Another annoyance with the extended oil intervals
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 302
Likes: 1
From: Gadsden, Alabama
'06 C350 4MATIC
Another annoyance with the extended oil intervals
My car decided that it wanted to go to the dealership and put the transmission into a limp-home mode. (for a different issue) So I decided to bring out my laundry list of quirks for them to correct.
When driving on the highway, I would get a "check oil at next service station" message when climbing or decending a slight grade. Of course I have checked my oil a half dozen times in the past few months and even added a half a quart when the level got "close" to the low end of the dipstick.
According to my service advisor it is probably a programming change in how the computer reads the oil level. Hopefully when I get it back in a few days that problem will be corrected.
Here is the interesting point....
With oil changes happening in the 11-14,000 mile range the car actually can consume enough oil to drop the level to where the car is a quart low. So, if you have never checked your oil on a vehicle where the oil changes were coming every 3000-5000 miles it is a really good idea to do on a vehicle with an extended oil change interval.
I mention this because I have never felt comfortable with such a long oil change interval. My first car, (1968 Galaxy 500) burned and leaked a quart of oil every gas tankful so I have always checked the oil in every vehicle I owned. Folks, make sure you open the bonnet and check the oil.
When driving on the highway, I would get a "check oil at next service station" message when climbing or decending a slight grade. Of course I have checked my oil a half dozen times in the past few months and even added a half a quart when the level got "close" to the low end of the dipstick.
According to my service advisor it is probably a programming change in how the computer reads the oil level. Hopefully when I get it back in a few days that problem will be corrected.
Here is the interesting point....
With oil changes happening in the 11-14,000 mile range the car actually can consume enough oil to drop the level to where the car is a quart low. So, if you have never checked your oil on a vehicle where the oil changes were coming every 3000-5000 miles it is a really good idea to do on a vehicle with an extended oil change interval.
I mention this because I have never felt comfortable with such a long oil change interval. My first car, (1968 Galaxy 500) burned and leaked a quart of oil every gas tankful so I have always checked the oil in every vehicle I owned. Folks, make sure you open the bonnet and check the oil.
Super Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 631
Likes: 0
From: Augusta, GA
'05 SS Brillant Silver
Well I'll add what I have seem to discovered in the last week dealing with this same issue. I can only speak for the '05 models, the extended oil change interval is only good if you use a Fleece filter with 229.5 spec. oil. W/o looking it up, I'll assume this remians true with th '06 350 engine.
The problem with the '05 1.8L V4 engine is that the fleece filter specified in the factory approved service product booklet given to you when you purchase your car does NOT fit in that engine (aboslutely ludicrous). So basically they tell to use a fleece filter for extended oil changes but don't actually provide the fleece filter. Thus you you still would probably need to do the recommended 3k-5k oil change.
The problem with the '05 1.8L V4 engine is that the fleece filter specified in the factory approved service product booklet given to you when you purchase your car does NOT fit in that engine (aboslutely ludicrous). So basically they tell to use a fleece filter for extended oil changes but don't actually provide the fleece filter. Thus you you still would probably need to do the recommended 3k-5k oil change.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 468
Likes: 0
From: NYC
BLACK 05 C230SS
Originally Posted by jan ken po
Well I'll add what I have seem to discovered in the last week dealing with this same issue. I can only speak for the '05 models, the extended oil change interval is only good if you use a Fleece filter with 229.5 spec. oil. W/o looking it up, I'll assume this remians true with th '06 350 engine.
The problem with the '05 1.8L V4 engine is that the fleece filter specified in the factory approved service product booklet given to you when you purchase your car does NOT fit in that engine (aboslutely ludicrous). So basically they tell to use a fleece filter for extended oil changes but don't actually provide the fleece filter. Thus you you still would probably need to do the recommended 3k-5k oil change.
The problem with the '05 1.8L V4 engine is that the fleece filter specified in the factory approved service product booklet given to you when you purchase your car does NOT fit in that engine (aboslutely ludicrous). So basically they tell to use a fleece filter for extended oil changes but don't actually provide the fleece filter. Thus you you still would probably need to do the recommended 3k-5k oil change.
