C200 - 2008 - 1.8ltr

[john2006]

Hi there.

So wondering what everyones thoughts are of this. Just got the car and I've noticed on cold starts (not all of them) two issues...

1) Sometimes there is a rattle (especially if the car is parked on an incline over night) and started in the morning. The rattle lasts a few seconds at most and is never heard of again until the the next time whenever that may be!

2) Also on a cold start, the steering wheel when being rotated in any direction, will seemingly make a groaning/moaning kind of noise. It's very faint and not too obvious...but what I noticed and rang alarm bells was when it did this along with a very faint high pitch tone. Almost like a beeeeep sort of noise? It quickly disappears after about 5-10 movements of the steering wheel...such as what you would do if you we coming out of a drive way and drove off...it's gone by that point.

With the first issue, I'm worried this is the timing chain?? but I thought these last forever an ever? especially if the car has full service history like mine does?


Any advice, appreciated

 

[AMGeed]

Welcome to the forum.
Your thoughts on a timing chain issue are probably correct and needs attention very soon.
Your location isn't stated but you need a Mercedes specialist (not a main dealer) to confirm the rattle needs looking at now.
Get them to check the steering noise too (possibly low power steering fluid?)

Where are you located so someone here can recommend a Mercedes specialist?

 

[sonic]

You have the M271engine with a known issue the timing chain & sprocket.
Google M271, & get it checked ASP.

 

[john2006]

Welcome to the forum.
Your thoughts on a timing chain issue are probably correct and needs attention very soon.
Your location isn't stated but you need a Mercedes specialist (not a main dealer) to confirm the rattle needs looking at now.
Get them to check the steering noise too (possibly low power steering fluid?)

Where are you located so someone here can recommend a Mercedes specialist?

Hi, I live in Kent, Ramsgate/Broadstairs that area. Yeah my fears are being confirmed I guess. I'm gonna have to get this into a garage. Ive only had this delivered to me a week ago and I noticed this on day one... but it got real rattle-like the other day so that sparked this all off. Now I'm seeing lots of issues relating to the chain/sprockets. Is it just these two things that I need to get replaced? I'm hearing chatter about other bits too like camshaft adjuster or something?

 

[Kudly]

Hi, I live in Kent, Ramsgate/Broadstairs that area. Yeah my fears are being confirmed I guess. I'm gonna have to get this into a garage. Ive only had this delivered to me a week ago and I noticed this on day one... but it got real rattle-like the other day so that sparked this all off. Now I'm seeing lots of issues relating to the chain/sprockets. Is it just these two things that I need to get replaced? I'm hearing chatter about other bits too like camshaft adjuster or something?

PCS at Horndean https://prestigecarservice.co.uk/
AMF at Paddock Wood https://www.amfmercedes.com/
Two highly thought of Indies not too far from you.
My car has the same engine, I've had it checked and it's okay for now but I will get new chain, sprockets and anything else it needs as a preventive measure in the near future because I like the car and intend to keep it. Make sure it gets the correct oil at change time and I use Liqui Moly Cera Tec oil additive but get a good Indy to diagnose on timing chain. Steering noise may be normal but again get an Indy to check. Worth spending a few quid for a proper check & estimate for worst case.

 

[john2006]

PCS at Horndean https://prestigecarservice.co.uk/
AMF at Paddock Wood https://www.amfmercedes.com/
Two highly thought of Indies not too far from you.
My car has the same engine, I've had it checked and it's okay for now but I will get new chain, sprockets and anything else it needs as a preventive measure in the near future because I like the car and intend to keep it. Make sure it gets the correct oil at change time and I use Liqui Moly Cera Tec oil additive but get a good Indy to diagnose on timing chain. Steering noise may be normal but again get an Indy to check. Worth spending a few quid for a proper check & estimate for worst case.

Thank you. I will check these links out, I also tested the car today again, this time I managed to get a friend to start the engine whilst I'm at the front so I can record a video but the engine gave zero rattles.... and so I thought okay...let me go test the steering wheel,a t least I can capture a video of that sound. Nope, silent there too!

I even went as far as to get one of those diagnostic machine/scanners to see if that will show any codes as I've been reading more about this and apparently there are codes that sometimes will come up too but this said there were no codes stored so hard to say if the scanner is just not great... it's £170 quid so not a cheap one but I've been seeing these other scanners inexcess of £2000 so I guess maybe it is a cheap one in the grand scheme of things.....

That said, I think yeah, the garage and having them look at it is probably our best option. I'm always a little hesitant with garages, as i feel it's hard to find a trust worthy one that won't just say it needs doing even though it doesn't....since the ££££ off this job would be quite high so I'm often left feeling stuck between a hard place and a rock. lol

 

[Srdl]

That said, I think yeah, the garage and having them look at it is probably our best option. I'm always a little hesitant with garages, as i feel it's hard to find a trust worthy one that won't just say it needs doing even though it doesn't....since the ££££ off this job would be quite high so I'm often left feeling stuck between a hard place and a rock. lol

Welcome John. PCS are a long way from you but Alexander Foti ( @alexanderfoti ) is highly regarded on this forum and as trustworthy as you can get so have no fears about going to him.

 

[Wighty]

Hi there.

So wondering what everyones thoughts are of this. Just got the car and I've noticed on cold starts (not all of them) two issues...

1) Sometimes there is a rattle (especially if the car is parked on an incline over night) and started in the morning. The rattle lasts a few seconds at most and is never heard of again until the the next time whenever that may be!

2) Also on a cold start, the steering wheel when being rotated in any direction, will seemingly make a groaning/moaning kind of noise. It's very faint and not too obvious...but what I noticed and rang alarm bells was when it did this along with a very faint high pitch tone. Almost like a beeeeep sort of noise? It quickly disappears after about 5-10 movements of the steering wheel...such as what you would do if you we coming out of a drive way and drove off...it's gone by that point.

With the first issue, I'm worried this is the timing chain?? but I thought these last forever an ever? especially if the car has full service history like mine does?


Any advice, appreciated

Chain/cam problems can start at 80k if you are up near 100k then you will probably have to start thinking about it soonish . But as said AMF is the man to speak to

 

[john2006]

Chain/cam problems can start at 80k if you are up near 100k then you will probably have to start thinking about it soonish . But as said AMF is the man to speak to

Yeah I'm thinking of driving down there and having him have a look at it and see what he thinks whether I need it doing or not. The thing is, it's driving 60 miles on a potentially not-a-good chain so it's weighing up what to do. I'm thinking the safest option might just be to get it replaced along with the sprockets then I know 100% peace of mind any noises I'm hearing aren't from the danger areas.... you know.

 

[Wighty]

Yeah I'm thinking of driving down there and having him have a look at it and see what he thinks whether I need it doing or not. The thing is, it's driving 60 miles on a potentially not-a-good chain so it's weighing up what to do. I'm thinking the safest option might just be to get it replaced along with the sprockets then I know 100% peace of mind any noises I'm hearing aren't from the danger areas.... you know.

I would be inclined to drive to him for It to be checked . (But that’s me )

 

[Kudly]

Yeah I'm thinking of driving down there and having him have a look at it and see what he thinks whether I need it doing or not. The thing is, it's driving 60 miles on a potentially not-a-good chain so it's weighing up what to do. I'm thinking the safest option might just be to get it replaced along with the sprockets then I know 100% peace of mind any noises I'm hearing aren't from the danger areas.... you know.

If you are that worried (you don't need to be) about 60 mile drive mostly motorway, invest in AA Relay (or equivalent) to ensure you get there even if the worst happened.

 

[Wighty]

Get someone else to drive it , that way you can blame them if the chain goes

 

[john2006]

If you are that worried (you don't need to be) about 60 mile drive mostly motorway, invest in AA Relay (or equivalent) to ensure you get there even if the worst happened.

Is this something you reckon I could drive down and have him check it out and drive back? or is it a "leave it with the garage" job ? as I dunno how I'm gonna get back and fourth

 

[Wighty]

Is this something you reckon I could drive down and have him check it out and drive back? or is it a "leave it with the garage" job ? as I dunno how I'm gonna get back and fourth

He could remove the rocker cover and check how things look , but like I said if you have 80k+ and intend to keep the car then you have to pay for a couple of hours of work to tell you yes the chain has some slack .
You may get away with just the chain and tensioner being done if the gears look ok ?
Either way you will need to ring Alex to discuss it

 

[john2006]

He could remove the rocker cover and check how things look , but like I said if you have 80k+ and intend to keep the car then you have to pay for a couple of hours of work to tell you yes the chain has some slack .
You may get away with just the chain and tensioner being done if the gears look ok ?
Either way you will need to ring Alex to discuss it

Alrightie, cheers

 

[Kudly]

Alex does use courtesy cars.

 

[john2006]

Alex does use courtesy cars.

Oh right, that's good , I will drop him a message

 

[rich.g.williams]

Engine can make a rattling noise when first started after the car has been sat for a long time (day or days) oil drains out of the valve gear tappets etc in my mind this noise is not associated with the chain, I would expect a chain related noise is be around more of the time and to be obvious when the engine is revved slightly.

It would take a heck of a lot to wear chain/chain related components, I would be mortified if chain related problems developed after 80K genuine miles. Have a look at the MOT history online.

Thinking hydraulic tappets can be noisy as you describe, and overly thin oil in there can make the problem worse.

What kind of steering? Hydraulic or electric.

Noise from hydraulic power steering can be related to air or dirt in the power steering fluid. It's worth replacing the fluid and check any filters that may or may not be there.



.

 

[john2006]

Engine can make a rattling noise after the car has been sat for a long time (day or days) oil drains out of the valve gear tappets etc in my mind this noise is not associated with the chain, I would expect a chain related noise is be around more of the time.

Thinking hydraulic tappets and overly thin oil in there.

What kind of steering? Hydraulic or electric
.

I honestly don't know what kind of steering this vehicle has. My assumption here is that it is hydraulic as it feels a lot heavier than another vehicle I had that was electric steering. Also, this strange noise high pitch tone hasn't reappeared since that time but the very gentle almost not noticible "moaning/growning" is there on occasion. It seems to happen randomly and then for the most part, go away. It also seems to mostly happen the harder the steering wheel has been turned, ie, at least half a turn in any direction. Then if you stop the car after a short journey and start up again maybe 10mins later, you'll here it then too for a few seconds until the wheel has been turned a few times such as pulling out of a parking space at the side of the road etc. But otherwise, driving normally andmaking normal 90 degree turns it is pretty quiet... so I'm not really sure what to do about this but I'm thinking maybe this is just a "feature" of my particular car , it is an older car so I guess things will make noise...?

The engine rattle is my biggest concern though, if its the chain etc as this will write the car off if it were to snap etc. I will add I tested the car yesterday after it had been sat for a few days and the rattle could be heard in the cabin. When the car was sat for a few days you couldn't hear the rattle with the bonet open and standing infront of it with a phone recording... so I'm wondering if this rattle is actually not from the engine itself after all??

 

[rich.g.williams]

you are thinking about cam belts, they do snap, I think that engines with chains are a whole different story, I can't imagine a chain actually snapping (guess it's possible). chains have guides that can wear and this is what happens first. Chain/chain guide/chain sprocket wear makes a lot of noise all of the time,

a chain related noise that only occurs for a few seconds at startup is close to impossible because part of the chain is immersed in oil and picks up oil in less than a second during starting.

Much more likely the noise is valve gear hydraulic tappets related because oil supply to them is delayed a short time if car has been standing a day or two. Can be worse explanations maybe. Hydraulic tappets can be replaced if need be.

Cars with hydraulic power steering have a pump driven by the serpentine belt at the front of the engine this pump has a filler cap and it's worth checking the level is ok.

If you only recently had the car is there not a warranty?

It's worth studying a bit more about your car, the owners manual is a good first read then look at photos and YouTube videos about your model car online.

It's often easy to worry about car problems, most of the time they turn out to be simple. A good idea for you is put your car through an MOT now, the MOT will pick up any safety related problems and you can mention the noises. The MOT will certainly not allow a power steering fault to go through. The MOT station need not be Mercedes related can be any garage, ideally people near to you and that you know.