I see people mention that their car uses "x quarts of oil per 1000 miles" or something similar. How do I calculate how much oil I'm using? I'm wondering how everyone comes up with these numbers.. are you measuring the oil when you drain it?

My '83 300SD has gone 1500 miles since the last oil change. When I changed the oil, it was at the "full" mark and is now at the 1/2 way mark. Anyone know how much oil this was?

My turbo oil drain tube is leaking (it's covered with oil, but I don't see any noticeable oil drips on my driveway so it can't be that bad. Any idea how much of my oil loss is contributed to that? (if much at all..)

Thanks!
Neal

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Neal Bhatt - bhatt@ic.net
'83 300SD 190k

When the oil gets to the add mark you have used a quart. This means that you are using about a quart in 3,000 miles. That is good oil consumption. You don't have much to worry about with this engine.

The oil tube leak must not be bad. Keep the engine clean and change oil often to keep the engine in this condition.

Good luck,
Change oil hot and change oil often,


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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

For what it's worth Bill I found my 300SD to act in the exact same manner.

Depending how you drive, a possible explaination for the lower consumption at min marks goes like this: The largest part of consumption is through oil carried through the crankcase breather system into the intake (hose at top of valve cover). If you are driving and stopping in a way that gets oil on the rotating crank a larger mist of oil is carried with the crankcase vapors.

The idea behind the max level is to keep such activity to a minimum. That motor takes near 8 quarts and has an oil cooler so I can't think of any reason why it couldn't be run forever two quarts down if it helped consumption.