Correct, the end here will be missing and open:
It looks like the oil in that engine might take a while to drain!!
Best get it warmed up a bit.
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The $400 400E
- Thread starter Beater400E
- Start date
It looks like the oil in that engine might take a while to drain!!
Best get it warmed up a bit.
I swapped out the oiler tubes. All the plastic ones were still intact. I also replaced the upper timing chain guides on the passenger side since they were broken and I was right there.
No difference. It's fairly quiet when it's cold, but as it warms up it gets pretty loud. I took it for a short drive. The car has plenty of power. It surges just a bit at idle, but I haven't touched the ignition yet, so I assume it needs everything. The wiring harness is also toast, so who knows what problems that could be introducing. The two mile loop I ran did nothing for the valve noise. I'd love to take it out and give it a full shakedown, but still no registration or insurance, so I have to stay close to home.
I got out the stethoscope and poked around. It sounds like it's centered around one of the intake valves on cylinder 7. My best guess at this point is a collapsed lifter. I did inspect the cams when I had it apart and didn't see any obvious issues there. No flat lobes or anything.
I have plenty of lifters sitting around, so I could easily swap some in. I'd rather keep the original lifter on the original cam lobe if possible though. Are these lifters serviceable? I seem to recall it was possible to disassemble and clean them up. I'll do some searching around on that.
Another option would be to go ahead and swap in the set of 92 intake cams I've been hanging onto. Those are good for an extra half millimeter or so of lift and I think just a bit more duration. I have the matching lifters for that cam, organized and labeled by location. I could swap that whole mess in. This engine needs chain guides anyway, so it's not much more work to just swap the intake cams while I'm at it.
Of course, I've been wanting to try swapping a set of intake cams in place of exhaust cams at some point too. This is probably my best opportunity for that, since this car is so much easier to work on than the 400E.
My only hesitation is that if I try to do all those things at once, it would be hard to troubleshoot if anything went wrong. I'd rather do it one step at a time, but that's a lot more work.
I'm not even supposed to behere working on this car today.
No difference. It's fairly quiet when it's cold, but as it warms up it gets pretty loud. I took it for a short drive. The car has plenty of power. It surges just a bit at idle, but I haven't touched the ignition yet, so I assume it needs everything. The wiring harness is also toast, so who knows what problems that could be introducing. The two mile loop I ran did nothing for the valve noise. I'd love to take it out and give it a full shakedown, but still no registration or insurance, so I have to stay close to home.
I got out the stethoscope and poked around. It sounds like it's centered around one of the intake valves on cylinder 7. My best guess at this point is a collapsed lifter. I did inspect the cams when I had it apart and didn't see any obvious issues there. No flat lobes or anything.
I have plenty of lifters sitting around, so I could easily swap some in. I'd rather keep the original lifter on the original cam lobe if possible though. Are these lifters serviceable? I seem to recall it was possible to disassemble and clean them up. I'll do some searching around on that.
Another option would be to go ahead and swap in the set of 92 intake cams I've been hanging onto. Those are good for an extra half millimeter or so of lift and I think just a bit more duration. I have the matching lifters for that cam, organized and labeled by location. I could swap that whole mess in. This engine needs chain guides anyway, so it's not much more work to just swap the intake cams while I'm at it.
Of course, I've been wanting to try swapping a set of intake cams in place of exhaust cams at some point too. This is probably my best opportunity for that, since this car is so much easier to work on than the 400E.
My only hesitation is that if I try to do all those things at once, it would be hard to troubleshoot if anything went wrong. I'd rather do it one step at a time, but that's a lot more work.
I'm not even supposed to be
By the frequency of your tick, it sounds like you only have 1 collapsed lifter. During my research I did find details on cleaning them which I did try on mine but I couldn’t get it to fill with oil. There was no other obvious issue with it when I dismantled it so I chose to just replace it.
If you rotate the engine until the cam lobe is pointing upwards you can test each lifter until you find the one which can be compressed. Use a non metallic object to check each lifter.
If you rotate the engine until the cam lobe is pointing upwards you can test each lifter until you find the one which can be compressed. Use a non metallic object to check each lifter.
That was my thought too. I only hear a single, regularly-spaced tick. The stethoscope says it's probably the rearmost intake valve on cylinder 7.
Realistically I'll probably put this car on the back burner for a bit while I take care of some other projects. My other SL needs some work, as does my Jeep. Once those are done I'll get this one on the lift and go through it.
Apropos of nothing, I was going through some of my parts hoard and ran across these ball socket joints I'd picked up a couple years ago. These are the ball socket used in some parts of the w124 climate control linkage, like the recirculation door. Mine was broken when I got the car, so I went on a quest for replacements. I don't know how I originally found them, but I wanted to document what they are for the good of mankind.
They are apparently manufactured by Springfix linkages, although I wasn't able to find it in their catalog.
Best source I think is actually Porsche. Porsche part number 99916802500 or N0157041.
They are apparently manufactured by Springfix linkages, although I wasn't able to find it in their catalog.
Best source I think is actually Porsche. Porsche part number 99916802500 or N0157041.
My fuel gauge started acting up yesterday. It'll act fine most of the time, but occasionally it'll kind of flutter. I'm guessing it's intermittently losing continuity from the sender. When it flutters, the needle basically drops down for a split second, and then returns to normal. Sometimes it only drops 1/4 tank or so, sometimes all the way to empty, and then it returns to the actual fuel level quickly.
I'm sure it's either the sender, the gauge, or the wiring. Wiring seems unlikely. So it's down to the sender or the gauge. Does anyone know of any specific tests to run, or whether one or the other is more likely to fail?
I'm sure it's either the sender, the gauge, or the wiring. Wiring seems unlikely. So it's down to the sender or the gauge. Does anyone know of any specific tests to run, or whether one or the other is more likely to fail?
@Beater400E,
My 500E did that a few years ago. I ran some Techron thru a few tanks of gas and it quit fluttering. I’m not sure that fixed it but it has stopped.
It’s worth a try.
My 500E did that a few years ago. I ran some Techron thru a few tanks of gas and it quit fluttering. I’m not sure that fixed it but it has stopped.
It’s worth a try.
Not a bad idea. Maybe I'll give that a shot.
I poured in a bottle of Techron and about 1/3 bottle of Redline SI-1 that I had left on the shelf. We'll see if that helps.
Yeah I do that every 2 years or so when my fuel gauge acts up too. It works.
My 129 is like that too. It seems pretty accurate for the first half of the tank, but then it drops rapidly. When I'm down to maybe 1/4 tank it'll read near empty.
My 129 is the only car I have EVER run out of fuel in and it has happened to me TWICE.
I now brim fill it, reset the trip counter and drive 250 miles or so before filling it up again. It is the only thing on my car which isn't 100% reliable and I have no desire to tear apart the fuel system to get to the cause or to run out of fuel again,. these cars are heavy...
99% likely to be the sending unit. You can remove it (get fuel level below half tank, lower the better) and then disassemble / clean it. Practice on a junkyard sending unit first.
