves.
Fresh fluid throughout the system is always good for it. Change the ABC filter too. With fresh fluid... There are ABC bleeders at both ends of the car. Car on tippy-toes.... engine off. Open the bleeder with a hose to a bottle and let that corner drop. Don’t get crushed as the car drops (yes; minor detail). Repeat
Last edited by JohnLane; Sep 14, 2024 at 09:22 AM.
Yeah, ticking sounds like a solenoid issue. In fact, in that area is the purge valve solenoid which clicks about that dang fast.
Anyways, here it is...
Has a weird spring harness clamp on it so...just be careful if you want to unplug to verify. And it will set off a code. Trust me. lol. So have a way to reset if needed.
nitrogen bombs - aka accumulator spheres of pressurised fluid, when operating correcting in the car - provide the correct quantity of fluid to allow the system to operate as designed
when the diaphragm wears and pops its clogs, the system will have to run the pump far more frequently (almost continuously) to make up for the lack of nitrogen providing the effort, I guess (although not idea if it matters) the nitrogen would also contaminate the fluid till it works its way around the system and vents out
under extreme conditions, no accumulation of fluid, will end up exhausting the suspension's ability to cope with too many bumps and it will miss-perform... these spheres were part of the suspension and brakes on many Citroen's and RR's - and popped accumulators are what caused the death of the Princess of Monaco in the 80s
Nitrogen bomb referred to in this case threads into ABC pump and acts as a dampener to quiet pressure pulses made by the pump.
The bigger spheres (also nitrogen bombs... named as such for their appearance... think of the ‘bombs’ we got to see in Looney Tunes cartoons as kids.) store the fluid under pressure. One for front suspension. One for rear suspension. Should one of these fail there will be no ‘cushion’ when encountering a bump. The car will crash over any bump that requires the suspension to compress. The pressure MUST go somewhere. A large nitrogen bomb failure can and will cause hydraulic hoses to fail, wipe out the pump, struts ect in very short order. This is much of why there are so many ABC failures in 220 chassis cars. Much improved for the 221 cars. Another huge leap forward for the 222 cars. I never had one of the bigger nitrogen bombs fail in my 221 car. That car got traded at just over 150,000 miles. I had one fail in my 140-120 ‘96 S600. A bump that required suspension to compress would pitch rear of the car up as though suspension was solid.
Last edited by JohnLane; Sep 15, 2024 at 09:58 AM.
reporting back, I replaced 3 idler pulleys and the tensioner (and the belt), but the exact same whistling noise is still there. One of the idler pulleys (the very top one) is indeed very loud when spinning, the others sound alright. The engine idles correctly with no change in RPM, and no error codes whatsoever, it drives normally with lots of power, so I don't know.. Maybe when I got some more time I can get a smoke machine and give it a try
don't think of a Mercedes as a brand that ever knew how to control NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), go back to ww2 and think about his rag top cars, its all just image not refinement...
other stuff that will contribute to the racket on a good one are
the water pump
the PAS pump - note if it has ABC suspension these are a different beast and its suspension fun it a whole forum on its own - with noisy pumps, hoses and accumulators that might be making interesting noises
the Alternator
all sound like a worn out Panzer tank that's been retreating across 2000 miles of europe with no maintenance not a motor car
then we can have worn turbo's or boost leaks
- and it will still sound like a tank when you have replaced it all - close the bonnet thrash it to death and when it dies walk away....
don't think of a Mercedes as a brand that ever knew how to control NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), go back to ww2 and think about his rag top cars, its all just image not refinement...
other stuff that will contribute to the racket on a good one are
the water pump
the PAS pump - note if it has ABC suspension these are a different beast and its suspension fun it a whole forum on its own - with noisy pumps, hoses and accumulators that might be making interesting noises
the Alternator
all sound like a worn out Panzer tank that's been retreating across 2000 miles of europe with no maintenance not a motor car
then we can have worn turbo's or boost leaks
- and it will still sound like a tank when you have replaced it all - close the bonnet thrash it to death and when it dies walk away....
Botus you have GOT to try out a 222 car with healthy happy MBC and tight suspension arms. This is any of them with under 60,000 miles. You may just be shocked at the improvement compared with your 221 car. NVH is non-existent in the S600 that is all about being quiet and smooth. Very different from the AMG cars. Too much like a Lexus for my taste.
...car design and dev sped up (as accountants decided where they believe that can steal more money)
I'm sure the 222 had to improve - a ford focus of 2007 drives much better than a 221, every time I get in hers I'm shocked how its so composed - been rattling about abroad in 2005 corrolla for 3 months, what a horror show - but even that highlights Merc never got the steering correct on the 221 - this corolla has the most ridiculously light PAS, but once used to it it always consistent. Came back, took her focus out and it like wow this think feels like a BMW RR. Solid, composed, glued to the road, amazingly weighted controls, great seats, so quiet... then I got in my as new 221 and the steering is stuck in mud fighting as you go down to parking speeds with the assistance playing catch up when maneuvering fast - its at least 15% under assisted all the time. Over UK roads which make overseas potholes look like a snooker table, the suspension (is better than I recollect) until the rear finds some oddities it never coped with, and it wobbles and bucks and whatever mess is going on at the back pushes the car this way wildly and it doesn't so much jiggle the passengers and smacks them around the cabin.
I've got a few for you to think about on a 221, turn the wipers on and feel the entire car rock back and forth just like an e89 BMW (never had that in any car before those last two). Rain hitting the roof, never had a car in 50 years make such a racket. And the disgusting racket of the indicator relay - I had a £500 fiat panda that was classy as hell - then this ****ing 221 its relay worse than ANY other car I've ever sat in... by around 1000%
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
whistling and ticking noise from the engine 2009 S600
