1994 S420 in Georgia if it matters, 100k miles

What type of engine oil should I use (I've gotten the whole gammut of reccomendations, 15w30, 15w40, etc.) so what is the best?

Also, for antifreeze: do I neeed to replace/top up the anti freeze with MB original stuff or will any old antifreeze do?

Thanks in advance for your help

Call you local MB dealer. I use 20w50. It depends how old the coolant is. If it is over two years, change it.

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89 300 CE

Yeah, that's where i got the reccomendations from

all 5 dealerships i called gave me a different engine oil to use

Do a search this topic has been discussed to death, but any oil that is 40wt or higher will work. Ie no 5w-30, 10w-30 ect.

For example I recommend Mobil 1 (so does MB) if you want to go that way:
0w-40 Silver cap
5w-40 Yellow cap (called truck & suv oil at Walmart)
15w-50 Red Cap
will be fine.

Or off the top of my head:
Castrol 10w-40
Pennzoil 10w-40
Castrol Syntec 5w-50

See where I'm going? Any oil that is at least a 40wt on teh upper end is fine.
As for coolant MB stuff or Zerox (sp?) are the only ones you should use.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thx.. I would have searched but I'm time constrained here

So xxWyy

xx the lower is better for cold start ups?
yy the higher is better for hot-temp running?



Sorry, I'm really dumb with engine oil

check here

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/oil.html

On my 190E, i used Lubro Moly fully synthetic 5w40. Excellent oil and make the valve lifters less noisy when cold starting.

Ocap, what type of driving do you do?... freeway?.... city?.... short trips?

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

Hi, sorry for the delay:

Mainly suburban stop and go type traffic

The engine heats up quite alot during traffic conditions, like the temp will spike up to 100c + and then when you take it on a stretch of road where you dont stop, it slowly backs down to a little below 80...

oil pressure fluctuates as the engine heats up too, which i find disturbing (though i've been told its normal)

Not just any Zerex. It needs to be Zerex G-05. In the tan bottle.

Don't fret much over the oil pressure fluctuations. Oil pressure changes depending on any number of variables:

1. Heat - the oil pressure drops as the oil heats up.
2. Engine speed - the oil pressure drops at idle.
3. Age - the oil pressure drops as the oil ages.

Unless you're using synthetic oil in the engine, I vote for using anything between a 10W-30 and 20W-50 weight during the heat of summer. I wouldn't fret too much over the weight of the oil, as long as it's reasonable. You're correct with your logic on how to interpret the two oil weight numbers.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

I don't know of any MB engine that uses 10w-30 or 5w-30. Most euro motors seem to like a thicker oil. Well unless it is extremly cold.

How cold does it get in Georgia? It can't be that cold I wouldn't worry about cold starts. Heck my diesel cranks over with 15w-50 in the crankcase when it is 20 out. She doesn't crank any slower the oil pressure jsut takes a little longer to come up.

ocap not to be a pain but you really should do a search. This topic and your engine have come up many times. You will get better answers.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thanks for your reply. I'm thinking of Mobil 1 0W40... is this appropriate? - i don't really care about cost savings and i've heard mobil 1 is the best engine oil. I know another poster mentioned it above, but i'm really wary of sticking in an oill with a 0 in it... LOL

You will have a hard time finding a better oil than Mobil 1 0w-40. If the 0 bothers you Mobil makes 5w-40 Delvac 1 but it is hard to find and if you have to order it will cost more.

My friend's dad is using 0w-40 in his 95 S600 and it runs great. The oil pressure is fine.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thx a ton... Sorry about being lazy to search the board, but I'd probably wind up still being unsure about it, so i'd rather have someone go "buy this oil"

Ok buy 0w-40. Pepboys was just running a sale on it $3.99 a quart. Walmart also usually has great prices.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200