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  #46  
Old 12-30-2007, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Veggi2Fuel View Post
I purchased a case of amsoil 15w40 and my mechanic said i cant use 15w for my 98 e300 and to only use 0w40 mobil 1. He said 15w is to thick and it will lead to engine failure.

I have 153000 mile and got the car used. I also have a 18 one quart bottles of amsoil 15w40 can it be used in my car and what is the milage of anybodys car if using 15w40.

And how many miles have you used non OEM tranny fluid...
Your mechanic is wrong. The 15W-40 oil is fine. I'd almost guarantee that the chart in your owner's manual will verify this. The 0W-40 is recommended strictly for fuel economy reasons, not for protection or longevity. There have been enough reports of problems with 0W-40 that I will NOT use it in my cars. If it makes you both feel better, you could use 5W-40 (either M-1 or Amsoil) instead.

Tranny fluid - that car has the 722.6 tranny, and I would highly recommend sticking with the OE/dealer trans fluid. I would change it at least every 30kmi, along with the filter, and make sure you drain the converter too (otherwise you only get about 1/3 the fluid out). I usually change before 30k though.



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  #47  
Old 12-30-2007, 10:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gsxr View Post
Your mechanic is wrong. The 15W-40 oil is fine. I'd almost guarantee that the chart in your owner's manual will verify this. The 0W-40 is recommended strictly for fuel economy reasons, not for protection or longevity. There have been enough reports of problems with 0W-40 that I will NOT use it in my cars. If it makes you both feel better, you could use 5W-40 (either M-1 or Amsoil) instead.

Tranny fluid - that car has the 722.6 tranny, and I would highly recommend sticking with the OE/dealer trans fluid. I would change it at least every 30kmi, along with the filter, and make sure you drain the converter too (otherwise you only get about 1/3 the fluid out). I usually change before 30k though.

I just got spooked when he said that. But next time i change the oil i will use the amsoil with 10k mile intervals
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  #48  
Old 12-30-2007, 01:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Veggi2Fuel View Post
I purchased a case of amsoil 15w40 and my mechanic said i cant use 15w for my 98 e300 and to only use 0w40 mobil 1. He said 15w is to thick and it will lead to engine failure.

I have 153000 mile and got the car used. I also have a 18 one quart bottles of amsoil 15w40 can it be used in my car and what is the milage of anybodys car if using 15w40.

And how many miles have you used non OEM tranny fluid...
I'm using the AMSOil 15w-40 Heavy Duty Diesel & Marine oil, and mine runs just fine. I'm over 202k. Mobil 1 0w-40 is like water....Whatever oil you use, make sure it's diesel rater.

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  #49  
Old 12-31-2007, 06:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gsxr View Post
The 0W-40 is recommended strictly for fuel economy reasons, not for protection or longevity. There have been enough reports of problems with 0W-40 that I will NOT use it in my cars.
gsxr, what sort of problems are you talking about? My local dealer here in Richmond, VA just told me that 0W-40 was the new recommendation for just about everything that is not AMG or Diesel.

I just loaded my '97 S320 with 7.4 quarts of M1 0W-40 and now I'm worried!
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Last edited by bobs; 12-31-2007 at 06:10 AM. Reason: fixed tag
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  #50  
Old 12-31-2007, 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by bobs View Post
gsxr, what sort of problems are you talking about? My local dealer here in Richmond, VA just told me that 0W-40 was the new recommendation for just about everything that is not AMG or Diesel.

I just loaded my '97 S320 with 7.4 quarts of M1 0W-40 and now I'm worried!
Bob,

There won't be any catastrophic failures, so don't lose too much sleep. The main things I've heard (repeatedly) are that hydraulic lifters suddenly start making ticking noises after the switch to 0W-40, and increased wear metals appear in spectral oil analysis. On the engines which displayed these symptoms, the symptoms typically went away after switching back to either Mobil-1 or Amsoil in 5W-40, 15W-40, or 15W-50 viscosities.

Click here for a recent post from someone who just had this problem. Note that the lifter noise has been on diesel engines... haven't heard any stories about gassers yet. I would just switch back to something a tad thicker at your next oil change in the S320...

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  #51  
Old 02-15-2008, 09:30 PM
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Update

I forgot to update this thread earlier - so here goes:

I was disappointed to discover that the Amsoil ATF also has strong odor, same as the new M-1 MVF. Aaaaargh! Oh well, I was due for a fluid change in my '93, so I put the Amsoil in anyway. It's working fine, but the strong odor (compared to the previous M1 formula) still bugs me.

So, I picked up a quart each of Red Line ATF, and Red Line D4 ATF. The D4 stuff has the same strong odor as M1-MVF and Amsoil. But, the "original" Red Line ATF has no strong odor... kind of like the old Mobil-1 formula! I think I may have found a winner, finally. You can view the Red Line ATF spec sheet PDF file at this link. I found it interesting that their site specifically mentioned Mercedes vehicles:

"Red Line Synthetic ATF is an approved GM Dexron II, Ford Mercon, and Mercedes Benz Automatic Transmission Fluid and is suitable for GM, late model Ford, or any vehicle which recommends Dexron IID or Dexron IIE or Mercon for refill."


I dug out my 1993 owner's manual, and found that the MB approved lubricant spec sheet had all Dexron-II fluids listed. Apparently, Amazon.com is a distributor of Red Line oils, and they actually have a pretty decent price, with reasonable shipping. I'm probably going to pick some up and use that in the future. It's also nice that there's no need to buy a membership of any kind to get a price break, like you need to do with Amsoil (stupid pyramid marketing!).

For a comparison of all three Red Line ATF specs, along with M-1 MVF and Amsoil, see the attached image below.

Attached Thumbnails
Mobil-1 changed their ATF formula...-atf_specs.jpg  
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  #52  
Old 07-23-2008, 07:55 AM
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Originally Posted by 300B View Post
My 722.6 tranny is shifting superbly with the Pennzoil Multi ATF which BTW is recommended for the 722.6 in Europe.I'll try to dig up the PDF.
I finally found it however it's for QS(same thing as Pennzoil)

http://www.taligentx.com/passat/maintenance/atfchange/quakerstateatf.pdf
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  #53  
Old 07-23-2008, 10:50 AM
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I just switched my car over from the old type of Mobil 1 Synthetic Trans fluid to the Valvoline Synthetic Dexron VI stuff....and it made a significant difference! It runs smoother, shifts firmer, and my looongtime iffy 3-4 shift is now firm!!!! I couldn't believe it! 60k with a weak 3-4 shift and now its firm...awesome. The stuff is only $4.59 a qt too....I got it during napa's 50% of day so I did a whole trans fluid/filter change for about $34! I do mine once a year regardless of mileage. All of our cars are now on the Valvoline Dex VI, and they all shift great....the other cars have been running it almost a year now. Highly Recommend it!

As for engine oil, I've found the Rotella Syn 5w40 to be a good product. And its cost effective on a 4k change interval.
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  #54  
Old 07-23-2008, 03:04 PM
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Be happy you don't own a BMW. I just purchased a '96 750iL with V12 that has "sealed" transmission(not really, but no dipstick) that uses Esso LT 71141 synthetic oil at $40 a liter. Use anything else and you run the risk of total tranny failure.
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  #55  
Old 07-23-2008, 07:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WoodyK View Post
Be happy you don't own a BMW. I just purchased a '96 750iL with V12 that has "sealed" transmission(not really, but no dipstick) that uses Esso LT 71141 synthetic oil at $40 a liter. Use anything else and you run the risk of total tranny failure.
Thats why people lease those!

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