FSS Warning Message: Service in XX Days
 

My 1999 E300 diesel has started giving me warning messages on the dashboard display suggesting "service due in 27 days". One day is subtracted from days remaining each day.

I did an oil change back in Decemeber with a 229.5 compliant engine oil and reset the FSS system at that time. It appears I will be at 0 days at the end of June which would coincide with 6 months having passed. I checked the OM and find several non-specific references to this message. I am not clear on what's actually due, if anything. The car has been driven ~3,000 miles since that oil change.

Is anything actually required when the day countdown hits 0?


Thanks.

It will periodically say service soon with the days etc, however it's typically a 12,000 mile interval or so when you reset the fss. Are you sure the fss reset 'took' ? In my experience, once it counts down to zero, it will just say service due now or service due, and will beep at you every time you start up and shut down which is annoying.

Clearly MBZ has built in a bomb that if unserviced will explode! How many miles are on the car?

I'd second the question about being sure it reset when you last changed the oil. Did you check it afterward and see it said "10,000 miles" or did you just assume it reset? The reset process is a little tricky and it is easy to not complete it.

In theory, if the FSS did reset last time then something's probably wrong with it since I don't think there's any way you'd be due again in 3,000 miles, especially using synthetic oil.

The prior owner neglected for some time to reset the FSS indicator in my W210. Every time I start the car, it announces how far (in mileage) I am over the limit. Of course, I know to the mile the last time it had an oil change, so I'm just ignoring it until the next oil/filter change -- probably in a week or two. Then I'll reset per the instruction manual and see how things work.

Good luck with yours -- seems like with the extended interval and good oil, you should be able to ignore it for that time period and mileage. These days, annual or 15k oil changes are common with good synthetics.

Cheers, John

Marty, thanks. I am 99% certain it did take and did show 10,000 miles 'til next service. (I did have trouble with the printed instructions from the OM - - found some alternate directions somewhere else :o )

I'm just wondering if it wants service every 6 months if the miles are low.

I've never seen this warning on our '02 car, but it easily covers 10k miles in 6 months.

I think I did reset it. Maybe I didn't?? I've never seen a "days remaining" warning on our '02 car...only miles remaining 'til next service (A or B).

Thanks. Yeah, I think I'm gonna just let it countdown to zero and then see what happens :singer:

I end up changing the oil/filter on this car 1X per year. That's been fine.

I'm gonna break out the maintenence log book and see if it coincides (exactly 6 months elapsed) with the last change I did around xmas time.

My recollection is that by default the FSS permits up to 2 years (~700 days) between services. When either days or mileage counts down, you get the message. I've never seen the days remaining message on either of my 210 cars, and I don't put many miles on them. The current (2001) car gets a service once per year, which is well before the mileage count runs out.

I know the dealer can change the default 10K miles to which the FSS resets. I'm guessing they can also change the default time between service visits. I wonder if a dealer changed the values, either at the request of an OCD previous owner, or as a semi-unscrupulous way to generate more service visits?

- JimY

LOL, I like the theory! :D

My service message is shown as mileage, not days, remaining.

The next time you do the FSS reset make certain the front door is closed. Won't reset if it is open. It does take a half dozen tries before mine usually resets.

I spent a bit of the afternoon changing my own oil and filter on my '98 E300TD. About $70 in parts -- eight quarts of oil from the local shop and a filter element from the dealership.

Mostly I'm just posting again to note my personal selfish happiness that on the first try, the FSS indicator reset itself to 10,000 miles remaining. Woohoo! :D

Cheers, John

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/2553/odolw9.jpg :o

Yeah, based upon my observations this evening, perhaps this is what's happened with my car. I cannot get it to display miles remaining, only days remaining.

I pressed the "R" button twice on the '02 and it show miles remaining 'til B Service is due :o I've never seen days remaining displayed on that car :confused:

I checked my maint. log book and the oil was changed 12/10/2006. Car has covered ~2000 miles since.

Today is the day!
 

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7363/dsc00009at9.jpg :rolleyes:

Lol, that's what mine is saying right now too.
Forgot to reset the FSS the last time I changed the oil...I'll change it again in a week or two, reset the FSS then..

IIRC, the gassers had an "advanced" version of FSS that could actually monitor oil quality, diesels could only measure quantity and days/distance since the last change. If this is of any use to the discussion...

Bio - Our FSS monitors trip length, temp and rpm (same as gasser) to determine oil life. Not sure if it also monitors the oil level sender as part of this equation too but suspect it does.

Based on driving style the computer will allow as much as 16K between changes when set to the 10k change interval.

WOW, I didn't realize that.

Terry, how far (# of miles) does it typically suggest on your own car?

Thx.

Mine trips at 14 to 16k. I'll usually have to add 1/2 qt at 8-10k.

I'm generally pretty easy on it and am a gauge watcher. Don't run it at 130mph or at 120C. It does hit 95C-97C on hot days. Never been above that. Do use the kickdown a bit....:cool:

My commute is 110 miles a day, so no short trips on a cold engine which reduces oil life.

My brother's 1999 e320 now displays [service due in xx days]. He has been mostly out of the country for the past 2 years, which is about the period of time since the last service & FSS reset. My question is will that msg. go away using the usual FSS reset or something else?

Normal reset should reset it.

Thanks Terry, I've read elsewhere that it merely reset to "0 days" service due.