Larry, I call on that. You are just trying to drum up business for the dealership. We all know that Jiffy Screw will carefully measure the amount of oil going in, torque the bolt to MB specs.

A funny thing happended to my friend. He was a tech at the Ford Dealership and they got a car in with 20K for warranty work. Seems like after a radiator flush it was running funny. Aparrently it overheated and the engine was warped. They called the Jiffy Screw and the manager came down with the cap in hand and asked him if this cap would fix the engine. My buddy was like "I think we are a little beyond that point."

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I have the warm-up mastered. I run it just long enough to get the oil warm to promote flow (and keep my hands warm during the cold months) but not hot enough to burn. I remember dropping the 14mm plug into 9qts of HOT oil a few years ago when I started doing oil changes with the SL and learned not to do that anymore. I was the only 12 year old with greasy stained hands, still one of the few with stained hands at 15.

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Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

I've had my share of oil change disasters. One of the more memorable ones was when I finished changing the oil and filter and then proceded to back the 300sd out of the garage and about 25 feet onto the concrete driveway. I discovered that it doesn't take too long to pump 8 quarts of oil out of a oil filter housing that has only been loosely tightened down. A thirty foot diesel oil slick on a clean driveway is quite obvious.

This unfortunate incident added 4 hours to my routine oil change which included a trip to the auto parts store for 4 cans of degreaser and a box of rags. I hurried to finish this before my wife came home. She never suspected a thing. Thankfully, the neighbors never tipped her off.

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Rob
'84 300SD 258K
'85 300D (sold)

The other day I changed three of them at the same time. Can get a bit confusing however. We have a buddy around here that got doing a couple at once and forgot to add oil to the one. Had his wife start it and.....long story....I saw that engine sitting out of the car a week later....trashed.

I swapped an engine a couple of months ago. What I most hate is the stinkin oil pressure line where it attaches to the engine, so I just clipped it in half figuring that I'd replace it with another as soon as the buzzard was out of the car. Forgot.

That makes a mess for sure when you start it. Good thing I saw the line of oil and shut her down in time.

Don

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DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

I change my oil hot, in fact it takes 35 minutes for me to get to the shop (where I work; 25 miles away, all highway). I just pull the car in and put it on the lift, etc. It's funny because I have it down where I don't really get any of the oil on me, well, just a few drops but I just wipe those off right away. While the car's draining I check tires, etc.

I've only changed oil on the SDL once, and the belly pan is a bit of a pain, but oh well. I have some oil leak that is puddling oil in it so when I get it off the car it's pretty messy.

One question for you guys, particularly Larry, do you install the o-ring dry or wet on the oil filter canister? I did my SDL dry, have the bolts torqued down really tight, and it is leaking. I wanted to tighten the nuts down more, but they were already too tight. Any advice? I always wetten the gaskets on spin-on filters that I install at work.

Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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I know you intended this question for Larry, but this thread is almost a year old!

Did you also replace the copper crush washer? If not, it will likely leak! Yes, you should oil the O-rings, and no, would not be the reason for leaks if you did not wet the O-rings. BB

Put fill cap on clean rag in drivers seat as reminder {to add oil dummy.}

good idea. i tend to leave mine somewhere and then fill the oil. check level. collect tools. put crummy rag into bag and then into trunk. drive off. a few minutes later stomach falls, heart leaps and palapatates as smoke rises from the front of the car. panic sets in. shut car off. it won't. open hood. where is oil cap??!!! car won't stop with hole in engine. more panic. dive into trunk for crummy t-shirt from radio station that let me go(their loss) to cover hole. take out shirt. bag is heavy. engine still running. oil spewing. bottom of bag has oil cap. re attach. pissed. motor looks like cr*p with fresh oil all over. engine shuts off.

my memory went at childbirth. i like that one. i raised the kids also right?

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currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem

When you mention the crush washer, I assume you're speaking of the one on the drain plug? Well, then yes I did replace that. So you think my oil filter housing is leaking because I didn't wet the o-ring? Well, I guess I'll have to wait another 3k to change it. It's not leaking on the ground that I know of yet, it's just run down the side and looks bad. I have delvac 1 in and am running on 5k intervals since I don't want to necessarily mess with oil analysis'.

Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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You Michigan peoples crack me up...

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"HEIDI" White 1998 E-300TD 176K
European Delivery is a HOOT!

2002 Harley "FatBoy"

Want I am not Larry but I have changed my oil a few times. I usually wipe the filter canister out with a clean rag and put the filter and oring back in dry. Maybe you got a bad oring or it is not seated right?

Also don't forget those little orings at the bottom of the tube, you should replace them at least once a year their only a few cents.

BusyBenz the W126's uses a different filter can then the W124's. The W124's has crush washers.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I like pouring a little clean oil through the engine till it comes out non-black to rinse out what I can. Don't ask how I came to think of that.

I do oil changes in Hans every 8 weeks (5k miles) and I'm pretty good at it. I can do the change in 10 minutes if I'm slow. I now use latex gloves after that incident with the drain pan that wasn't where it should have been...

I saw in the pack of reciepts I got with Hans that the PO replaced the oil filter housing because the screws were stripped from some monkey overtightening them. Be careful - that was a $900 repair

I had a VW Golf Diesel a few years ago. The first time I changed the oil filter, I thought it was odd that the filter screwed into a threaded pipe that in turn threaded into the engine - the piece came off in my hand when I removed the filter. When I went to tighten the new filter, I kept turning and turning until it felt tight (a lot of turns, it seemed). Little did I know that I was only threading the pipe into the block, not the filter onto the pipe. I started the car up and after 10 seconds the oil pressure light never went off, so I stopped the engine, hopped out and saw the filter 3 feet in front of the car and a gallon of virgin Mobil 1 on the ground. It was a long walk to the closest gas station where I bought 4 VERY expensive quarts of Mobil 1.

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1984 300Sd 210k

Former cars:
1984 300D 445k (!!) (Strider) Original (and not rebuilt) engine and transmission. Currently running on V80 ( 80% vegetable oil, 20% petroleum products). Actually not, taking a WVO break.
1993 300d 2.5 275k. Current 120/day commuter
1981 300SD 188k (Hans) Killed by a deer

I lived on the west coast of Australia in the early '70's. I drove a Land Rover station wagon that I had brought overland from England in 1972. One afternoon I changed the oil and filter. Poured in 6 or 7 guarts, cleaned up, closed the hood walked around to start the car and check for leaks and promptly walked through 6 or 7 quarts of oil. Lesson learned: crankcases won't hold oil without the plug in them.

Note; you can reuse the copper washer on the crankcase drain plug if you take it off the plug, hang it on a piece of wire, heat it to a cherry red with a tourch, and then quench it immediately. That will soften to its original state.

My '92 300SD needs an oil change. After reading through all this, I think I'll go to Kragen Auto part to buy the 8 quarts of Synthetic Blend oil, a Fram filter, and then take the car to a shop and have them changed for me there.

Me I just would run the 240D in the garage all warmed up, attach hose from oil drain pan out beside the car to FUMOTO oil drain valve, turn valve to open posidtion, go lay on couch and turn on the TV and check eyelids for light leaks. The sometime the next day or day after I finsh the job, return to couch for further checking of eyelids for light leaks. I will follow this procedure on the new Magnum in the future as I have installed a FUMOTO drain valve in it also.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.