300SD oil pan cleaning?

[fred98050]

Hi,

I have had my 85 300SD for 6 month now. I really like this car, it runs very well and I am trying to keep it in great shape.
I change the oil & filter every 2000 miles (15/40). The oil gets black within just 30 miles after been changed???? I understand that diesel engine get pretty dirty but I was wondering if removing and cleaning the oil pan would be a good thing to do or totally unnecessary...

The car has 165k mi, never ran on wvo, did a diesel purge 6 month ago (no black smoke), changed all the fuel and air filters. The car does not smoke and does not burn oil (or not enough that I can notice).

The oil getting dark so quick might be normal, I don't know but if someone could give me some input as to how to improve the situation I would be greatful.

Thank you


Frederic

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by fred98050

H
The oil getting dark so quick might be normal, I don't know but if someone could give me some input as to how to improve the situation I would be greatful.

The situation cannot be reasonably improved, nor does it need to be.

[Diesel911]

Some types of Diesel Engines; Mercedes Included blacking the oil fast.

However, black Oil or not you take a look at things that would make your car burn the fuel better.
Valve Adjustment
Camshaft Timing (Timing Chain Stretch)
Pulling your Injectors and having them tested and if need be rebuilt.
Clean Air filter.

Also the Oil Cooler and the Fuel Injection Pump both hold some of the Old Oil.
Removing the Oil cooler Hose just to drain off the extra Oil there is not a good idea as the threaded Nipples on the Oil Cooler often strip the threads when you loosen them and the Fuel Injection Pump needs to be left alone also. Neither are worth the trouble.

If you want to ease your mind concerning the condition of the Oil you could send off an Oil Sample and have it analyzed. However, to do so is in the $30 range.

[blackestate]

And I pulled and cleaned the pan on mine, when I have the engine out. I had black oil again, after about 5 minutes of running.

[latitude500]

Cleaning the oil pan wouldn’t be needed unless you had major slug build up in the engine because of miss use, not changing the oil or using poor quality oil. The oil turning black after you changed the oil is normal.

You’re going to need to start using synthetic oil, this will allow your engine to last longer. Diesel911 is correct, it would be better off if you started looking at the Valve Adjustment, Camshaft Timing (Timing Chain Stretch) and pulling your injectors and having them tested and if need be rebuilt. The injectors are wear items and only last 100k.

The air filter and fuel filters need to be changed out during normal operational timing. I must say these MB are built to last, but I’ve ran across a lot of them that need a lot of TLC to bring them back on the road.
Let the forum know if you have any other questions, we have some great people hear that can answer a large number of questions.

[fred98050]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

According to the mx records the timing chain was replaced at 102k, the injectors at 98k and I had the valve adjustment done 6 month ago or about 5miles ago. I change the oil filter every 2000 miles and fuel filters every 6 months. I just replaced the air filter a week ago after 5000 mi usage..

Looks like no matter what the oil will get black fairly quickly.

Won't worry about the oil pan but I will do a oil sample test just to make sure.

Thanks again for the advise.

Frederic

[blackestate]

a 2000 mile oil change seems like a waste of money. I go about 5000.

[Skippy]

30 miles for the oil to get black? That's amazing! Mine takes about 30 seconds.

I usually go a bit over 3000 miles on oil changes. My 240D is currently past due as a result of a 5000 mile road trip. I'll change it pretty soon unless I get the tranny donation into the 300 lined up with a definite schedule.

[Hit Man X]

Originally Posted by fred98050

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

According to the mx records the timing chain was replaced at 102k, the injectors at 98k and I had the valve adjustment done 6 month ago or about 5miles ago. I change the oil filter every 2000 miles and fuel filters every 6 months. I just replaced the air filter a week ago after 5000 mi usage..

Looks like no matter what the oil will get black fairly quickly.

Won't worry about the oil pan but I will do a oil sample test just to make sure.

Thanks again for the advise.

Frederic

Your maintenance intervals are FAR too soon, unless you simply enjoy wasting money.

[layback40]

If you dont like black engine oil, best you get a gasser !!
The blackness makes it easier to see on the dipstick.
I dont understand what the problem is.

[pawoSD]

My oil gets black within 15 minutes of running/driving. I run mine around 5000 miles now on synthetic....though 90%+ of my driving is highway. When I did mostly city driving I did a 3500-4000 mile interval.

[yuke]

Just changed mine the other day at about 5,000 on the 85 300SD and yes it was just as black after about 30 seconds.For my piece of mind put in Rotella full synthedic 5w-40w.

[3pointstar]

Fredrick, the color of the oil is perfectly normal. It gets black almost immediately -- don't forget when you drain the oil you really don't get evey drop and this will somewhat add to the color. I agree with the opinions of changing the oil too frequently-- 3 - 5K will be just fine - change the oil filter.

all the best

3pointstar

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by fred98050

Hi,

I have had my 85 300SD for 6 month now. I really like this car, it runs very well and I am trying to keep it in great shape.
I change the oil & filter every 2000 miles (15/40). The oil gets black within just 30 miles after been changed???? I understand that diesel engine get pretty dirty but I was wondering if removing and cleaning the oil pan would be a good thing to do or totally unnecessary...

The car has 165k mi, never ran on wvo, did a diesel purge 6 month ago (no black smoke), changed all the fuel and air filters. The car does not smoke and does not burn oil (or not enough that I can notice).

The oil getting dark so quick might be normal, I don't know but if someone could give me some input as to how to improve the situation I would be greatful.

Thank you


Frederic

If your "oil gets black within just 30 miles after been changed????" I would suspect an air leak breach in your air filtration system. That is where I would start looking, from what you descibed. Unfortunately, hydrocarbons will leech around worn parts, quicker than newer parts - thereby dirtying the oil sooner - with 165K miles - that's just a natural occurance of an aging diesel engine.

Removing and cleaning the oil pan is totally unecessary, if the oil flow is rapid and unimpeded on removing the drain plug. I concur strongly that your oil-changing and oil filter changing interval is drastically too few miles.

If you are concerned on cleaning/checking-changing something worthwhile on your car, remove the fuel tank strainer and have a look/feel around the floor of your fuel tank. You may elect to change-out this part, however it may be bone-clean when you inspect it, as mine was when my 8 year old '83 300SD had just 100K miles on it.