had the second oil change on this car since i've owned it and today i had to put in 6 quarts and it still isn't full. shows about 3/16th below full still. had it changed at the same jiffy lube place and i took it home and let it run with cardboard under it to check for leaks since its a bugger to get the canister in place, no leaks.

is it possible that the large washer or what ever it is that sits on top the filter is in wrong? it fell out and really don't know which side is up, one side is smaller than the other. it's installed with the smaller side up. btw what is that thing for.
put in the 6th quart over 2 hrs ago and is still low. there shouldn't be any reason for the oil not to drain down to the pan.

thanks

Ah ha!

Yes, that plastic thing is absolutely necessary, it's the actual "coarse" oil filter! The part you replace is a bypass fine filter.

Large end goes up.

As I remember, it takes at least 6 quarts, three after oil shows on the bottom of the dipstick. MB uses very large oil capacities, one of the reasons the engines last forever.

Oil fill level is between the marks. So long as it is above the lower (minimum) mark, it's fine.

If it's going through oil like crazy, you have a big leak -- that could be a bad vac pump diaghram blowing oil into the intake, too.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

The upside down canister arrangement usually has its own rubbers attached to the replacable filter. Its the large 0-ring rubber gasket that fits in the groove that can get doubled up...... where the old gasket gets a new one put on top of it, causing leaks. They can vary in size too - I recently had problems with a Wix brand 0-ring that just didnt fit later model vertical cannister style without leaking.

My '79 240D takes about 7 qts at each change - tough to know for sure when pouring from gallon jug of oil.