fgwinn
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| E500 oil change experience (long)
I just completed the fifth oil change on my 2005 E500 4matic last weekend. I have been changing the oil at 6500 miles, twice as often as specified by MB. It may be a waste of time and money, but, I prefer to use the more conservative interval. Anyway, I thought I would share a few of my observations and frustrations.
I use a Mityvac oil extractor model that requires an air compressor. The first time I changed the oil I extracted the oil through the dipstick tube at the front of the car. I used the largest plastic tube supplied with the Mityvac and only attached it at the top of the dipstick tube using a rubber stopper (with hole in it). Before I started evacuating the oil, I raised the front of the car, removed the plastic panel below the engine, and loosened the drain plug. I then lowered the car, evacuated as much oil as I could and then removed about 150ml more from the bottom of the engine.
I followed the owner's manual guidelines and refilled with 8 quarts (7.5 liters) even though I had drained about 8 liters from the engine. A week later I was getting a one quart low oil warning when I checked the oil level from the dashboard. I added another half quart at that time. I subsequently learned that the E500 4matic engine calls for 8 liters of oil per the WIS manual.
On subsequent oil changes I use the large diameter evacuation tube for the first 7 liters and then follow up with a small diameter plastic tube inserted in the dipstick tube until it bottoms out at the oil pan. I am able to extract a full 8 liters using this approach. The volume of oil extracted is usually about 1cm higher than the 8 liter level mark on the Mityvac container. On the fifth oil change I observed that the oil level in the Mityvac would drop about 1cm to the 8 liter mark after the oil cooled overnight. I suspect that this explains why the official MB oil consumption test measures the amount of oil extracted by weight rather than by volume.
I acuired the oil dip stick from an eBay auction for about $40. This tool is calibrated with a mm scale. The correct level for my engine is about 120mm from the bottom of the oil pan. While I typically get consistent readings on the dipstick when I take repeated readings in series, it's not unusual to get readings anywhere between 110mm and 120mm. There is a hidden oil measurement procedure using the dashboard display. It supposedly measures the oil in tenths of a quart, rather than the normal oil check which simply reads "OK" or "1 quart low", etc. The highest reading I have ever gotten on the hidden menu is 7.9 quarts, and a typical reading is 7.5 to 7. 6 quarts. I have never seen 8.5 quarts, even immediately after doing an oil change.
About 1000 miles before my fourth oil change I was seeing readings on the dip stick of about 110mm. I added one half quart twice between the 3rd and 4th oil changes. When I changed the oil the fourth time I extracted about 9 liters or one liter more than I should have gotten. This turned out to be somewhat of a mess as the Mityvac capacity was exceeded. Needless to say I do not fully trust the dipstick reading and I definetly do not trust the oil measurement on the hidden dashboard procedure to measure oil level.
Before changing the oil last weekend I checked the level with both the dipstick tool and the dashboard tool. The dipstick read 115mm and the dashboard display read 7.5 quarts. Before evacuating the oil I loosened the oil filter and allowed the oil to drain from the filter cavity. The oil level on the dipstick raised up to the "normal" 120mm level. I don't plan on adding any engine oil between changes unless the dipstick reads below the 110mm mark.
Does this experience parallel anyone's experience with their MB?
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