Hey guys, I would like to learn how to change the oil on my '72 250C the proper way. I have had too many bad experiences with the shops in my area and want to take over as much maintenance as I can on my car.

I know this is a pretty basic task and I could have probably found another source on the net that would guide me through a basic oil change. However I knew that you guys would guide me through the specifics for my make/model and it would get done right. Thanks in advance.

So, where do I start?

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'66 250S (SOLD)
'72 250C (SOLD)
'92 190E 2.3 (SOLD)
'02 C320 Wagon (SOLD)
'04 S40 (SOLD)
'99 535i (Euro Spec)

Number one you need supplies. About 5 or 6 quarts of good engine oil. Your owners manual should specify exactly the oil. If you don't have that I would say any of the name brands in a quality 10w40 engine oil. Same with the filter as it should be changed at the same time. That engine most probably has a canister type oil filter at fits into a steel can. It is not difficult to change, but a little messy so have a waste bucket close at hand to dump it in. The car engine should be warm, that is run at least in the past hour, but not hot.. I like wheel ramps to drive the car on and up as that gives a little more working room underneath. Always be very careful when you go underneath a car. Is is setting properly on the ramps? Are the back wheels blocked? Is it braked and is it in gear? Always be safe! Then have a pan that will hold that amount of oil ready. Parts houses always sell them cheap and pick one up when you pick up your oil and filter. It might be handy to have a plastic funnel for replacing the oil also. It can be done without, but you will spill some. Ok, if you have all your supplies, crawl underneath and see what kind of wrench you need to get the pan plug out. Some take an 11 mm box end wrench, some take a metric hex key wrench, some might even been converted to take a 7/16th box or open end. Generally they have a slightly tapered thread and they can fit really tight so find the best wrench you can that really fits the plug snug. I say this because it is so often a threaded fitting which is abused and if mess up can be a real dandy to get out. That drain plug is usually right in the middle of the engine pan, very visible, and behind the steering tie rod. OK, get that plug loose, then get your oil collection pan ready, turn it out by hand when it is loose, try to stay out of the way when it comes out, (and it come out in a hurry). If you are working on concrete, better have some plastic around for protection because you are going to spill some oil. Let it all drain out and then put the plug back in nice and snug, (don't overtighten). Now change your filter. You probably have a big "O" ring in the box with the filter to refresh the old one in the filter. Usually there are two nuts on the top of those canister filters. Take them off and the top will come off and then pull the old filter out. Re-install the new filter the same way. Install the new "O" ring, and put the top on. Add 5 quarts of oil unless your manual says more then that. I would add 5 quarts, double check everything you have done and start the engine. Start the engine and let it idle but watch the oil pressure gauge. It might take 30 seconds for the oil pressure to build. OK, you have the engine running, you have oil pressure, emergency brake on, go out and check your work. If all was done correctly you will have no leaks and that is what you want. Let it idle for 10/15 minutes. If all is good, remove wheel chokes and drive it back off the ramps if you have it up there. Then shut it off and in 5 minutes or so (give the oil time to run back into the pan) check your oil level very carefully. You should have a full mark on the dip stick. Are you close to that or does it need a little more. A pint maybe, maybe a quart, whatever. Just don't overfill the oil. It is not good to overfill and it is a disaster to under fill. Keep you eye out for leaks and check your oil in a couple of days and you will like it.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Wait for someone who has a 250C to run you thru it, just as I did with my 280SE.

Hello Curtis,

Your filter cansister has one bolt holding it on. It is on the bottom. Use a good quality filter. In addition to the large o-ring which goes in the rim of the aluminum cansister, there are some other rubber seals which are not in the filter kit. These seals do no have to be replaced every time but you should make sure they are still in place. There is one which seals the top of your oil filter. It is on the round neck inside the housing on the block. Make sure it is there. Often times this seal is missing and if so, your engin oil by-passes the filter! there are other seals inside the aluminum oil filter canister at the bottom. They should be there but will get hard from age.

__________________
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
1964 220SE Rally (La Carrera Panamericana someday)
1966 Unimog 404s (Swedish Army)
1969 300SEL 6.3 (sold)
1969 280SL Pagoda
1973 280SEL 4.5
1974 450SLC FIA Rally car (standard trans)
1982 300D turbo (winter driver)
1986 560SEC
1989 Unimog FLU419 (US Army)
1991 300TE (wife)
2002 SLK 32 AMG (350 hp)

Curtis,

Here is a lot of info and photos in the W113 pagoda SL group's Tech manual. Your engine is not exactly the same, but your filter assembly is the same.

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/Engine/Lubrication

__________________
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
1964 220SE Rally (La Carrera Panamericana someday)
1966 Unimog 404s (Swedish Army)
1969 300SEL 6.3 (sold)
1969 280SL Pagoda
1973 280SEL 4.5
1974 450SLC FIA Rally car (standard trans)
1982 300D turbo (winter driver)
1986 560SEC
1989 Unimog FLU419 (US Army)
1991 300TE (wife)
2002 SLK 32 AMG (350 hp)

Hola dude. As the owner of a '70 250CE I'll be happy to guide you through this.

Supplies
-6ish quarts of oil. My 250 loves Castrol "high Mileage" 5w40.
-Socket wrench with extension. I Think the socket you need is an 11/16 or somewhere close to that. I'm not going to go climb under the car though because it's early and cold.
-New Filter (get the best you can)
-Oil Catcher
-Floor Jack and 2 (TWO) safety jacks. Never let just a floor jack hold your car up. Always have two secure safety jacks holding the car up.
-Funnel, or intense pouring zen concentration.

So, first step is to make sure you have the car warmed up a little. It doesn't have to be at operating temperature because you dont' want to scald yourself. Just warm it up a little so that the oil picks up sediment and drains a little easier. Then jack up the car. Once you have it safely on jack stands, open the hood. Then, open the oil cap on top of the engine, It's on the top dead center.

Now, slide the oil catcher under the oil pan of the engine. Now would also be a good time to slide your socket wrench under the car as well. Bring some paper towels if you're clumsy. Next, use your socket wrench to remove the drain plug on the oil pan. It faces the rear of the car. Get it most of the way out with the socket wrench, then start turning it with your hand. Make sure that the oil will land in your catch pan because cleaning up oil spills sucks.... a lot.

Once you have oil draining into the catch pan, it's time for a little breather. When the oil is just barely dripping into the catch pan, it's drained as much as it's probably going to, but you can leave the catch pan where it is while you remove the filter. When you're under the car, facing up at the engine with your legs sticking out in front the oil filter is going to be on your left (drivers side.) It's a silver can thats larger than a regular beer can, and about the size of one of those big beer cans, like a travelin' beer. It's secured via one long bolt that goes through the center. You'll probably need an extension on your socket wrench.

Find a way to work your socket wrench and arm into position, and remove the filter cannister. Take note of what everyone else said concerning gaskets. Be aware that oil will drain from the filter, and it's probably going to land directly on your suspension before makig contact with your catch pan. Obviously it's important to catch the oil from the filter. Be careful not to scald yourself on the engine block if you were a little too enthusiastic warming up your engine. Pull the old filter out of the cannister and disgard it according to enviornmental regulations in your area. This means don't just chuck it in the garbage can. Think of the baby seals... and the blue titted booby foot bird. Or something.

Anyway, place the new filter in the cannister, and refitting is the opposite of removal (Don't you love when Haynes manuals say that about something like a rear diff?) Getting the cannister and your socket wrench into place can be a little tricky, have patience and try new ways if you're getting frustrated. Again, be mindful of your engine block as it may be hot.

You can also drain the oil cooler which is advised as it can contain a lot of dirty oil that you dont' want to mingle with your fresh oil, especially if it's a different weight. To drain the oil cooler (it's in front next to the radiator, it looks like a narrow radiator) simply unscrew the drain plug on the bottom and let it drain into the catcher as you did with the engine oil pan.

Make sure your filter, engine oil drain plug, and oil cooler drain plug are properly installed (tight, but not insanely tight. If you're OCD your Haynes manual will tell you the exact torque.) It's time to stick the funnel in the oil cap on top of the engine. Begin filling your engine with your chosen oil, make sure to pour out of the container the right way (There's a picture on the side of the bottly.) because air bubbles will gurgle out and might splatter the oil if you hold the bottle upsidown.

If you can, measure how much oil drained into the catch pan you used, Lets say you have 7 quarts in the catch pan. Assuming your engine oil was at the proper level before you drained it, then you should add 6.5 quarts then run the engine for a moment before checking the level (engine off when you check) and topping up. Replace the oil cap when you're oil is at the right level. Clean up your work area, and let the car down.

Hello Curtis,

Most of the USA 250C models did not have an oil cooler. JiveTurkey's Euro 250CE does have one. For some reason the USA 250 sedans did have one. Figure that out?

__________________
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
1964 220SE Rally (La Carrera Panamericana someday)
1966 Unimog 404s (Swedish Army)
1969 300SEL 6.3 (sold)
1969 280SL Pagoda
1973 280SEL 4.5
1974 450SLC FIA Rally car (standard trans)
1982 300D turbo (winter driver)
1986 560SEC
1989 Unimog FLU419 (US Army)
1991 300TE (wife)
2002 SLK 32 AMG (350 hp)

Yeah, I figured I'd better say how to do it just in case he had one.

Thats perfect Jive, that was just the tutorial I was looking for. Very Glad you chimed in. I'm going to order my filter tonight so hopefully I'll have my hands dirty by this weekend. Thanks to everyone else as well, I got some very useful information as I expected.

__________________


'66 250S (SOLD)
'72 250C (SOLD)
'92 190E 2.3 (SOLD)
'02 C320 Wagon (SOLD)
'04 S40 (SOLD)
'99 535i (Euro Spec)

Thanks. I own a 250, and have changed the oil and filter before, but the thread about the 280SE got me thinking I might have missed some seals when I did it. I will double check next time I change it, which should be soon as it's been over a year, even though I haven't put many miles on it in that time.

The filter setup on the diesel 123's is much nicer.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Not a problem sir, always happy to help when I can.

Finally went to change the oil in the blue thing today. Ordered the filter from a local parts house Saturday, picked it up this morning, along with two gallons of Delo. Jacked up and supported car. Found out I didn't have the right size Allen to get the plug out. I know I rigged something up last time I changed the oil (summer of '08), but couldn't remember how I did it. So I lowered the car and went to NAPA to get 14mm Allen wrench. No joy. Proceeded down the road to Ace Hardware. No joy. Then I went to the other side of town to Harbor Freight. They didn't have it as a single item, so I ended up buying an Allen socket set that includes the one I want. List price $13, but I happen to know one of the cashiers there, and she hooked me up with a discount. I managed to get out of there for a hair over eleven bucks.

Next, I returned home, jacked up and supported the car again, and picked up where I left off. Drained oil, replaced plug, decided the oil filter location was chosen by some old Nazi who was still mad about losing the war and wanted to make life difficult for Americans. Accessed filter from the top. Checked those extra seals that don't come in the filter kit. All bad. This time I left the 250 jacked up and took the filter housing and bad seals to NAPA to see if they had anything that matched. No joy. The clerk at NAPA suggested I try a local German car shop called Valley Wagon. Closed (for President's Day??).

So I returned home and called the stealership. The parts guy there said he was going to email me an exploded view of the filter assembly. While I was wating for that, I did some research on this site. Apparently Phil has to special order them, since they aren't listed and a part number search returned nothing. I finally get my exploded view from MB of Reno. Parts are on order, and will be here Wednesday afternoon.

An oil change on my W123's takes 20-30 minutes depending on how fast I decide to work that day.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Hello,

A 9/16" allen is one of those sizes that is usually close enough to work on a 14mm. However having the 14mm is best. You can order some good German or equivalent oil filters from many suppliers. They are typically around $5.00 ea. Kneckt, Mann, Hengst, Bosch, Mahle are some good brands.

Tom Hanson at the Classic Center stocks all those other filter seals. However if you supply your local dealer with the part numbers, this is the key to success, and the parts get free shiping to the dealer near you.

The W113 pagoda SL website has a good breakdown with all the part numbers for those rubber seals, suppliers also. You could also look into oil filters from the Peach Parts people ?

I have seen some aftermarket oil filters that are actually 1/8" shorter than the original oil filters, so even with the new seals, the filter does not seal against the upper seal.

__________________
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
1964 220SE Rally (La Carrera Panamericana someday)
1966 Unimog 404s (Swedish Army)
1969 300SEL 6.3 (sold)
1969 280SL Pagoda
1973 280SEL 4.5
1974 450SLC FIA Rally car (standard trans)
1982 300D turbo (winter driver)
1986 560SEC
1989 Unimog FLU419 (US Army)
1991 300TE (wife)
2002 SLK 32 AMG (350 hp)