indygent

Problem and symptoms: I have a significant whining noise from the drivers side (U.S.) of the engine that rises and falls with the RPMs of engine, and is more significant at idle to about 2k rpm, and increases in volume with the slight touch of the steering wheel, but still present when you don't touch the wheel. I'm pretty sure it's not the power steering pump - I just replaced it myself.


Background: I'm a new member, and very grateful to all the DIY advice I've received from your posts. It gave me the courage to throw parts at my latest problem which I thought was a power steering pump failing. After DIY installing the refurbished P/S pump, I refilled all fluid levels, fired it up, and... same noise, still there.


It's been a good couple of months of this noise getting progressively worse to the point where it's embarrassing to pull into a parking spot with people around. It does get louder as I drive it, and it gets quite loud if I drive it more aggressively. About the only other notable thing going on is that on a cold start, maybe half the time, I will get a brief (1-3 seconds) clackety-clack noise under the hood almost like there was a broken piece of plastic flapping around. Not sure whether these two noises are related.


Any help is appreciated!

E55wannabe

My car made similar sounds when the A/C compressor pump was dead/dying. It still worked and it sounded like an extremely loud PS pump whine. Take a video, I can confirm if it's the same sound I had.

indygent

Video.MOVvid attached, pardon the audio instructions to my kid.

E55wannabe

That sounds a lot like my A/C compressor did.

There's no real way to test it without bypassing the compressor unfortunately. I don't know if there is a belt that will fit that motor to bypass it. That was the only way I knew for sure mine was done. Yes it still worked fine.

indygent

I will check my maintenance records, I think that my mechanic replaced that a year or two ago. I will pop the belt off and see if that stops the whine. just placing my ear close to the source of the whine, it sure is in the area of the PS pump, the A/C compressor, or the oil pump on driver's side - so I wouldn't rule the A/C Pump out. Since I had to pop the hose from the A/C compressor to remove and install PS pump I'll wait to recharge the refrigerant until I rule out the A/C compressor.

konigstiger

As mentioned next step check pulleys, belt, and compressor. If found to be compressor MB does not offer separate pulley therefore, compressor needs replacement OEM part # 00223007110. FYI OEM V-belt is part # 00199383960, see attachments for OEM pulleys. You may want to consider aftermarket Wiestec CNC aluminum idlers http://weistec.com/billet-idler-pulleys.html (no affiliation).

hachiroku

002-230-07-11 Compressor
E63
$1,100.00 $770.00

shardul

iTrader: (1)

Check all the idler pulleys.
We also sell a replacement idler pulley kit.

indygent

OK, I removed the belt to see if the whining noise went away - yes it did. I backed up a few feet and wrestled the steering wheel a bit to move the tires slightly, no noise. I checked maintenance records, and about 28,000 miles ago my indep mechanic replaced a ton of the idler pulleys, the A/C compressor, and the crankshaft pulley - I had been shredding belts (went through 3 of them in not even 10k miles). At one point I recall a conversation where they were going to put an additional idler pulley in to relieve some of the stress on another pulley that was supposedly an MB suggested fix but I don't recall if they for certain did that. Good news is I no longer shred belts.
I am eligible for fuel tank work under warranty (big fuel smell after fill ups), and I'm half inclined to use the dealer visit to head over to the service shop in Kentucky outside of Cincinnati and ask them to diagnose the noise/problem for me while they have the car... I live in Indianapolis and have reason to avoid local dealership for this car - not the best AMG experience did I have. After replacing the P/S pump thinking it was the noisy culprit, to no avail, I'm not too keen on replacing the A/C compressor until I am freaking sure it's the problem. Suggestions and smarta$$ comments welcomed.

Maxfli

Did you ever figure out what was causing the noise? Was it the A/C compressor?

I have a noise I'm trying to diagnose in my 2011 E63.

Thanks,
Pete

MJBelcher500

Pete, this is a 5 year old thread....

indygent

It is, and mine is an ‘07 W211 AMG E63 that now has over 200k miles! So I don’t know if my final solution is exactly what you need. It ended up being the power steering reservoir tank, and specifically it must’ve been the filter in the bottom of that (comes as part of the tank when you order it and replace it). If yours is set up the same way perhaps this will work for you; it fixed my problem immediately so no more whine! Before I did any of that I wasted money and time replacing the power steering pump, and going 2 years without air-conditioning because I had to move the A/C hose and didn’t yet own the icarsoft handheld to reset the A/C system. But all is well now! Good luck. Order the kit from FCP Euro they also send the fluids and all you need.

indygent

…and my next projects are to replace the engine & transmission mounts (after figuring out how to move the steering rack), and then figure out where the clunking noise is coming from in the front suspension (I think).

nd-photo.nl

On the E55/CLS55 its 4 bolts for the steering rack and then you have just enough room to shimmy them out. I used this guide

Maxfli

indygent - here is a video of Alex at LegitStreetCars moving the steering rack (@ the 5:40 mark) to install headers on a C63...not exactly your car but likely close enough. He used to be a Mercedes tech so he knows these cars and has done a fair amount of work on E55, C63 and other AMG cars and has some good tips.


Hope this helps with your engine mounts. The center trans mount is a piece of cake. There are some decent videos out on youtube about that.

Thanks...after some additional research, I'm pretty sure it's a clogged ps reservoir filter so I'm ordering the kit now.

MJBelcher500 - Yep...just doing some research using the search function and reading up in the forum before asking. And even though it's an old thread, I thought I'd hit up people who have had similar symptoms to see how they resolved it to learn from them. I could have started a new thread but then I probably would have gotten some "Common problem...use the search function" responses.

Anyway, I think it helped me diagnose the problem so I'll replace the reservoir, flush the system and report back so others can learn from the forum. Thanks for responding.

Pete

Maxfli

Replaced the ps reservoir, flushed the system (with the engine off) and when I started it up, the whine was gone.

Thanks for the forum knowledge! Next job is trans fluid flush. And then start working on the newest addition: 2007 S550 w/AMG pkg.

Pete

E63007

Interesting that you were able to "remove" the Serpentine belt to determine if the sound you heard was Engine -vs- component (ie-H2O/PS/AC/Alt) related? I guess you could get away with doing it for a few minutes max before overheating or something!! As for your mechanic suggesting to install an "additional" idler pulley, I'd love to know where they managed to put that?

I do feel your pain, however as I personally rebuilt my 07' E63 the day I brought mine home due to the idle going whacky (ie-Higher and higher!) which seriously affected gear shift! Before getting Star/Xentry, I determined it must be the Intake Manifold, so I proceeded to remove it. It turns out my Throttle Body Plenum was riddled with holes, so that explained the high idle (ie-More air tells the ECU to increase gas input= more rpm). Once I removed the IM, I saw how corroded the Intake runners were with Carbon buildup. Rather than replace the Headbolts 1 x 1 and clean up the Carbon with Walnut Shells under high pressure, I instead took off both Heads and had them rebuilt (by Xtreme Heads, Palm City, FL) only to find that 8 of 16 Intake Valves were bent! Needless to say, that fixed my idle issue! During this phase however, after providing to Mercedes a copy of the recall, to my surprise, they offered to replace my Gas Tank/2 fuel pumps!! Since then, I've rebuilt the entire Suspension by replacing every rubber bushing, had the Airmatic Struts rebuilt, bought new rear Shocks, did the rear main seal, new rubber on each side of the Drive Shaft, Engine and Tranny Mounts,PS Bushings, replaced the rubber connections to the tranny from the gear shifter, new Airmatic Pump, PS Pump, AC Pump, Radiator, Racing Brake Front Rotors, Zimmerman rear Rotors and New Hubs, Added LSD and 3.06 Gears to the Rear Diff, UPD rear Tow Arms, F1 Fab front Camber Arms, UPD Idler Pulley Set etc!

I thought I was in the clear but recently was stranded on the side of the road due to the Tranny Control Module Speed Sensor not allowing shifting out of 1st gear!!! There I was sitting there on the side of the road on the phone with my Insurance Company to determine if they would cover the Towing, which they would, when I recalled seeing an ad Renntech had about their Tranny Upgrade! So the decision to bring it home or send it to Renntech was determined after telling the Ins Co I'd call back. So I call Renntech, explained my predicament, they confirmed that they could "Pair" a new TCM to the car in the event it came to that, So I decided to pull the trigger.

The next week I I had received an e-mail from them stating the cost of a New Valve Body and a new TCU + Labor would be around $3150, roughly the cost of what the Tranny upgrade would have been in the first place! Further, they stated that although they could install the new VB & TCM, that they were unable to "pair" the new TCM to the car due to "Technical Difficulty's!!" So I call them to "Follow up" and they tell me their Tech said that a New Valve Body as well as a New TCU would have to be installed before they could assess whether or not a Tranny Upgrade would be something that they would do. When I explained that nothing was wrong with my Valve body because after cleaning it I had realized more precise shifts and that my TCM was a VGS2 that could be installed and "Paired" unlike a VGS1 and that the codes were 2766 and 2767:

• Internal Speed Sensor - Y3/8N2
  • 2766 - Excessive rpm’s have occurred at component Y3/8n2 (Internal speed sensor (VGS))
  • 2767 - The signal from component Y3/8n2 (Internal speed sensor (VGS)) is not available

The salesman said it was what the "Tech" had told him!! Since it was obvious the salesman was not aware of the email I had received stating what I mentioned above, rather than getting into a debate, I simply told him I'd be sending over a flatbed and to please make sure my car would be ready for pickup that day!

What really gets me is that I had already had the TCM/Valve Body out when I did the Rear Main Seal as I had removed the Valve Body previously to Clean it! Nevertheless, I sent the TCM out to Circuit Board Medics last week and already they have informed me that it's in the mail back to me!!! While I was under there removing the Valve body for this second time, I saw my front strut, previously rebuilt by RMT, had sprung yet another leak, so I brought it back to them under warranty! Unlike some others on the forum, my experience with RMT is nothing short of phenomenal!! They have done me so right!! I'm just waiting for these bits to get back to me and I'll be getting my Beast back on the road where it belongs!!

UPDATE: I installed the rebuilt TCM to the Valve Body as well as the ReBuilt front Shock and she runs great! I recently had an old ski buddy of mine come down, who used to do some car racing himself, and after showing him what the car could do, he told me it was the first time he’s ever seen me behind the wheel of a race car! Back in the day I was driving a SAAB 900 SPG Turbo, which was a fine ride, but it was no AMG V8!