Topsider and Mobil 1 extended performance
 

Does anyone in Vancouver Canada know where I can find a cheap topsider and knows where I can find the new oil?

Tony

I dont know about oil...synthetic is synthetic, how much difference is there?
for the topsider, marine shops sell variations of this type of oil extractor.

I don't know about being the cheapest place to get it but I got mine (topsider) at a boat suppliy shop called West Marine on 1601 West 2nd Avenue, near Granville Island.

As for your oil, perhaps auto specialty may carry the Mobil1 Extended.
I personally prefer Motul or Lubromoly for my Benz.

Do some research on the oil. I've heard that the "new" extended interval oil is the same Mobil 1 they've been selling for decades. And that the lesser interval Mobil 1 is mixed with varying degrees of conventional oil.

I'm not presenting this as fact... merely stating what I've seen & heard. Do the research for yourself.

Jeff Pierce

You can make your own topsider like i did with a 5 gallon plastic bucket (metal preferable) with an airtight lid and about 6 feet of polyethylene tubine, found at any Home Depot.

You'll also need a vacuum cleaner with a hose.

Cut a hole a tiny bit smaller than the tubing close to the side of the lid, and a hole a bit smaller than the vacuum hose end on the opposite side of the lid.

Insert the tubing until it touches the bottom of the bucket. Cut the tubing at a 30-45 degree angle on the other end.

Insert the vacuum hose about 1-2" into the bucket.

Feed the tubing in through your dipstick until it stops.

Turn on the vacuum cleaner. About 15 minutes later, the oil will be completely removed from the oil pan.

I've been doing this for 2 years and it works great. I only have to go to the oil recycler every 2 oil changes, because I have enough room for 2 complete fills in my "topsider".

The only thing to watch out for is using a plastic bucket. I used it with no reinforcement and the bucket collapsed when I turned on the vaccuum. I inserted an old metal trash can (made of what looks like mesh) inside, and it didn't collapse any more.

This whole setup costs about $5.00, and works great.

Troy
1995 E420 97k

Mobil 1 oil for MB
 

Tony,
I don't know what yr/model MB you have, but for my '03 E320, MB recommends Mobil 1 0W40. This 0W40 is the only one from the Mobil 1 family that has MB's specification on it. I'm not familiar with the Motul or Lubromoly oils. Obviously, if you vehicle is still under warranty choose your oil accordingly.

Paul

I have a Liquivac. I would NOT reccommend it. The plastic tank collapses which reduces the capacity and makes it slow & hard to use. The set up above sounds worth a try.

Home made "Topsider"
 

I'm going to affirm Y2Kimmel's idea!

I made mine from a hard plastic 3 gallon container and lid from "Home Depot"
[Duck taped the small hose from the "Rigid" 12 gal. vaccum to the top of the
plastic lid . Since I already had the Ridgid the total cost was nil.]
I "Got Creative" under duress changing the oil in a Marine setting with no
access to the oil pan drain plug.

If you are a Diesel Mercedes:
As for OIL Delvac 1 ( or Mobil 1 "Truck and S.U.V." [Delvac 1 in 1 qt. containers])

If you are a Petrol Mercedes:
Mobil 1 ( of the proper weight)

The whole smoose about "Extended Performance" IS MARKETING.
amongst the "Mice Print" you are advised to EXTEND your oil
changes only after the WARRANTY has expired.

That said I would feel no shame or concern running a new C.D.I.
10K miles (or more) between oil changes using Delvac 1 [with
oil anylsis at each and every change] even under warranty!

I know that MB specs 0-40, but the dealership uses 5-40.
Perhaps it is because it does not snow where I am?
I am actually confused about the weights with respect to temperature. In Vancouver Canada, it rarely gets over 30C and rarely goes below -5C. So what is the proper weight?

Tony

oil VISCOSITY
 

Anyone correct me!

What does the owner's Manual suggest ??? (Dealership,Smealership,Stealership)
Correct for your annual variation(s) in ambient temperature(s) using the charts
provided in the owner's manual!

i was reading
 

I am a flying nut and i was reading about airplane oil recently.. and
as you know they always do oil analysis.... and they look for parts per million
of certian metals... the scientist found no difference between the various aircraft oils but the did find that if the change intervals are extended the parts per million of metals increased exponentially....

so there is no way around this.... no matter how good the oil let it go 15000 miles and it will be loaded with metal and the metal will increase with each 1k miles... even if you change the filter. :D

Oil viscosity info
 

Tony,
Check out this URL: http://www.autoeducation.com/autoshop101/oil-change.htm for oil viscosity info. Here's another URL with a pdf file from the API: http://api-ep.api.org/filelibrary/API_MotorOilGuide_2004.pdf
I don't understand why that dealer uses something (5W40) that is not spec'd by MB. But then again, I follow two other MB forums besides this one and there are many complaints of various dealers who don't do a good job. By the way, I used to live in Seattle some years ago and I always used 10W40 conventional oil year 'round with no problems in a diesel (VW) I had. Also had an oil analysis done every second oil change (3K miles change interval) and all the results always showed normal wear.

Good luck,

Paul