Recommended Service Intervals (W123, but can be used on other models)

[H-townbenzoboy]

I'm in the mood of being helpful (other words for can't get to sleep), so I thought I'd type up some service intervals recommended for your diesel W123. I'm sure it can be applied to diesel W126s and other older MB models as well. This may be info that's already common knowledge to some here, but even if you know, or don't know it, this will be helpful, or a nice bedtime story.

Check your fluids, like your motor oil, tranny fluid, coolant, windsheild washer fluid, power steering fluid weekly, or every 250 miles.
Every 5,000 miles or so, it's recommended that you have an oil change and a change of the filter done on your car, (that's five months for those of us who have inoperative odometers.) Check out the exhaust system n' "stuff", wheel bolt tightness, differential oil level, brake pad wear, and lubricate your throttle linkage with white lithium grease.
Every 15,000 miles or 15 months, check out your cooling system, manny trannies, get that fluid checked, of course, VALVE ADJUSTMENT TIME! wiper blades may need to be replaced, check steering, suspension components, check the belts and hoses, look at the idle speed and adjust to specs if necessary. Rotate tires, checkout the driveline, check and/or replace the air filter, replace brake fluid (although someone told me you can go longer).
Every 30,000 miles or 30 months, drain, flush and replace the coolant in your coolant system with ZEREX G05 or MB coolant ONLY. Manny trannies and auto trannies, get new fluid and a filter in the case of the auto. Check idle speed again, lubricate and adjust front wheel bearings, change the air filter if need be, check fuel system, and drain and refill the differential oil.
Note:
If you do a lot of stop and go driving, live in dusty, hot perhaps humid areas, it is recommended that oil and filter changes be done every 2500 miles or 2 months, new air filter every 15k mi, and drain and refill the automatic tranny with a new filter every 15k mi.

Some of us already knew this stuff like the back of our hands, but there has been an increasing number of newbies lately, they need to know this so we can ALL keep our diesels going strong for more years to come.

-Joe