Hi guys,

well lifters indeed was the culprit of the tapping sound coming from the engine. It was diagnosed by Chrysler yesterday after the 5th attempt to get them to check into it. I was also informed that the dealer has no access to TSB's from Mercedes-Benz (Which is CRAZY). Anyhow the tapping sounds people are hearing (other than the regular faint diesel like sound which is normal) is NOT normal and they really need to listen for it. Mine was coming from the passenger side of the car (that's where it was the loudest).

I'm very familiar with the sounds of this engine be it that i also have it in my Mercedes-Benz CLK320 which coincidentally also had its lifters replaced at just 26,000 miles. So this is something Daimler-Chrysler needs to acknowledge and issue a TSB out on. Remember alot of the Chrysler mechanics are not used to this engine for it's the only car in their lineup that has it, furthermore, it's totally foreign to them due to that its a Mercedes-Benz unit not a Chrysler's unit. So when they hear these sounds they just tell you "it's supposed to sound like that" and since they've never had a servicing history experience with this engine in any other products of theirs, they don't know that the engine indeed has a flaw with the lifters.

The first four attempts to get them to look at my car were a mess. They kept starting other crossfires and comparing sounds and would tell me they sounded the same (when indeed they didn't), they would discredit my concerns that it was probably lifters and blame the fuel i was using, etc. Well finally it was diagnosed yesterday after speaking with the Service Manager. It seems the only way to correct this concern at this point is persistence, which doesn't hurt when it involves something that you are paying for. If you get the same noise and Chrysler doesn't want to help, take it to a Mercedes-Benz Mechanic that knows these engines well and let them hear it, whatever they diagnose, have them put it in writing for you and take it to Chrysler, they should be able to consider your concerns a lil better at that point.

Hopefully with enough claims to Chrysler's Warranty Dept. about these concerns, might push Chrysler to get the TSB's from Mercedes which will make our lives of explaining to a American mechanic the faults with our German engine a lot easier.