leeer73

Well, I just bought my new,used 230 last month and before I bought it, I checked everthing out as best I could and everything seemed good. No dip-stick so I wasn't able to check the condition of the oil, but I open the oil filler cap and everything looked alright and since the car was clean and had 88k miles I figured all was good.

The first thing I did was an oil change/flush. I noticed the original oil I drained out was pretty dark so onto the flush then change and I did the same thing one week later just in case.

after the second oil flush on the second week, I changed the oil 1 more time just because I am **** like that and I wanted to see the condition the oil was in. All seemed great!

Now I'm at work and I figure since we had the v/c gasket in stock, I'd go ahead and buy it so I can pull the valve cover and look for signs of and sludge, kinda hoping for the best but still expecting the worst...

So here's what I saw...













NOT PRETTY!!!!

Now I've seen worse looking at pictures online, but I have NEVER had a car with sludge! So my obvious question to you guys is....Do you think it's real bad? Is my car running on borrowed time???

I'm wondering if you think that there is sludge like this in my oil pan asa I am worrried about my pick up getting clogged and I'm am worried about sludge getting stuck in the oil passages and stopping my poor engine from getting the precious lubrication it needs and deserves!!!

Here are some after pictures:





Any advise would be GREAT!

JFarhanbod

when i went for my oil change they told me it was a bit dirtier than it should be
now im scared lol

Carsy

I have never had too much sludge so you will need some expert advice on cleaning it out .

Going on the absence of a white colour it does not seem to be caused by water so that is a relief.

If it is possible without too much trouble removing the sump pan & cleaning would be in my opinion, a good idea.

I would then receive expert advice from an oil chemist on what I could run in the engine to clean it internally without dislodging too much sludge too quickly & blocking your oil channels.

I would then change the oil & filter at half the recommended mileage for the next half a dozen changes.

How people can neglect an engine like this is a mystery to me. I hear of this approach to lease vehicles on this forum.

How did the service book look?

I hope that you can sort it out . Please let us know how you go.

Xhale707

It looks like someone wasn't using fully synthetic oil Wonder how the oil pan looks.

havoc_vulture

Cant wait to hear what Glyn says about this
he will probably be the one to save you here

leeer73

Better to find out sooner than later! Hopefully your car will be alright!

In order to remove the pan, you gotto remove the steering rack and lift the engine I believe, lol I'm not up to that challenge! I'll definatley be changeing the oil out every 2-3k miles for the next 4-5 changes, great idea! As far as the service book, it didn't have one...Bastids. Thanks for the help!

That's what scares me!!!! I'm hopeing that after 2 flushes and a 3rd oil change in 1 month, it's not looking really bad in there, but who knows!

I'm hoping he chimes in soon!

Thanks again for the input guys!!!

Xhale707

Thats what i was going to say. Its going to cost you a bit. I would recommend doing a full flush of the oil change. Drive the car around 500-1000 miles do another full flush. Check if there is any slug when doing the oil change. If there is i would recommend one more. I believe doing this would flush out all the old nasty crap.

Mercury

How do I check if this problem is existed on our car?
We would like to know the step by step DIY too if possible : )!
Thanks in advance.

phister

you can check when you do your oil change. Remove the oil pan and see if there's build up there and by removing your valve cover to see if there's sludge in it like the OP did.

Boom vang

Not knowing the history of the car since you only have had it a month, I am willing to bet the previous owner(s) used the wrong oil. Either due to : saving costs, a bonehead mechanic, or thinking that all synthetic oils are the same

I wonder if they used conventional oil or if they used synthetic that did not have the right MB 229.5 specification on the bottle.

Stick to the OEM specified Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula and I don't think that you will have a problem. Mercedes has not had any major problems with slugging, other company's such as Audi, VW, Toyota has had several issues

johnand

I would recommend running an Auto-RX treatment. I have personally seen it do wonders to sludged engines. Though, I have seen MUCH worse than your engine. Then run the appropriate oil and filter at recommended intervals, and you should be fine.

W203E35

John how did you do this process? Did you use regular oil? I was on their site and I saw this: The use of high-mileage or synthetic engine oils should be avoided during the Auto-Rx® application.

Thanks

Glyn M Ruck

This is a result of wrong oil/neglect/or little old lady once a day one mile to the shops. Not nice. Fortunately you have removed most of the sludge because top of engine is where most of it occurs.

If you want to go belt & bracers you can pull the sump but probably not necessary.

I don't know the stuff John is suggesting but he will always provide wise advice. Whatever you use must be designed for the job & not loosen any remaining crap quicker than the oil can disperse it or you can clog an oil gallery or filter with dire consequences.

229.5 oils are highly detergent & a couple of 5000 mile oil & filter changes after running Johns stuff should ensure a spotless engine.

Glyn M Ruck

Karo - How long do they recommend you leave this stuff in the engine??

W203E35

3,000 miles Glyn.

johnand

Their instructions have changed a little since I used it, but go here: http://www.auto-rx.com/sludgeappl.html

Your run the Auto-RX for 2500 miles (For sludge change filter at 1000-1500 miles), then run a rinse for 3000 miles, then repeat. This is the safest way to clean a sludged engine that I know of. Search on Bob is the oil guy forum, and see some amazing results from Auto-RX. It is essentially high grade esters in a carrier oil. With the low change intervals during the treatment, I don't see a problem running a conventional oil.

Onericali

That was one of the coolest car related things I've EVER seen.

Nokiemon

Auto-RX worked fantastic on my friends 2002 C-Class that had mega-high miles and almost the same sludge issue as yours when he bought it. Looked like someone had bathed the entire top end of the engine in black pancake syrup. It was almost as bad as your pix, but not quite as gooey.

He ran Auto-RX for a little over 3,000 miles with conventional oil, then switched back to Mobil 1 0-40 synthetic. He did his next oil/filter change at half-mileage to make sure there was no repeat issues as a safety precaution and everything was ok. He even sent a sample of oil to Blackstone for analysis to see if there were other issues, and it came back fine after utilizing the RX treatment.

Glyn M Ruck

Conventional oils will be just fine for these short intervals. They are worried about interactions/miscibility problems with the esters if you use another synthetic.

Meant to mention that this situation is not helped by relatively poor US fuel.

You have got the most dangerous stuff out already - Now let's clean up the sump & lower engine including the oil pickup.

Once clean return to 229.5 Benz products & it will stay clean.

Silver C

Looks bright and clean now.. I wonder if mine has the same problem.. Gonna check the oil cap later on and see.. Thanks for sharing this, I hope all is fine with your engine.

OneOfaKindTrini

What about Seafoam?

johnand

Not a good way to remove sludge, as it breaks it down too fast, and large chunks can clog passages. Best bet with sludge it to be patient and slowly clean over time.

leeer73

Thank you guys again for all of the replies! I'll look into possibly trying the RX. For now I stick to short interval oil changes and hope that helps!!!!

carbonfiberwhor

Someone didnt think with their dipstick, Jimmy....

Glyn M Ruck

+1