What oil for 1985 300D?

[lws1]

What kind of oil would be best in a 1985 300D with 130,000 miles? Dyno or synthetic? I would prefer for her not to bleed all over my driveway. Also, I live in Miami and would like to know what weight.

[Shorebilly]

G'mornin',

Please do a search, there is already plenty of discussion of this topic.....

Most of us here have our individual preferences, and have reasons aplenty for whatever product is chosen.....

PERSONALLY.....I use Shell Rotella T.......only comes in 1 weight.....15W40

SB

[t walgamuth]

That would be my choice for your car too.

And I would change it at 3000....perhaps going up to 5000 on a long trip.

Tom W

[WD8CDH]

I use either Rotella synthetic 5W-40 or Mobil synthetic 5W-40 in mine. A world of differance in cold starting.

[TheDon]

Personally I use Mobile 1 Delvac 1300 dino blend

Mobil Delvac 1 5w40 is arguably the best synthetic oil available.

[1985300d]

i have the same car, what about the transmission, comming up on 500k for me

[TheDon]

any Dextron III Mercon transmission fluid...

Originally Posted by TheDon

any Dextron III Mercon transmission fluid...

...and change it with the filter every 30K or so.

Regarding oil, I also prefer mobil 1 5W40 (or rotella synthetic 5W40 as my second choice) with 5000 mile changes. However, in your part of the world, a good diesel rated 15W40 dino oil (like conventional rotell) is perfectly adequate. There are lots of opinions on this, but it's mostly personal preference. Just make sure it's a xW40 diesel rated oil.

[lws1]

Originally Posted by Craig

Regarding oil, I also prefer mobil 1 5W40 (or rotella synthetic 5W40 as my second choice) with 5000 mile changes. However, in your part of the world, a good diesel rated 15W40 dino oil (like conventional rotell) is perfectly adequate. There are lots of opinions on this, but it's mostly personal preference. Just make sure it's a xW40 diesel rated oil.

Thanks for your post. Doing searches sometimes is a headache because you have to sift through a lot, or maybe I'm just not searching correctly. Anyway, I am not a mechanic and haven't changed oil since I was a teenager and moved to the city. I do, however, take an interest in what goes in my cars because there is a lot of junk the shops use in cars and love having access to the experts on this forum and I REALLY APPRECIATE any and all advice. Having a diesel is totally foreign to me and I would like my car to last as many miles and be as maintenance free as possible.

Thanks again for your posts and your advice. I am going to make a notebook with what I am printing out to get me on the right track. - Lance

[Austin85]

Originally Posted by lws1

What kind of oil would be best in a 1985 300D with 130,000 miles? Dyno or synthetic? I would prefer for her not to bleed all over my driveway. Also, I live in Miami and would like to know what weight.

Why is "she" going to bleed all over your driveway??

[bustedbenz]

Yeah, those cold starts in Miami really get tough on engines with the oil too thick... sometimes you'll have to take the oil out and replace it with clear H20 just to get it thin enough to allow the engine to turn over in those frigid Miami midwinters. Some Miamians have seen the necessity of connecting in a second battery (not in series, just parallel) to double their cold cranking amps rating, just to have enough energy to run the glowplugs for a minute and a half and then let the starter fight the engine over and over and over, before it FINALLY starts, just when things are starting to look pretty grim.... the pengins are starting to prowl around the car, looking for their next meal when you finally freeze because the diesel had gelled...

OH, please.





Rotella dino 15w40 or synthetic if you prefer... 15w40 is a good weight for you, it'll keep some of the leaks down and not get too thin in the hot weather. Run it year-round.