Signmaker

Hi,

Im new to the forum, but have been here several times and have actually saved $1500 due to this site (passenger seat module batt drain...Fix)!!!...so many thanks!! I figured I might as well join and hopefully I can give back a little too.

I have a 2001 C320 and yesterday I had my snow tires put on and an oil change.
I had called around before deciding where to take it as I just moved to Indy and have no idea which shops are reputable. One shop wrote down the quote for tires and oil change and he wrote down 8.3 quarts for the oil capacity.
I ended up going with another shop and on the receipt, they charged me for 5 quarts.
As I'm driving to work this morning the "reduce engine oil level" warning popped up (red screen) and continued come on and off until shutting the car off. I'm curious what the actual oil capacity is, and if 5 quarts is too low, why I would be getting this warning?

The "Brake assist visit workshop" warning has also been on for some time, and I'm pretty sure the cruse control went out when that warning came on. Any ideas what this might be?

Thanks again for this site and the wealth of knowledge in it.

tommy

No matter what they said, they most likely overfilled the oil - that's a much more likely scenario than the sensor being defective (yes, even on a Mercedes, I'd say that).

First thing to do is check the oil level, both with the dipstick and the MFD. I'm not sure of the capacity of the 320, but my 2002 C230's capacity is 8 + a hair. You can also go into dyno mode (search for how to do) and read what it gives you there for actual amount of oil in the system.

An oil overfill warning is nothing to take lightly, and you should immediately check it out.

No idea on the Brake Assist warning, but I'm sure the fix would not be cheap.

Signmaker

Thanks for the advice Tommy.

I just went out and checked the level through Dyno mode in the MFD and it said "engine level ok" but didn't give me the amount of quarts that are in the car.
I also tried to check the oil under the hood using the dipstick, but the dipstick is just a cap, maybe 2 inches long, covering the dipstick tube. Bear with me as this car is new to me, but shouldn't the dipstick have a long flat metal rod that goes all the way down the tube with a low/max range at the bottom??

Why would the system give me a "reduce oil" warning and then tell me its ok?
The warning came on this morning, and the oil was changed yesterday....before this I have never seen that warning.

tommy

Well, that sucks - I was hoping that you'd have a dipstick. You can buy a "measuring tool", I think it's called, at a dealership that's a dipstick that the a-holes refuse to call one. I'd recommend getting one.

Anyway, it is possible that the level could be at a level that's completely filled enough to say "Level OK" but also slosh around a little during driving to set off the "oh sh*t" indicator too. This might be evidenced by it going on and off for you all morning. That could be wishful diagnostics on my part too.

Dyno mode is different than what you're describing - it's a special mode you enter by doing a certain stream of button pushing so that you enter a diagnostic mode that the dealers use (also called an easter egg by some here, as it parallels easter eggs you get on some video games, but I digress). When you enter dyno mode, it will give you an exact reading of how many quarts of oil you have in your car, I believe to the tenth of a decimal. Also lets you do some weird stuff like being able to completely turn off ESP (the button on the dash leaves a residual ESP still on - it's fun to turn off ESP completely and then try to do an autox course without killing yourself), read out how many gallons of gas you have, and other oddities. It's been written up much better than I just did elsewhere in this forum, so do a search for it and it'll come up. Or possibly could be in the FYI sticky at the top of this subforum - I'd look there first.

I'd also try to search all of the Benz forums for recommendations for indy Indy shops - I'm sure there are recommendations somewhere. I fear you may be headed down the road of having a professional look at these warnings.

Signmaker

I was kind of thinking the same thing of the oil sloshing around and I think getting a proper dipstick is a must!! Seems like a gimmick to just get you to go to the dealership for everything.

The Dyno mode I used was to turn key to pos 1, hold down trip reset button until it beeps, scroll down, key to pos 2 and it measured the oil. Could this be right and I just overlooked something??

Ill do a search for another Dyno mode and see what I get....

Thanks!

tommy

Hmmm, I believe that is dyno mode, yes. Not sure why it would not give you the actual reading of oil.

I'm of course basing this off what I know of the 230's engine, but don't know why dyno mode would be different for your 2001.

Signmaker

OK!! Third times a charm...LOL!

I wasn't satisfied that I wasn't getting the quarts reading in Dyno after seeing how so many other 01 C320 owners could do it just fine. I was pressing the arrow down button instead of the page down button, so this time it worked and
told me It has 8.8 Quarts...

If it takes 8.5 quarts with a filter change, is 8.8 worth going back to the shop to have them remove a little??

As for the "brake assist visit workshop" warning, I ordered a brake light switch that should be here today or tomorrow. I read on here somewhere that the switch has been the culprit for this warning and could possibly fix the cruse control too.....fingers crossed for the $20 part!!

tommy

Seeing as how you paid for a service that was done incorrectly, I'd say yes, have them suck out a little. I'd leave out the part that they gave you 3 quarts free, though. Actually, consider it a discount for the PITA that they've given you by overfilling your oil.

LILBENZ230

Dyno mode (at least on the facelift cars) gives the oil reading in litres, not in quarts. 8.8L would be 9.3 quarts so yes you need to remove some.

tommy

As it's a 2001, I believe it's in quarts still, but I could be wrong - haven't done dyno mode since my one and only autox event with this car.

Signmaker

I do recall it saying Quarts.

3 tenths of a quart doesn't seem like enough to take it in and wait for who knows how long for them to maybe or maybe not take out the correct amount, so I might just take this up with a turkey baster and brake line...lol

tommy

It worked for Michael Jackson. Good luck.

samaritrey

For the brake assist issue the switch is a common failure if that is not it then it gets expensive.

contact148

my 2003 c240 likes 6.8L-7l of oil more or less and i get oil warnings.....

Signmaker

I got my brake light switch in the mail when I got home from work,
Installed it, and it fixed the brake assist warning and my cruse control.
I think I have saved several thousand dollars by just doing a little research
On this site.........The fixes include:

*Faulty electronic seat control module draining battery (saved $1000)

*Corrosion in rear brake light sockets causing brake light failure (saved $300)

*Cruse control quit working and brake assist warning (saved $200)

*Wiper motor stopped working ($1000)

By taking a small amount of time to research and fix these things myself
I saved atleast $2500 in diagnostics and labor!!

Thanks again

cats320

Dip stick tube is not for a dipstick but for the shop to suck the oil out. I guess they due most work from top off engine as that is where the oil filter is.

I have had the dealer overfill slightly and I brought it back for it to be fixed.

For my C320, owned since new,
At oil change, using the drain plug, I put in 7.5 us quarts that lasts me 5K miles till the add oil message comes on. I add a quart and run it another 2-3k miles and change the oil again. I've got 172k mile on this car with no engine problems.
I would be real careful who works on the car as they wrote down 5qts and now you don't know if they drained it properly.

Carsy

Well done. + lots of job satisfaction !!

Signmaker

"I would be real careful who works on the car as they wrote down 5qts and now you don't know if they drained it properly"

Like I said earlier, I just moved here, so I don't exactly know the good shops yet. I'll admit, the shop was very thorough except for the "typo" with the oil amount and I truly believe it was an honest mistake, and 3 tenths over on oil doesn't warrant a bashing. Plus it was only $59 for oil and filter using Fully Synthetic Synpower.

"Well done. + lots of job satisfaction !!"

Hell yeah! I had even called a dealership and told him about the warnings and brakes not working and he said "it didn't sound like a brake light switch". Who knows how much they would have charged in diagnostics alone....glad I went with my intuition. Its been a while since my car has been warning free and its a good feeling!!

LILBENZ230

Fully synthetic synpower?

If that doesn't meet 229.5 approval it's the wrong oil altogether.

Signmaker

MB sheet 229.3 approved oils for passenger cars with gas and diesel engines with extended drain interval indicator FSS up to 20,000 km, or 40,000 km - 25,000 mi, current minimum spec for 1998+ MB engines, min. 1.0% fuel saving compared to 229.1, based on ACEA A3 B4. For gas engine of the M100 series, gas engines of the M200 series and diesel engines of the OM600 series (not models with Euro 4 diesel particle filters).
AGIP EXTRA HTS 5W-40
AGIP Synthetic PC 0W-40
AGIP Eurosport 0W-40
Amsoil 5W-30 Synthetic Motor Oil
Amsoil 10W-30 Synthetic
Amsoil Series 3000 5W-30 Heavy Duty Diesel
Aral HighTronic 5W-40
Aral SuperSynth 0W-40
Aral Super Tronic 0W-40
Aviasynth 0W-40
Castrol DCO TOPUP SAE 0W-30
Castrol Formula RS Road and Track 5W-40
Castrol GTX7 DYNATEC 5W-40
Castrol Formula SLX 0W-30
Castrol TXT SOFTEC PLUS 5W-30
CIFAB Synthoil Hydrocrack HC7 5W-40
Elf Excellium LDX SAE 5W-40
Esso Ultron 0W-30 (fuel economy)
Esso Ultron 5W-40
Fuchs Silkolene Pro S 5W-40 - 100% Synthetic Oil For All Race Engines
Fuchs Silkolene Pro S 10W-50 - 100% Synthetic Oil For All Race Engines
Fuchs Titan SuperSyn SL 0W-30
Havoline Synthetic DS 0W-30
Kendall GT-1 Full Synthetic 5W-40
Liqui Moly Diesel Synthoil 5W-40
Liqui Moly High Tech 5W-40
Liqui Moly HC7 5W-40
LUKOIL SYNTEETIK 5W-40
Mobil 1 SuperSyn European Car Formula 0W-40
Mobil 1 SuperSyn 5W-40
Mobil 1 SuperSyn 5W-50
Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel 0W-40
Mobil Synt S 5W-40
Mobil Synt S Turbo Diesel 5W-40
Mobil Syst S 5W-40
Motul 8100 E-Tech 0W-40
Motul 8100 X-cess 5W-40
Pennzoil Synthetic European Formulation 5W-40
Pentosin Pentospeed 0W-30 VS
Quaker State Full Synthetic European Formulation 5W-40
Schaeffer Micron Moly 5W-30, 10W-40
Schaeffer Supreme 7000 5W-30, 10W-30, 20W-50
76 Pure Synthetic Motor Oil 5W-40
Shell Helix Plus S 5W-40 (Mercedes-Benz)
Shell Helix Ultra 5W-30, 0W-40, 5W-40
Sunoco Synturo Gold 5W-40 (introduced January 2002)
Total FINA First 5W-40
Total Quartz 9000 5W-40
Valvoline DuraBlend MXL 5W-40
Valvoline SynPower MXL 0W-30
Valvoline SynPower 5W-30, 0W-40, 5W-40
Veedol POWERTRON 5W-30
Veedol SYNTRON 0W-30

..........Looks like I'm ok, and I've actually heard good things about it.

tommy

It's ok - Matt just likes to bring up approved grades on every thread here involving oil.

LILBENZ230

You mean to combat the constant questions regarding "What oil do I use"? Yes.

229.3 was replaced by 229.5

Moviela

If the MB Sheet 229.5 spec. is not shown on the oil container, put it back. Mobil 1 0W-40 is the only approved oil that is easy to find in the USA.

splinter

8 quarts (~172mm) works well in my M112’s sump. Any level above that prompts a warning in the MFD.










^ note C32 and C240-C320 (2WD) pans are identical

Glyn M Ruck

You should no longer be running 229.3 oils in these cars. Only 229.5. Things improve as time marches on.