oil change on 190E

Hi,
I would like to change OIL on my mercedes 190E 1988 2.3. I just want to drain out the oil, and put in some new oil. I dont want to replace the filter.

1) How do I drain the OIL?
2) I heard some special tools are required. Is that true?
3) What is the recommeded oil for my car? And how many quarts?

This is the first time I am doin a oil change on a mercedes. So a website with details instruction will be very nice.

Thanks
Saqib Ali
http://www.stonebeat.org

[blaubenz_mb]

1. Remove the lower engine cover (usually two 8mm bolts in the front, the midsection, and the back--6 bolts total)

2. Under the car...Locate the drain plug...usually on the driver's side near the front of the engine on the oil pan. The bolt is a 13mm, I believe.

3. To loosen turn the drain plug counterclockwise to loosen... Installation is the reverse of removal.

I heard some special tools are required. Is that true?

Not to my knowledge, however a Topsider makes this job a breeze.

What is the recommeded oil for my car? And how many quarts?

These question can be answered be looking in your owner's manual... I have a 2.6 and don't want to give the wrong info.

Why do you want to change the oil but not the filter? A proper oil change consists of changing the oil and the filter. It may seem like an additional hassle/expense but changing the oil filter helps filter out harmful contaminants from your engine... You'll make your engine last longer.

the 2.3 uses 5 quarts. Use 10W40. Don't use synthetic. I use Castrol GTX, change it every 3000 miles, and have zero oil consumption beteen changes - the car is 85, with 126K miles.

[jdoyle]

Are you sure you don't want to change the filter? That doesn't seem to make any sense to me. The filter is easy to change and not particularly expensive. Why would you choose not to change it?

John

[mplafleur]

Why not synthetic?

[Mike Richards]

Changing the oil without changing the filter is a waste of time. You're going to run clean oil through an already dirty filter.

hmmm. Thanks for the all the info. I will try changing the oil over the weekend.

Got another question:
I put 3000 miles on the car every 2 weeks. Should I be changing the oil filter every 2 weeks as well? or just the oil change will do?

Thanks
Saqib Ali

[jdoyle]

With that kind of mileage, sounds like the engine's warm most of the time. I'd be more inclined to use synthetic, change the filter and stretch the interval to 5 or 6K. Others on this board will probably regard this as heresy, but I think it would be fine for your car -- if indeed you make few short trips and the engine is mostly warm. Good luck.

[Mike Richards]

3000 miles in any time span is still 3000 miles. Change oil and filter at least every 3000 miles if you plan on keeping car for a long time.

The argument against using synthetic is that his is an old car (88), so probably it has not used synthetic oil till now. On this forum itself, there are a lot of threads that suggest that you may face gasket leaks if you switch to synthetic on an old car that has never used synthetic before. So why spend the extra $$?

Also, if it is mostly highway driving, then one can safely increase the oil change interval to at least 5000 miles. The oil deteriorates much more with cold starts and stop and go driving. 1500 miles a week has got to be mainly freeway runs.