I was wondering if 7000 was ok, not this is miles so its what, 11,000km.

If I go more than 7500 miles on a change its cheaper, at 7500 its a push.

At any rate, its in. Hey, between the 700 miles on gal of fuel, and the biodiesel mix in the tank, this has to be one of the least expensive cars to run there is.

Also bought a fliud evacuator after dumnping 1/2 qt on the driveway. $60 for a 10 quart evac.

What is the MB recommended change interval? I dont have a manual.

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NC Benz
Fuquay-Varina, NC
1979 300D
1983 300D Turbo 260,000 Miles
1984 300D Turbo 345,000 Miles (sons car)
OBK #31
1998 Ford Expedition 5.4l (fer Haulin'!) 145,000
1973 19' SeaRay with 115 Mercury TOWER OF POWER!
Club Car Golf Cart 36V
Ex toys:
1967 Mustang 289 (First Car)
Fiat 124TC
1975 Honda CVCC
1980 Audi 5000 Turbo

Not an a 616/617 without a supporting oil analysis. I do 5000 on synthetic.

You shouldn't do more than 5000-7500 without an oil analysys to confirm it's safe to go further.

Just says you are living in a populated area. Nothing more.

I, on the other hand, live in Redneck Heaven and have only one WM nearby.

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1982 300CD Petrol/Black Leather

Exactly. Until they make synthetic which can hold more soot, you are still bound to changes based on that parameter.

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1982 300CD Petrol/Black Leather

the synthetic oil is much better, but the soot load from the old 617 turbo motors really prevent high mileage changes.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Thats what you guys do in the states. Over here in Europe nobody does oil analysis, and the engines are still running perfectly well over 200,000 miles. There are 606 engines running around with nearly 500,000 miles on over here, they'll have been serviced every 10-12,000 miles.

A 7500 interval on fully synthetic oil such as Mobil 1 is a waste of money.

Wow........ over 200,000 miles.

Yes, there are significant differences, as Parrot sagely mentions.

The main reason, in the UK at least, is that there is lots of salt used on the roads, and we have quite an aggressive mandatory annual MOT inspection.
The state of some of the cars I've seen in some of the piccies on this site would be definite failure points.

In this UK based regime, it's much more likely that a car will become scrapyard fodder because of either rust or failure of expensive electronics like the ABS (the correct ABS warning light function is part of our MOT). Lubrication based engine failure is *really* quite a rare thing now. 30 years ago, in my father's workshop, he always had 3 or 4 customers engines apart. When I worked as a mechanic 15-20 years ago, engine jobs were becoming rare. Now, most engines go from new to the scrapyard with only routine servicing. With long-life oils and engine management calculated service intervals, oil changes for the vast majority of UK cars are now approaching 20,000 miles.

We have engine failure because of serious neglect - stupid owners not checking the oil level or water level between typically annual services, we have engine failure because of cam belt or cam belt pulley/tensioner/water pump bearing failure, we have engine failures due to poor design, like Rover K series head gasket problems, but, worn out engines or gross lubrication failure aren't a big issue.

In comparing usage, are long journeys more the norm in the US? In the UK, most journeys are quite short, commuting typically, and the engine oil barely gets warmed through. Despite this, we don't see lubrication based engine failure as something to worry us - and oil analysis is virtually unheard of here.

I don't think there's a wrong a right approach - just different operating conditions. Although, I can't help thinking that you fellows are just a little over cautious about your oil changes in the US.

The Mobil 1 synthetic turbo diesel truck and the Mobil synthetic heavy duty diesel 5-40w (Delvac 1) are the exact same oil just different packages.

The Shell Rotella synthetic 5W-40 isn't quite as good but it is FAR BETTER than any dino oil and costs less than the Mobil synthetics.

I use synthetic year around for less wear on the engine and less frequent oil changes.

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Ron Schroeder
'85 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
'83 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
Some former WVO vehicles since ~1980:
'83 Mercedes 240D
'80 Audi 4000D
'83 ISUZU Pup
'70 SAAB 99 with Kubota diesel
'76 Honda Civic with Kubota diesel
'86 Golf
Several diesel generators
All with 2 tank WVO conversion
LI NY

Interesting note from our British cousins.... I suspect we Yanks might have been the victims of mass hyponosis, i.e., marketing. I;ve never had any kind of oil analysis done, but sure would be curious as to whether the Mobil 1 synth ( TDiesel) has life left after 7500. my n/a 606 seems to burn quite cleanly actually. Might go 10k!

YES, 10K or higher oil changes are fine in the 60x motors, but the 617 is a really dirty beast, I wonder if the ring packs can be changed on the 61x motors so it dumps less soot? perhaps those zero gap rings race cars use? anybody know?

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

[quote=WINGAS;1565258]Interesting note from our British cousins.... I suspect we Yanks might have been the victims of mass hyponosis, i.e., marketing.


Possibly. I really like the direct link from hypnosis to marketing! I really hate it when, typically sometime after the purchase, I realise that I've fallen for marketing hype, and I've just wasted some money!

One other difference that might exist, and would go some way to explaining the difference, is that we in the UK have (had?) a car market which has been dominated by the company car - where large companies can offer employees a car as a perk - almost like part of the salary. These company car fleets buyers are very actively marketed to by the car makers - obviously, extending the service intervals is a very attractive proposition to company car fleet buyers, and the spec of cars on sale is strongly driven by the current tax climate for these cars.

Is the car market in the US similarly skewed by company cars and large fleets?

It's time for me to do an oil change tomorrow using Mobil 1 15w-50 in my 240D. Basically when I bought my car a few years ago a lot of people on this and other forums raved about using Mobil 1 5w-40 Truck & SUV (that's what it was called at the time) in diesel Mercedes. The previous owners of my car, from what I could tell from the spotty records, were always using Chevron 10w-40 or some equivalent dino oil all along. There was a lot of sludge coming out on my first oil change!

I had a lot of oil leaks initially but after replacing the oil pan, which was bad, and some other gaskets, and switching to the 15w-50 as my mechanic told me the 5w-40 was too thin, I have no oil leaks now! My car also starts easily on cold days and runs as quietly as I guess can be expected for an old diesel.

BUT - the Mobil 1 is expensive which I'm not sure I can justify on a car I don't put many miles on, is approaching 300K on the odometer and is far from being in perfect condition. I change about every half year or a bit longer as I don't drive even 3000 miles on this car per year.

Also - the Mobil 1 15w-50 does not say it's for diesel engines - I thought it was because it is rated SM/CF (the CF being for diesels) but noticed the Mobil 1 5w-30 I put in my Ford Explorer also has the same rating.

Is it OK to use the Mobil 1 15w-50? I thought there were others using it. But Mobil have changed the bottle labeling a few times which is confusing and now it says nothing about using in diesels. Also, would there be a consequence in changing to something cheaper like Rotella Synthetic or even back to dino oil again? Some mechanics have told me very sincerely that I am wasting my money using synthetic oil in such an old car. But of course I'm planning to keep it for, like, forever...and since I'm doing the biodiesel thing, it would make me more environmentally friendly to use synthetic motor oil I guess, right?

-AC

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1976 240D "Katja"