Thanks for the advice, Per. I took the car over to an independent that
I've used before, and he also seemed to think it was the tensioner,
based on the sound I described. But I'm also going to going to order
a chain and guides, just in case it ends up needing them, too, since
it will sooner or later.
Regards
On Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:20:26 +0100, Per Erik Jorde
<perik@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Bill Johnson <johnson102@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>
>Bill:
>
>I'm no expert but I have a 380SE (W126) and here is my humble
>suggestions based on my (limited) experience. First, I would not drive
>this car until the cause of the noise is identified: a broken
>chain is no fun (this is where my personal experience comes in :-( )
>
>
>> 1) Is there a way to tell the difference betweeen "chain slap" and
>> noisy valve lifters, since -- AFAIK -- both usually go away after the
>> engine is running smoothly?
>
>The car has hydraulic valve lifters and I don't think they will make
>any noise. The chain tensioner may fail however (personal experience
>again) and let the chain slap. This will certainly kill the engine if
>you continue running it: the chain will destroy the chain guides and
>eventually jump some teeths on the cam sprocket and -as somebody else
>has framed it- then expensive things starts to happen.
>
>> 3) When he checks or replaces the chain, is there a way to check
>> whether the chain guides and/or tensioner need to be replaced, too, or
>> should I just have him go ahead and do that to?
>
>What _I_ would do first (as it cost no money and can be done quite
>easily) is to let the car stand overnight to cool off. Turn the
>engine over to the TDC mark, remove the right hand (passenger side)
>valve cover and have a good look: Does the mark on the cam chain
>sprocked match? (You may have to turn the engine one complete turn,
>though.) Does the valve guides look intact? Any sign of small plastic
>pices (remants of destroyed valve guides) anywhere? Does the chain
>feel loose? Take a wooden stick and try compressing the chain
>tensioner (from the inside: press the chain out towards the
>tensioner): it should resist.
>
>> Does anybody happen to know what the typical life of the oil pump on a
>> 107 is, and what, if any, symptoms, a failing one demonstrates?
>
>A failing one would certainly give low oil pressure. On my W126 one
>can get at the oil pump by removing the small oil pan, but I believe
>the 107 models use a different pan, so it may be more work.
>
>Good luck.
>
>pej
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