w123 300d having some issues. New to diesel
 

Hey all, this is my first post. Was referred to this website by someone from bimmerforums. Anyhow, a few months back I picked up a 300d mercedes and it ran half decent. It had been sitting for a long time, so it had little issues with cracked vacume lines and whatnot, but nothing major. I check the oil on my BMW every 2-3 times I go to get gas, and usually have to add a quart, so I got in the habit of doing that with the mercedes. First 2+- months I owned the mercedes, it didn't seem to burn much oil.

In December I got an oil change at strauss, and about 2 weeks later, the car died on my and I couldn't get it to turn over. I got a new battery, new starter... nothing seemed to work. Yesterday, it was warmer out so I decided to give it a try. It turned over and I started it for about 2 minutes, but it sounded like a valve was way tick-ier than usual, so I shut it down. Checked the oil, and it was dry. Bought a 5 quart of 15w40 truck oil and filled it. Still was dry. Had to add 1-2 more quarts to make it where it should be. Which means, strauss must have added real thin oil or something, because in the 2 weeks after getting my oil changed, the car must have burned it all up (I didn't check the oil since I only had gotten gas once, maybe twice since then, and I am in the habit of checking it like my BMW).

Now, I fill the car with oil and start it up. It seems to be doing ok (bulletproof engine is an understatement for this car), but its still not right. It sounds like a valve is ticking more loudly now, and the car has a lot less power (and that is saying something for a 300d). It doesn't appear to have burned up any of the new oil that I put in... so I am wondering why I have lost some power.

Any suggestions?

PS - The fuel filters were dirty as well, so I replaced them, so I can rule that out. Also, after running the car, when I take the oil cap off, there is white smoke in there. I know that happens a little with cars, but it seems like excessive amounts.

Have you considered the possibility that they put no oil in it at all? How far did you drive it after the oil change before it quit?

Yea, it was VERY strange that there was absolutely no oil in it. And there was no stains in my driveway or anything to indicate a leak, so I assumed that maybe it was thin oil. That is also a possibility, crazy, but I mean, it is strauss and they were scared to work on a diesel car to start with, lol. That is what I get for not wanted to face the cold and do it myself in my driveway.

I'd say it was less than 1000 miles. Maybe 6-700 miles max before it quit on me. I have a bad gas gauge (that I fixed while the car was sitting in the driveway broken) and I thought it maybe ran out of gas. I put an gallon of diesel in and it didn't help, so I ruled that out, but its not like I heard a BANG or anything, just kinda died on my and coasted to the shoulder.

Car must be on level ground when oil level checked,even the slightest incline will / can give a zero reading.

It may have more oil in it than you think :)

Yea, its level in the driveway, and after adding 6 quarts it is now full, so it MUST have been empty before. And it runs now, just not that well... like when I get on the highway road by my house usually I have to floor the car to get it up to speed (like any 300d), but now when I floor it, I can barley get it to 20 mph. I can't get it out of 1st gear. Granted, I am not on the highway for more than 1/4 mile to go around the block in my area, but I mean, I should usually be at like 2-3 gear by that point. I mean, its REALLLLL slow anymore.

It's possible that the new ticking sound is the timing chain, they really don't like being run low on oil and it causes them to stretch.

go back and say WTF!?!?!?!

That is in order for sure! I don't know how a car place can mess something as simple as on oil change up!

Hmm, that is a possibility. Would that have anything to do with the lack of power from the car as well?

If you had to add six quarts or more to fill it up to the operating level you may very well have damaged the internals of the engine. Did you notice you had no oil presure?

On your oil change bill do they quote how much oil was put in and what it was. If only four quarts like most cars take today they may have to come good for a new engine or a rebuild.

I hope they did not put in 5w-20 as that would go through the engine quickly and is far too thin even to protect the engine above freezing. It may very well take god to get clear of this. I cannot really see how you could have avoided destroying the engine. They are tough but not that tough.

Yes, I forgot that until today, but I remember the day before, the oil pressure gauge was "acting up" for a few seconds here or there, but all the gauges are quirky, so thought nothing of it until today when I realized that there is no oil. I don't have the recept still, but my guess is that they probably added thin regular car oil, such as 5w20 like you said instead of 15w40 or so like they should have.

I guess it may have messed the internals up, but I am not sure what. It is strange that it now starts up, drives, doesn't stall or anything and sounds, overall, ok (besides a valve ticking). What could have gotten messed up that would make the car slower?

I was thinking to myself, maybe when it was running low on the thin oil, that it got very hot and gunked up the little bit of oil that was left in there, so even after adding oil, there is still some gunk in there. Would that make sense? Granted, I am semi-mechanical, but I am not that great with fixing/diagnosing my cars. My friend who is very mechanical who I had over to help me was at a loss as well, so I turned to this forum.

diesel purge
 

try doing a diesel purge. Plenty of info about it in this forum, and good instructions also on the dieselgiant website

The place that changed the oil should have a copy of your reciept. I would want to have a look at it if possible. Four quarts on the bill should equate to their liability.

Odds are unfortunatly when driving with no oil the engine was damaged internally.

scored cylinders, and bad rings would cause less power, both result from low/no oil. Usually bearings get wiped out first, this would show as low oil pressure when warm and idling. Oil pressure should be a minimum of 1 bar at warm idle. You also could have wiped the cam. I friend of mine was terrible at keeping enough oil, and also not changing oil in his 190. It clogged the oil spray holes above the cam and wiped it out. You problem is not going to be clogged anything, just low oil damage.

Always check the oil, preferably on site at any place you have oil changed.

Yea, I got my oil changed at Jiffy Lube in my BMW and they stripped the bolt on my oil pan... never be too lazy/cold to do it yourself! Learn from my mistakes!

Well, I went and drove my car around town a bit tonight, and to be honest, I think it feels like it used to feel. I think that after having to drive my BMW for a month, I got used to the speed of it and forgot how slow non turbo old diesel mercedes are! My gf took a ride with me and said that she remembers it feeling the same as well. SO I guess I lucked out on that. However, I think I still may do that diesel purge thing, get any gunk out of there. And also, after driving the car or running it for a bit, when you remove the oil cap, it is smokey in there. I know that you might get a slight puff of smoke from a gasoline car, but is it normal for diesel cars or is there something going on in there? Burning off the old oil gunk? I've got no clue about that one