My wife drives our 190E 2.3 to work, so I don't pay much attention unless a pool of something forms underneath, or she notifies me of a problem - which usually is late in the game. I just check my note for at what mileage next oil change due, and if odometer is shy of that, I lose interest.

Well, she had to take my car the other day since hers needed gas, and on an errand I noticed a ticking sound like a sticky lifter. When I asked, she said she hadn't noticed, but oil pressure seemed a bit low at times. I checked oil - not super clean, but only 1/2 qt down. My note said due at 143k, and she still had only 140k. So, I popped the cam cover to check lifters - MAN, what a lot of gunk! It seemed the oil had broken down and coated the inside of the cover with a bunch of sludge! Anyway , I topped up the oil with a good detergent oil, drove til warm, then did an oil change. Now oil pressure normal and lifter noise silent, and even seems to be running much smoother!

As I made the new label up I noticed for the first time the DATE of the last oil change - just shy of 2 yrs! Well, my wife only works 2 days a week, which comes to 32 mi. total. We never use the car otherwise, so in that time she had only put on 2500 mi. This time, I wrote the date MUCH bigger on the label.

Steve

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'91 MB 190E 2.3
'08 RAV4 Ltd 3.5
'83 Lazy Daze m'home 5.7

Two years without an oil change! I keep all that stuff in my head. I also wrote it all in my sig. My wife's 300E gets two changes a year....regardless of miles.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 110k - mine - (OC-112,500)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 30k - wifes (OC-34k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 61k (OC - 63k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 84k - dad's (OC-86k)
'01 SL500 - 99k(km) - dad's (OC-102,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 136k - Brothers (OC-139k)

You're very lucky you caught it in time.

El Sea

Yeah, I remember one time a friend of mine had a ford engine apart from some fleet vehicle. Turns out the thing never really did any miles, but idled for hours a day. So, they never changed the oil because it was never due mileage wise.

The whole thing was apart, and just about every surface looked like a coffee pot that had been left to dry out on a hot burner. Totally caked up sludge on every surface. It had to be chiseled off with a paint scraper.

The motor had to be rebuilt......

-tp