Smokey Oil Change
 

Hey all:

Today I had my oil changed at a chain oil change place. All was going well until they started my car. The car sputterd at first with a thick gray smoke coming from the tail pipe. The attendent decided to give the car a little gas and that is when the fun started. The car reved extremely high blowing out enough smoke to make the largest 18 wheeler jealous.

At this point the oil change guy pulled the key out to no avail. I ran for the exit. About 4 seconds latter the car stopped...phew!

We started the car again with no problem. The car is running great.

Anyone have any idea what would cause this kind of psychosis?

Let me know.

1996 300E 150,000 miles running Biodiesel

They simply don't know how to change the oil on your car. Needless to say, don't go back.

This can happen if you refill the engine through the oil cap on the valve cover, let some flow over the valve seals (which is possible to prevent, but you have to work at it), then starting the engine before it had a chance to sit for fifteen minutes.

If you get any oil behind the filler cap, you need to let the engine sit before starting.

I refill mine through the filter opening.

What model car is this? Your sig says you have a 300E running on biodiesel? I assume you mean 300D?

What happened is the (probably moronic) attendant put in too much oil and caused a run-away diesel, your lucky it shut down and still runs normally, usually they run away like that till the engine blows a rod etc. and dies. Your very very lucky it surivived, I assume it shut down because its a 606 diesel with the electronic fuel shutoff or something.....or maybe it managed to burn off the excess oil quick enough where it didn't die. (perhaps it was only a teeny bit too much oil)


Rule:

1. Pay super close attention to oil level in engine when doing oil change.
2. Don't let idiot oil change places work on your MB.

If he filled the new oil with a hose there is a possibility some new oil ran down the old valve guides. The head got flooded out? Perhaps not enough time for it to flow to the crankcase from the head . Anyways if car has always shut off with key before I think you got some new oil into those cylinders. If car normally consumes a reasonable quantity of oil the valve rubbers might be getting a little tired. People with more experience may have better ideals.

Ditto.......
 

If you will do a search here for "runaway diesel", you will get a very uneasy feeling about what just happened at the oil change place. Most of them do not take into account that the oil cooler is not drained and just go with the listed capacity. This nearly always results in overfilling, which can have disastrous results. There should be warning placards in your engine bay pointing this out.

I would be giving the manager a piece of my mind :mad: about teaching his personel on observing warning placards and proper oil level checks before starting the car. Return business would definitly depend on his response.

Not really. If it were me I would not go back even if they gave me the place. There is a chance that engine damage has occurred, even if it seems to be running ok. I would mention this to them as well. When you floor the engine when it is running on diesel the Injector pump can limit the amount of fuel and therefor the max speed the engine car run at. When the engine runs away on motor oil it can rev to way past its design limits which is why they usually go kaboom.

See my post just above yours. The 606 needn't be overfilled to run away. All you need to do is pour oil on top of the valves while refilling. It's possible to fill it through the opening without getting any on top of the valves, but it's tricky.

The warning to not put oil on top of the valves, or to wait fifteen minutes if you do, is in the service manual for the 606.

Note that when the engine is running on oil, nothing in the fuel system can shut it off. There's no magic in the 606.

Also, this car is officially called "E300" by MB. "300E" isn't quite correct, but for a '96, a 300 is a diesel.

Best way to refill a 606 is through the oil filter holder. Massive great big hole, can't spill anything anywhere, and avoids the problem above.

oil chains
 

Most of these guys are burger joint flunkies!
The owners pay NO money and they use swill brands of oil!
If I absolutally have to pay to get mine done I drive 10mi to a mom and pop place were the OWNER is the tech.
He knows me and knows I only use ROTELLA in the diesels and Castrol in the gassers.
I had to sue J.L. once for really screwing up one of my cars 15 years ago.

So the 606 doesn't have bucket tappets over the valves like the 603?

Sixto
93 300SD

I always filled my 606 through the valve cover opening. Never knew about any of this. Never had a problem.

Scott

Do you know if that chain lube place put a diesel rated oil in your car? They could have easily put in a gas engine oil. That was the case on the TDIclub were they put 5w30 gas engine oil in a passat TDI and it ruined the engine. Diesels require oil that can handle the soot.