what engine oil to use for your benz?
 

What are teh approved engine oil to put in the benzes? I need to get a few jugs as spare in the trunk to top up on long trips, cause my engine is leaking oil. Anyway, I am currently using Castrol 5W30 to top up . This should be ok for the M103 engine right? How about Quaker state? Are they alright too?

No, not right. It's clearly spelled out in your owner's manual. Otherwise, do a search on this forum or using google. There are bazillions of posts on this subject.

Steve

go mobil.

Ugly
 

Steve,man if you did not care to share,let it go hope you are having a better day.:P

A M103 leaking that much --- if your temp doesn't drop below 20 degrees F try out some Shell Rotella 15W-40 and carry around a gallon jug in the trunk.

throne7, I recommend using a 15W40 mineral oil or Mobil 1 15W50 in that engine. 15W40 was the factory-fill for that engine, and the leakage may decrease with a higher viscosity oil. Instead of continually adding oil why not fix the leaks?

I've always had excellent result,and always used "Rotella T 15/40" in everything.My fleet of tractor trailers all get it,Powerstroke Fords,Olds diesel wagon,and all MBZ's.Non Synthetic and natural oil.

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/oil.html :thumbsup2:

I agree, Rotella or Delo 15/40 works great in M103's..and any older Merc for that matter! Could get into semantics but the diesel oils do a very nice job in our gas engines.

Jonathan

Ah hell, slippery stuff is good 'nuff. The slipprier, the better.

FWIW - I use Mobil 1 5/30 in the 97 and the 98. Everything else, including the boats, get Rotella T. 15w40.

Steve,man if you did not care to share,let it go hope you are having a better day.

Why is it that some people believe that any blunt comment some how means that the person making the comment is somehow mad at the world? Ridiculous conclusion in my opinion.

I will admit to frustration at the often low level of communication skills evident on many internet forums. This includes both spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphs that run on for 75 lines with no Capitalization. Here is an example: "Steve,man if you did not care to share,let it go hope you are having a better day."
If it weren't so scary relative to the future of our society, it would be funny.


It's not up to you to define how list participants chose to respond to posts. I'm certainly not the first person to suggest that the person asking the question first do a search. After all, isn't that why there is a search function?

The reason that some of my responses don't provide the answer lies in my background. It's my many, many years of management experience. By the way the majority of the employees that worked with, and for me, over the years also had sub-standard writing skills. It's always been my belief that, if you know the answer, it's not good strategy to always provide it to the questioner. If you instead suggest methods for the person to find the answer, then hopefully they will learn how to find some of the answers, and reserve future questions for topics on which they are truly stumped.

Many of the threads on this forum, and others, are simply the same worn out questions over, and over again.

Steve

Hah, after sharing my view of writing skills, I managed to write chose instead of choose!

Steve

Imperfection
 

Hello Steve, yeah it,at times hits all of us,sorry I made you mad,you are correct,Though I ain't gona talk ta yous no more.:silly:
Have a great day, jnt.

I don't get it,
I had better writing,and punctuation skills,as a kid,than I do now.
Now,I'm frequently accused of over punctuating,and spelling errors.
The spelling errors are not how I write though,and I almost always spell correctly.I'm still new to computers,and keyboards alike.I very often will hit a button for a letter,but it won't register for some reason.Since,I type slow,you need to read my posts slow(lol)I still need to look at the keyboard also.The "N" key on my keyboard took a walk a long time ago,when something fell on it,and broke the white plastic retainer for it.I've yet to get a new one.I just bought the lap-top over Thanksgiving,and it's still under warranty.I just need to go to Comp-USA with it,and get it fixed,but really bussy lately,and haven't had time.
You fellas read my stuff all the time.What do you think of my spelling,and punctuation?Honestly..
I try to use good grammar,and proper english,the way I talk normally.I think I'm pretty fair in that department.

best oil for any car is to use mineral base oil and periodic changes of oil and filter is the best. Nothing beats that (even sythetic oil can't give you absolute protection, its all marketing hype).

I know, its just a priority issue right now. There are quite a few things to be fixed in this car, so I will just decided which one is more pressing and has to be dealt with first. I don't mind to top the oil up as needed. Right now I am aware that there is a transmission leak from teh seal in the torque converter area (mechanic says torq converter has to be lowered from the car to fix this problem) so its probably not gonna be cheap. What else, the heater blower fan is acting up, everytime I switch it from high to low I hear this loud screetching sound. What else the steering fluid needs to be replaced because it has ATF fluid in there instead of steering fluid, courtesy of the previous owner. The differential is loud, so it makes a nice whinning noise when you drive down the street. I already sanked in $5000 & change since I bought this car, I guess I will keep it and see how it goes. It is a beautiful car in my opinion.

i use 10W-40 dino oil, rated SJ or SM minimum, and change every 3000 miles on my 97 E420

The MB dealers in my area sell Quaker State (non-synthetic) over the counter. For synthetics, they stock Mobil 1 (0W40). Refer to your owner's manual for the correct viscosity based on the temperatures in your geographic area. I am currently using Mobil 1 5W50 in my M103.

That whole thing would read a lot easier if you could remember the following:
1 push of the space bar, after a comma
2 pushes of the space bar, after a period.

For example:
I try to use good grammar, and proper english, the way I talk normally. I think I'm pretty fair in that department.



In keeping inline with the topic... My vote is for 15/40 also, unless you think your climate can handle 20/50.

You hit the nail right between the eyes with that one cool.

Ok , Thanks Larry , I hadn't realized my words were so bunched up , until you pointed it out . 15/40 Rotella-T , is my number one choice also .

One seemingly minor detail....

Put the comma right after the last letter, not evenly spaced inbetween

Like I did in the sentence above, not like this: "....last letter , not evenly..."

A vast improvement will now be even better! :)

Would you please expand on this?

I use Castrol 15W40 in my car and never had any probs. I was told by the dealer to use this oil type for all pre-2000 mercedes.....the brand is ur choice...

Ok, thanks Larry, I guess I need to brush up on my lit. skills a little bit.You do understand I'm pretty new to typing, too. It's taking me like three minutes to write this, and the longer I make it, the longer the time it takes. I'm not particularly crazy with the flatness of this keyboard either.My home p.c. has that banana shaped one with the bulge in the middle, and a lot easier to type on. I think too much on this will give me carperhal tunnel, or however it's spelled.:book: Thanks again Larry.

Forget racing cars!
It took me two seconds to write this..beat that!...lol

LOL,ONE SECOND!!

wouldnt 15W40 oil be too thick for MI winters???

mobil delvac 15w40 changed at 3000 miles on the mark. And hot too.

Isn't that a bit thick for a Canadian winter?

Fishing
 

Sort of the old saying about:"Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach him how to fish (search), feed him for a lifetime..."

He is from Vancouver, British Columbia.
They have NO idea what winter is. :D

I don't know where u live, or if ur canadian also...but here in the greater Vancouver area, we have very mild winters which include no snow or freezing...so with none of that messy winter stuff...15W40 is no problem to use at all...


and i think manny put it best:
He is from Vancouver, British Columbia.
They have NO idea what winter is..

LOL

Went to Winnipeg last week.
Stepped out of the airport terminal & thought it felt a bit cool.
Looked at the temperature display...............- 31 degrees with a windchill of - 42 degrees.;)

HOLY CRAP!!!...man in Winnipeg trying to heat up 15W40 must be like trying to melt Candle Wax!

Oil
 

<<I use Castrol 15W40 in my car and never had any probs. I was told by the dealer to use this oil type for all pre-2000 mercedes.....the brand is ur choice...>>

Any MB dealer who gives this advice is a bleeding idiot considering the class action suit MB lost over sludging in the M112 V-6 due to the use of dino oil changed at FSS intervals. And those are pre-2000 engines.

Castrol?

Buddy, break that down a bit for me. Sorry i'm not a mechanic....

yikes! some of you guys are using a very thick 15w40 diesel oil in a gasser?

Sorry im not willing to do that. My S420 has mobil 1 5w30 and has been averaging 25mpg on the highway with 91 octane.

My diesel has Amsoil 15w40 full synthetic.

yea i know, i find it equally as scary. But its recomended by Mercedes to use dino 15W40, so i continue to use it and that's all the car has recieved since it was brand new. BMW meanwhile i've heard suggests 10W40 for pre-99 car's but consider 15W40 just as good to use. I really blame mercedes for not putting enough effort to recommend/promote certain oils according to regions and the climate effects for the choice you make.

No snow in Vancouver??
 

Somebody is pulling somebody's leg here. I HAVE been in Vancouver in the winter and have watched the snow come down. And I can tell you, installing ice-skates on a C280 just to get to US Customs is a challenge.

Our big snowfalls in Seattle are the result of arctic air coming done from Canada meeting onshore moisture from the Pacific. Just last month........

Using M1 or not
 

<<Any MB dealer who gives this advice is a bleeding idiot considering the class action suit MB lost over sludging in the M112 V-6 due to the use of dino oil changed at FSS intervals. And those are pre-2000 engines.>>

<<Buddy, break that down a bit for me. Sorry i'm not a mechanic...>>.
__________________
A few years back I attended a two hour presentation on Mobil 1 given by the ExxonMobil's Senior Engineering Advisor/Synthetic Automotive Engine Lubricants (so says his business card). I asked him about the MB Flexible Service System (FSS) and the M112 V-6 sludging problem.

He told me that when MB started testing the FSS in Germany, they used European dino oil and were able to go 10K miles with it which is the minimum mileage before FSS says "change it." At that time MB was not thinking synthetic.

So when the ML showed up (using the V-6) everybody here was using an American refined dino oil which turned out to be inferior, service life-wise, to the Euro stuff they had tested with. And when the sludged up V-6s started showing up at the dealers' doors, there was great consternation because this was an engineering error on the part of the mighty MB and was going to cost them a great amount of money in warranty claims.

During all this excitement, ExxonMobil stepped forward with a solution which just happened to be their product, Mobil 1. MB was very resistive (the NIH factor, particularly strong in Germany) but when they finally were convinced, they became REALLY convinced and ruled that M1 was the answer and their dealers were to use it from then on. Then along came the class action suit against MB (they lost) and all the sludged up V-6s were repaired under warranty and their engine warranties were extended for quite a long period.

My 2001 C320's first fill was M1 0W40 which I continue to feed it and after 50K miles there is no measurable oil consumption. I'm assuming that my '08 C350 will come with 5W40, a fleece filter and 13K mile change intervals. I will probably change it at the midpoint as I do now. For no good reason, I confess.

BTW, the '08 C350 pix can be seen at www.caranddriver.com

Buddy you have the same climate in seattle that i have. I live on Zero avenue, if i feel like spitting the wind blows it over into the US..that's how close I live to the border. Beside last months freak snow storm(which seattle recieved worse of then we did) we only get rain. I go to seattle often, and its only 90 minutes away and I personally do all my shopping in Bellingham, I don't know where you came up with the put Ice Skates on your car, cuz i drive mine all season long, up and down from the US. Just like that "one time" you saw snow coming down in Vancouver, I have seen snow coming down twice in Seattle, we have the same weather Except that it's much cooler in the summers in Seattle thanks to the ocean breeze, and that's only the coast line area...and before you try to grill me with that's a lie, I've lived there....you must have gone to a ski resort like Whistler and seen the snow coming down, yes it snows alot there.