81 380sl with a single chain.
i have had the car for 8 yrs and have had the chain and guides replaced twice. occasionally on cold start the timing chain makes "that noise" for a second or two. why didnt the repair / replacement solve the problem. i think i read that there are guides on the bottom too..??
any thoughts would be appreciatted.
david
I have a 1987 560SL. The timing chain on my 560 used to make a "rattling noise" for a couple of seconds during a cold start. The cause of this is a bad hydrolic tensioner that is mounted on the front-side of the engine block next to the timing chain. The tensioner is suppose to keep the chain tight when the engine is cold. When the engine starts, hydrolic pressure flows to the tensioner and it will do its job. I had my tensioner replaced this month - about a two-hour job for a mechanic - and that solved the problem and the "rattle noise". Do not let this problem go for very long. If the slack chain were to jump off, you would lose the engine.
I'm not a mechanic. All of what I've told you here was told to me by two different mechanics.
My 74 450SL (212K miles) is doing the same thing and I am concerned. The car used to live in Socal and I called the mechanic who replaced the chain+rails a four years back. He said just change the tenioner and it will be fine.
But a local Seattle mercmech that I stopped by recently, told me that the chain/rails/tensioner should all be changed. I thought the shop rate for that is something like 15 hours. and I don't have an extra $2000 laying around, but sure don't want to have to rebuild the engine either. Changing the tensioner should be fairly easy and not too costly compared to other avenues.
Does anyone have and advice on pitfalls or hints regarding the tensioner?
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