kbohrer

Does anyone know what the "acceptable" rate of oil loss on the 2.3 Kompressor motor is according to MB? I have been having oil consumption problems (warnings on the dash and dubious readings on the dipstick) and today I am being told by my service mgr that it lost 1 qt in 1800 miles and that is within their "tolerance".

If I wanted a car that lost a qt of oil every 1800 miles I would have bought a freakin Yugo for petes sake.

Thanks....

trench

According to others, "tolerance" is around 1 quart per 850 miles or so.

I've burned about 1.5 quarts in the first 8500 miles, which is an order of magnitude difference, so I guess I'm doing pretty well.

- BT

speedfrk

My car is in the same ballpark...about 1 qt/2000 miles. I agree with you that it is unacceptable. They are doing a long term oil consumption test on mine right now, so I have to wait until the low oil warning comes on again and then bring it in to them (again) You might want to call the 800 # and complain and they will set up and appt for you with the MB rep for your area. He is really the guy you need to talk to since the dealer will keep to the party line. The 02 c class seems to have a lot of mechanical problems with trans, rear ends, and oil consumption that seem to be fixed on the 03 cars. My car runs great, but I am soo tired of have to take it in to get stuff fixed. Yeah, it is warranty work, but I lose an entire afternoon every time I have to take it in.

Vince

i'm in the same boat too. It's been in the shop 4 times now for low oil. They are finally having me do an oil consumption test. I think i should just claim this car as a lemon. This is unacceptable if this is normal oil loss. What year is this car again?...oh 2002. why doesn't it behave like an engine should in 2002.

steffen

My car showed 1 quart low at around 200 miles.
I brought it in and they ended up replacing some wiring to the oil sensor. No problems since. Oil level reading normal now at 2000 miles. Does the dipstick read low as well (ignore if you have a 2003 - your dipstick is an "option")?

=Steffen

speedfrk

My car has a dipstick, and it matches what the MFD says for oil level. So it really is that low when I get a message.

Apollo

11000 miles, just added 1 litre

SiLvaC32

we don't have dipsticks on 2003... very shady... mercedes doesn't want us to change the oil......

MarkL

Sedans haven't had dipsticks since the new C Class introduction in 2001.

Mike T.

1 quart in 1800 miles - so 0.948 L in 2900 km, that's 0.326 L/1000 km, less than 1/3 of the official tolerance.

I would not be concerned with that level of oil consumption. As long as it's under 0.5 L/1000 km I'd feel quite OK. Above that, to 1 L/1000 km (Mercedes' official tolerance), I'd be concerned, but they will not do a buyback or replace/repair the engine if it's under their official tolerance.

As a point of comparison, my Peugeot 405 has consumed/leaked between 0.2 and 0.4 L/1000 km of oil ever since it was new. I not only measure oil actually added for this calculation, but also record the amount that would have been needed to top it up just before I change the oil. When I say oil leaks, the underside of the drivetrain has slightly moist dirt encrustation, but the oil never drips off the car. So most of it is burned. The car now has 285,150 km on it and it is running just fine, and will outlast many of the cars owned by people on this site.

An engine that burns a modest amount of oil will last somewhat longer than one that has negligible oil consumption, all other things being equal. The low-moderate oil consumption simply means that some oil is getting by all the rings, meaning the rings themselves (particularly the top ones) are better lubricated. In rare cases, valve stem oil seals can be the source of the oil consumption, but this is highly unlikely in any low mileage engine.

Don't worry at all if you are under 0.35 L/1000 km. Monitor the consumption regularly - these cars have long powertrain warranties. If there is a worsening trend, at least you'll have the baseline data you'll need to take the matter up with the powers that be.

speedfrk

Mike, The real question is how much oil your c230 uses. Would you be happier if your c230 used as much oil as your 405? I think most people would agree that a modern car should not have to have oil added between standard oil changes. The real problem is that most people see no significant oil usage in these cars.

20FHK02

At least your car comes stock with the AMG end links

speedfrk

Yeah, I'm the luckiest guy in the world. My transmission shifts like an old farm tractor, and it uses more oil than an old farm tractor, but those AMG end links really make up for it
BTW, I stuck an OLD Sony CD player in that had an aux out, and plugged in my mp3 disc player, and it sounds great, really great. Sad that a 10 yr old sony cd player sounds better than the stock MB stereo. As a bonus, it lights up orange like the dash. It is the little things in life that make us happy

kbohrer

Mike T --

Even if I shouldn't be concerned with this, which I think is crap because as has been mentioned here before, engines should be getting BETTER not WORSE as engineering advances are made I still have the "Engine Oil Level - Check Level" error that appears on my dash as often as every 3-5 minutes. That by itself will drive me crazy enough to trade this thing in. Plus, on another note, how will I ever sell it if that pops up while the person is test driving it? I would never buy a used car that I knew leaked oil.

speedfrk

Do the messages still pop up even if the oil is full on the dipstick?
The ethical question of selling a car like this is a real problem for me. I have a friend who will buy it, but I really don't want to sell it to her without it being fixed.

Mike T.

Well, since you asked, it's about 0.12-0.15 L/1000 km to date. That's really quite low. And I would not be concerned if it was about 0.3 L/1000 km, though I would be keeping detailed records if it was, just to establish a baseline.

I think the real issue here is that the manufacturer has a standard tolerance for oil consumption, which I agree is high. Then again, lots of these cars are driven at up to 240 km/h day in, day out, on the Autobahn, and at that speed, oil consumption rates would be a hell of a lot higher than under US conditions. In US conditions, I would say that 0.5 L/1000 km is more realistic as an upper limit if the car is driven sensibly. That's 0.5 ml per km, or about 1 drop of oil burned per 100 m, if you prefer.

Engines are complex, and the factory oil consumption tolerance is probably set for the "worst case scenario" combination of internal parts that still individually meet factory specifications - the smallest diameter piston in the largest bore, the sloppiest fitting ring, etc. I know these items are matched to some degree, but still, there are ranges of tolerance, which is why blueprinting an engine is such a good idea if you're rebuilding and have access to tons of new parts

At 1L/1000 km, the car's exhaust might begin slightly smoking blue, and the cat could be affected over the long term.

In conclusion, no I would not worry at all if the C 230 K burned 0.3 L/1000 km. I think instead that if my car never used any oil, I'd have a far better reason to be concerned than if it was using 0.3 L/1000 km.

kbohrer

Well my car has now been in the shop for a week. They have their "lead" tech working it at this point and he just called to tell me that he has done a compression test, a leak-down test, checked for oil residue on the plugs, put a scope in the cylinders looking for scoring, and many many other things which I didn't completely understand and can't remember. Even though the compression and leak-down tests were all normal, they are now suspecting the rings and are breaking the engine down completely to further investigate. Obviously they will then be putting new rings in. The good thing is that his opinion about the "normal" consumption ratings is that it is bull**** and he said he will not give it back until it's no longer using oil. At least he's on my side!

This is the 5th visit and it is rapidly approaching 30 total days in the shop to look into this issue. Anyone else out there thinking lemon??

Matt230K

It sounds like they're being very good to you. Unless they still don't fix it, I wouldn't make a lemon law case. If they say they will fix it until it no longer uses oil, then let them fix it and be happy with it.

Outland

If they re-ring it, make sure it gets honed. New rings won't last long if the cylinder walls have a funny wear pattern.

Sorry to hear about your woes man...my C230 hasn't burned or leaked a drop. I stare in disbelief at my dipstick everytime