Synthetic oil in 1988 560SEC?

[lws1]

My 560SEC is due for an oil change and I was thinking about synthetic. If so, what kind and weight for my baby that has 161,000 miles, timing chain was changed about 1,000 miles ago and I drive her once a week. Also, I live in Miami, FL. If I can switch to synthetic, how often do I need to change the oil because I don't put the miles on her? Obviously you can tell I am not a mechanic and haven't changed oil since I was a teenager on the farm. I was going to take in to to a new mechanic that is closer to my house but thought I'd bring my own oil and filter and have them do the work and look her over. Thanks, LWS1

[jhodg5ck]

Are there any external leaks? How much oil are you using per/1000 miles?

@ 161K you're valve guides are going to be getting towards the end of their useful life.

Jonathan

[BENZ-LGB]

I would stick with dyno oil. Use the grade-viscosity suggested by Benz. Change the oil and filter often. You will have no problems.

BTW, nice car.

[lws1]

Originally Posted by jhodg5ck

Are there any external leaks? How much oil are you using per/1000 miles?

@ 161K you're valve guides are going to be getting towards the end of their useful life.

Jonathan

I am not mechanical at all. How much does it cost to replace those and how do you tell when they need to be replaced?

[Jim B.]

I had this exact same conversation with my independent German-American mechanic
about one year ago, regarding my 1991 560SEC that had 118,000 miles on it and had been maintained with dyno oil, and the timing chain changed at about 100,000 miles..

His response was to stick with with the dino oil, on a car that had been using it that long, for the reason that the detergents in the synthetic oils were rather aggressive, and changing over to dyno oil would loosen things up to the point that new leaks would probably appear after such a change.

That logic convinced me to leave well enough alone and stick with dino oil..

[Towel Rail]

Sort of off-topic, but if you've got a garage, I'd highly recommend learning to change your own oil. I kind of enjoy the "bonding time" with my cars.

- Scott

[lws1]

Originally Posted by Towel Rail

Sort of off-topic, but if you've got a garage, I'd highly recommend learning to change your own oil. I kind of enjoy the "bonding time" with my cars.

- Scott

That's not a bad idea. Is it difficult to change on a 560? Do you need any special wrenches?

[t walgamuth]

i used mobil one 10w30 with happy results in my 84 500sec.

tom w

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by lws1

That's not a bad idea. Is it difficult to change on a 560? Do you need any special wrenches?

No, oil changes on the W126 V-8 are quite easy. Your 560 engine is similar to my late lamented 420SEL's. A simple socket wrench with extensions, to undo the bolt that holds the lid atop the oil filter housing, would be enough. If I recall aright, the same size socket is also used for the drain plug bolt; somebody check me on this.

If you really get into doing your own changes, you could purchase a Topsider oil extractor. Do a search here for info. It let me get nearly all the oil out of the 420's engine (8 quarts!) by sucking the oil out through the dipstick tube. No electricity required, and once the oil is in the can, you seal it up and take it to recycling. No pans or splashing. Since the oil filter also lifts right out of the aforementioned housing, no oil messes there either.

Enjoy one of the greatest cars MB ever produced!

[jhodg5ck]

Valve guides etc usually run in the 4-5K range. The most you can expect from the originals is 200K @ which point they will be quite worn and sloppy. You can buy time by band-aiding the problem w/ new valve guide seals, but it is just that..a band-aid.

You'll know by the amount of oil your engine consumes over a given mileage, whether or not she smokes after sitting/idling..a compression test is also a good indication.

I've switched many cars over to synthetic, but they were all tight engines, ie no leaks, good heads etc.. If a car is burning oil/leaking it pays to stick w/ dino.

FYI, off the shelf consumer oils no longer have the necessary zinc/phosphate additives that our cars need to keep cams etc happy.

For Dino oil Valvoline's Racing 20/50 is good, or for synthetic I run Mobil 1 20/50 w/ GM valve/tappet additive (all the additives that manufacture are pulling out this puts back in). Or, any 4 stroke motorcycle oil is Good.

Jonathan

[jlomon]

I was always hesitant to switch my 94 C280 to synthetic as it had always run on dino, for the very reason Jim B's mechanic gave him. Then I found a new product from Valvoline, a synthetic oil in their High Mileage product lineup. It has a different additive package geared towards the problems older cars have around leaks/oil burning etc. I switched over to this product nearly 3 months ago and to this point I haven't noticed any detrimental results. The oil level hasn't moved on the dipstick. I do have a very minor seepage on the head gasket which hasn't ever resulted in a noticeable loss of oil, and the condition hasn't worsened in the past few years. I would continue to use this product because my car gets primarily short trips at infrequent intervals and I like the fact that the synthetic provides better lubrication on start-up and cold use.

[BENZ-LGB]

Great tip Jonathan. Soon after I bought my "new" 300CE I had all the fluids changed, including the oil. I decided to try Mobil 1 synthetic oil and I was surprised when the check oil came on a few weeks later. Turned out that the car was low on oil. After that I kept checking the oil and consumption was high. I called the PO who swore that the car did not use much oil between changes when she had it.

Last oil change I went back to the dyno that had been used by the PO with every oil change in that car -- Castrol 20-50W.

I've gone 2k miles since going back to Castrol and the oil level at the dipstick has not gone down. Those 2k miles include some high speed driving to Monterey, CA and back.

I may try the oil you found, but I would probably stay with what has worled for that car.

[lws1]

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral

No, oil changes on the W126 V-8 are quite easy. Your 560 engine is similar to my late lamented 420SEL's. A simple socket wrench with extensions, to undo the bolt that holds the lid atop the oil filter housing, would be enough. If I recall aright, the same size socket is also used for the drain plug bolt; somebody check me on this.

If you really get into doing your own changes, you could purchase a Topsider oil extractor. Do a search here for info. It let me get nearly all the oil out of the 420's engine (8 quarts!) by sucking the oil out through the dipstick tube. No electricity required, and once the oil is in the can, you seal it up and take it to recycling. No pans or splashing. Since the oil filter also lifts right out of the aforementioned housing, no oil messes there either.

Enjoy one of the greatest cars MB ever produced!

I did a search for Topsider and discovered a different product that other swear by. BTW, what do you do with the oil once it's pumped out? Don't you have to take it somewhere?

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/MIT-7201.html

I'm really excited to change my oil again!

[Stoney]

Northern Tools has it for $40 + UPS Ground. All metal, works like a charm and allows you to also remove transmission, brake and PS fluid as well.

When yo are done thake the oiul back to the auto parets place where you bought the oil, they by law must accept it for recycling. They pour it into a large container adn return the can to you. Can is 2 1/2 gal steel with 2 steel caps.

[lws1]

Originally Posted by Stoney

Northern Tools has it for $40 + UPS Ground. All metal, works like a charm and allows you to also remove transmission, brake and PS fluid as well.

When yo are done thake the oiul back to the auto parets place where you bought the oil, they by law must accept it for recycling. They pour it into a large container adn return the can to you. Can is 2 1/2 gal steel with 2 steel caps.

I was actually recommended to try the MityVac. Others say it's much ez'er to use than Topsider.