benzito911

this might be a silly question but I hope im not the only one getting this malfunction messg. something about "adding 1 quart of engine oil at the next gas station"... im at about 76k miles and in between services my engine needs some more oil.

1. is my engine burning the oil?

2. Is 20-50 mobil synthetic the way to go?

3. I doing the service my self, but should i let the stealer know about this? or is it just a common thing on these cars..


thanks!!

Buellwinkle

1. you could be leaking oil, burning oil. Get under the car, take the belly pan off from under the motor and look for oil there.

2. 20-50 is an interesting choice, I believe it's 5w-50w or something like that. There are many brands of oil that MB recomends. There are Mobile 1 stickers on AMG cars so if that is a brand you like, go for it.

3. should you let the dealer know you are doing service yourself? Odd question, but I never tell the dealer I'm doing it myself. Or do you mean you should tell the dealer your car is losing oil. Sure, he will look the car over for oil leaks. Did that on my daughters SLK, they came up with $3,455 worth of items to fix it, cost me $60 at my mechanic for bad drain bolt washer.

benzito911

1 deff not leaking oil, i have seen where i park for the last 2 years...

2. yes my bad. hehe

3 yes, let them know im burning oil too quick, thanks im plannin on doing the serivce my self no adays money is tight with gas and all.. so i`l give it a shot.. but i will have them check it out. thanks!

DiBenz

Like Buellwinkle said, you actually need to get under the car and remove a cover to examine, the oil may not leak on the ground at all. Also might want to check the cam sensors for a leak.

benzito911

yes i just read the all the info on the oil leak on the cam sensors.. i think thats my problem causing the car to run rich and old to burn, i have notice very dark dust at the end of my exhast... and the mpg has gotter worse, goin to dealer asapy, my car still under warenty.

thanks guys.

DiBenz

How much worse would you say the MPG has gotten? Good luck with repairing your issue, hope all goes well.

ohlord

can do your own oil change and reset your service light.
Mobil1 ow40 mb spec synthetic.Sold at Napa,some walmarts,kraggens etc.
Fleece filters at www.autohausaz.com
diy on mercedesshop/com oil and filter change #2
Your engine may just be a bit low and that is acceptable,inspect for leaks look at the cam sensor(1) and add a bit per the owners manual.
If you do your own oil changes you can tell the dealer.Just make sure you write the oil change and type of oil used in your service book and the warranty is still good.
ohlord
"GOT CODES?"

krisv420

Mine said the same thing around 74k miles which was a month ago.. so i filled it up with 1qt of mobil 1 no issues so far. Gonna do an oil change as soon as i buy an oil extractor. Don't know if i have an issue with the car but it runs perfect.

benzito911

i have never done an oil change, on this car... i guess i had the money to take it in and all.. but now adays things are gettin a bit tight with gas and all.. so i might do it with a friend.

thanks for the links~! yes, i will take it in to be fully inspected, after all this is my baby.. and it has be loyal to me for about 4 years now.

ohlord

suction unit clone on sale for 20 bucks at http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45403
Warm engine slightly to allow the oil to flow easily.Free disposal of used oil and filters at most good auto supply chain stores.
ohlord

aznmode

I have a similar issue with the 1qt thing and mines only 39k miles. And I also have the black dust at the end of my exhaust. Time to take mine to the dealer too.

spyderpig

Also, the dealer usually put 5quarts instead of 7.
When measuring with the tool in the cluster it says add 2 qt. Otherwise no warning , no cell. After high rev and going uphill, with the oil splash and some could go into the supercharger, cell usually come on intermittently, asking for one more qt. the lower limit is 5qt without cell.
Now I don't know other dealer but mine ALWAYS put 5qt. That's the reason I always DIM.

benzito911

intersting, last time it asked me i did guned-it as i was entering the freeway...

Boom vang

all cars use oil, there is always a little bit burned as the pistons coat the wall of the cyl as they move up and then it is burned in the combustion process, if it wasn't you would have metal on metal

If you are going through a litre of oil every 1,000-2,000km then I would say that you have a problem if the period is more distance than I would say it is normal. I usually have to add a litre 3/4 of the way to the next service period and my car has about 60,000km.

Some cars use oil and others use very little even with the same engine, mileage and year

20w50 is too heavy for your car, I use that weight in my 33 year old Triumph as that is the required weight (tolerances were not as tight as German craftmanship). Stick with the required weight 0W40

scottisha

I've been getting this message too, for the past 60k miles. Typically, it will come on when I have about 2k miles to the next service/oil change. I must be burning it, cause it's not leaking anywhere. I replaced my cam sensors about 10k miles ago and they were fine (They had 132k miles on them) My car is running rich, but it must be within the acceptable range, cause there's no issues or codes when the diagnostics are done during service.

I had all my oil changes, from new, done at the dealer until my warranty was up. Now I use a very reputable independent Mercedes shop and pay 1/2 of what the dealer charged.

Let us know what you find out. I wonder if Mercedes programmed planned obsolescence into their cars, as some conspiracy folks say that manufacturers do, to get you into a new car. My fuel economy has dipped big time from about 100k miles on. I'm just about at 143k

Scott

Buellwinkle

My 2002 C230 used a qt or more between oil changes. Our 1998 SLK230 with 110K miles uses zero oil between 10K mile oil changes. My 2004 C230 also does not use any oil between 10K oil changes. It's a matter of luck, some cars use a lot of oil, some don't use any. Warranty won't cover heavy oil usage unless you can prove more than a qt every 1,000 miles. Black residue on the tail pipe is normal. Oil can get trapped in the belly pan and only come out when you are on the highway going fast and may never drip on your floor. Also, a faulty PCV or EGR valve on cars can cause oil loss but leaks are more common. Check the obvious places, the last place the mechanic touched, oil drain plug, filter housing, etc.

slammer111

Just did my oil change over the weekend, I was able to drain 4.1L out the top(M271 engine). The engine is supposed to have 5.5L according to the dealer. Maybe that's why they set the service interval on this car at 15000km Oil was black too though.

c230K415

I always used to have the same result as this. But most recently (about 3 days ago) I did my oil change and this time the only thing I did different was completely remove the oil filter with its housing while I let the Mityvac suck out oil. I ended up getting over 5.0L....probably ~5.2L....I guess from now on I will make sure oil filter is off and give it a little more patience. (I had a friend with me so we were chit-chatting the whole time) Usually I'm pretty impatient with the suction machine.

spyderpig

Oh yeah That's what I always do, filter off. When I finish sucking out the oil I leave everything there and wait 10 minutes, then I suck it up again an extra cup or so.

I didn't know that the M271 uses only 5.5qt "according to the dealer", how about according to the manual? Just curious.

Saprissa

your profile on the left says:
Vehicle I drive: 2005 W203 SS

is it a C230 or a C320 ?

qianlimoro

per manual: 271 Engine oil with filter - 5.8 quarts / 5.5 litres

c230K415

Thanks for the info!
Now I know I put just a tad over the manual (I did my math slowly and came out to 5.679 litres). At first I thought I overfilled by a ton but I keep forgetting that quarts and litres are close but are off by a notable amount when you're dealing with this much motor oil. I think...*sigh*...I hate simple math.

DmitryS500

I had the same issue - first it asked for 1.5 quarts of oil. Now please read carefully. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT put the full amount immediately that cumputer asks. First put half a quart or a third of it, wait and test the computer again Reason I am saying this - my dad has E55 AMG and the computer once asked him for 2 quarts. He put all what it asked and then ended up replacing the gasket. turned out it only needed 05 quart.
Anyway, I started adding oil and it turned out - IT ONLY NEEDED 0.75 quarts. Then the same message came again in 4000 miles and asked for 1 quart. Turend out it needed only 0.5 quarts. And then the infamous CEL light came in. Took it to the dealer - and it turned out to be the cams issue.
So make sure you check the arear around the cams and look for any oil spills there.
BTW, it is normal for the engine to consume oil if you run it hard, especially higher-revving 4 cylider engines

BlackLiquorish8

just recently my car has asked me to add 1 qt of oil but the car was also due for an oil change. changed my oil with oem oil, filter, and copper seal and the car is fine other than the guy didnt reset the computer... too lazy to search can someone let me know how to do that?

c230K415

Turn you key to position 2 (The position right before it starts the car). Scroll over to the service reminder screen and hold the reset button for ~15 seconds I think. Then it will ask you to confirm, just press and hold the reset button again for ~15 seconds. That should do it.