I changed the oil today on my 1995 C280. I purchased 6 quarts of Mobil 1 synthetic 15w50 and 2 quarts of Mobil 1 dyno 10w40; and a Fram oil filter.

1. What oil filter do you think is best? What should I stay away from?

2. After sucking all of the old oil out, I will run the engine for about 30 seconds at idle speed. I read in a book called DRIVE IT FOREVER that this will help get any remaining oil out of the engine. I have done it for every oil change since. I can suck a little more out after doing this... will this harm the engine? Considering there is still *some* oil between the cylinders, and it's only for 30 seconds... do you think getting the extra dirty oil out is worth the minimal wear (if any) on the engine?

3. I put in 5 quarts of oil, ran the engine, checked the oil and the oil level had barely nudged the dipstick... my question: the oil light did not come on, at what level should it? (Light is operating though.)

4. The 2.8 M104 engine can hold 7.4 quarts of oil. Today when I was changing my oil, I put in 7 1/2 quarts, ran the engine for about 1 minute, checked the oil level, and it was below the 1/2 mark on the dipstick, wouldn't it be at the full mark?

5. Before changing my oil, I let the oil cool down for about 15 minutes as to not collapse the topsider tube too much. Well after about a minute of sucking, the 5/8 hose gets suck closed, oil still passes through, but not much. Is this supposed to happen? I looked at the hardware store for a different type of more heat resistant 'piping' but they didn't have any.

6. I have been gradually mixing synthetic into my oil. The first oil change I put in 3 quarts synthetic and 5 quarts dyno, this time I put in 6 quarts synthetic and 2 quarts dyno, next time I will put in 8 quarts of synthetic. Is this an ok way to do it (gradually)? I did this so there would (maybe, if at all) be a warning to a *possible* oil leak. Everything is fine so far, and I have 95k miles on car.

7. This questions pertains to trans fluid. I had my trans fluid changed about 6k miles ago at a MB dealership in Tucson. I changed it because when driving at speeds of 100+, trans would spill out onto manifold and smoke, thus too much trans fluid (and it was time for a change). Fluid still looked when changed though. After my oil change today, I checked the trans fluid... and it was overfilled? Or so I think... I have a picture below to help depict... you can't really tell the fluid level, but it was about an inch above the highest arrow for operating temperature level... should I suck some out?



When checking the fluid, I insert the dipstick all of the way back into the slot (like lockin in place), and then pull out. Also, should the dipstick be curved? It's always a real ***** inserting it back down the hole.

8. Throughout the course of my last oil change (duration 3600 miles), I burned a little oil. When I changed the oil, I put in a full 8 quarts (I know now this was too much). Well when I checked the oil level again prior to my oil change today, I noticed that the oil level was 1/2 way down the dipstick (between Max & Min). This means that I burned more than a quart of oil during that time. I do a fair amount of freeway driving (constant runs of 3,000 - 4,000 rpms when driving this fast), so a little loss would be understandable. Could this also be in part to the fact that I mixed in some synthetic? I ask this because: "If [synthetic oil] directly into an engine [(priorly using dino oil)] without flushing you will suffer oil consumption due to debris which is cleaned out by the detergent additive package of the synthetic oil." Also, I was thinking this could be from the lower weight used (10w30), for the 5 quarts of regualar dino oil I used (synthetic was 10w40).


I hope this all makes sense and I didn't overwhelm anyone.
THanks for all of the help everyone!!!

[Edited by David C Klasse on 07-27-2001 at 11:47 PM]

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)