My car is under 4000 miles and I have now had to add oil for a second time... 1.5 quarts this time. Is it me or is this wierd?

 

My car has 2500 miles and the oil level is fine. It sounds like it is time to call the service department.

 

mine has 8K on it and last i checked it was fine

 

Whoa, that's a hellofalot of oil to be burning.

I'd start documenting that, including in writing to your dealership, to create a good paper record.

 

I got 2200 miles and the oil level is the same as it was on day 1. Is it possible you may be leaking? Do you park in the same spot each night?

 

Some oil consumption is normal for forced induction engines. The manual basically states this is normal, especially in the first several thousand miles. If you drive it pretty hard, then I might not be alarmed - yet, but it does sound a bit excessive. Keep tabs on it- if it persists at ~1QT or more per 2k miles- I'd definitely have it checked out. Whereas 1QT per 4-6k miles would probably be considered acceptable for this engine. I've got under 1k and have noticed about 1/2 qt or so down from when I bought it- I think its OK at this stage.

 

Oh yeah, forgot to ask you what oil are you using to top off? I know the Mobil 1 part- but what weight? My dealer wasn't sure but I guess 10W/30 and he said probably and I couldn't find anything about it in the manual- but does anyone know what weight oil was used in our cars? I've heard conflicting arguements on avoiding the introduction of different oils-weights/viscosities into the case, but I think I'd like keep a homogenous engine. What are your thoughts on this?

 

I think our buddy Tommy discovered he was more than a quart low after 2500 miles. This was posted a while back, and I think a couple of other C230 owners reported oil "loss". It doesn't seem to occur with the V-6's. He didn't have any indication of a leak or such. This led into a flurry of posts regarding the oil dipstick. Some C230 owners have reported that they indeed have an oil dipstick, but the sedan owners do not -- the only recourse is to use the computer to check the oil level.

Also, I asked my Bethesda, MD dealer what viscosity they use and they said 5W-30. If you look at the chart in the approved fluids booklet, there are several weights that are OK.

 

I had to add a quart at 2500 mi. I haven't checked since. My dealer recommended Castrol Syntec 5W-50. Says thats what they use.

 

That was actually me, and I've not had any problems since and I'm at 6K. I would agree the issue is related to break in with forced induction engines and eventually goes away.

 

Castrol Syntec!? At an MB dealer?

 

Bos, that was actually me. I went to the dealer about it; they jacked it up and could not find any evidence of a leak - but topped it off with a little over a quart. Since then, I had to add another quart after an additiona 3500 mil or so. Talked to the service dept. about it again - they said to monitor it, and we'll do an oil consumption test after the first service in a couple of months.

So far, after adding the second quart, the level's been fine. Who knows?

I used the Mobil 1 weight suggested in the booklet - damn, it's expensive!

 

Yes it is damn expensive. And did you see the capacity with filter- something like 7 or 8 quarts the book says! That will be one expensive oil change post break in/after 50k!! The upshot is that it lasts twice as long as a non-synthetic. Tommy, where does it specify what weight to use? That's my question! What weight, not- "the weight that the book specified"- what book, where??!! If you don't want to share info, fine but don't tease me or tell me to read my 392 page owner's manual for a third time!

 

I was 1.5 quarts low at 4000 miles. I added more in and the car has seemed to use it much more slowly. I am at 9000 now and everything is still fine

 

Well, then I guess we both had the same issue. I went to the dealer too and they discovered no leaks or any issues. Given the erratic oil level reporting though, they did end up replacing the sensor. See here for original post.

 

Zimmer26, I'm pretty sure the info is in the supplemental booklet, something like "Approved Fluids". There's a standard temperature vs. viscosity chart. As usual, several weights overlap each other, and it's only the extreme range where there's a different spec.

 

Zimmer, I wasn't saying that to be a smartass (for once). I'm going out at lunchtime, and will try to bring back the little pamphlet that states the appropriate weights. It's about the same size as one of the Jesus freak pamplets that you get sometimes.

Bos, guess we're both lucky! :p Now, I know the meaning of the phrase "misery loves company." I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in the mystery oil leaving the car dept.

 

Zimmer, that info is in the booklet entitled "Factory Approved Service Products". There is a chart which show which oil to use for various ambient temperature ranges. Since all the weights are suitable past the upper limits of the temp ranges, I will just give the lower temps.

0W-30, 5W-30. 0W-40, 5W-30, and 5W-50 are suitable at temps lower than -13 F.

10W-30, 10W-40, 10W-50, and 10W-60 are suitable for temps above -4 F.

15W-40 and 15W-50 are usaable above 5 F.

20W-40 and 20W-50 are for temps over 23 F.

 

Castrol Syntec!! I was surprised as some of you. I had actually picked up some Mobil 1 20W-50 (which is all the place had) based upon that flier we got with our owner's manual. But for the reasons Lynn just posted, I was concerned that this oil would be too thick. When I called the MB dealer, my service manager told me that for the WashingtonDC-Baltimore region 5W-50 was recommended and they use the Castrol product. I've gone a 1000 mi since and am about due to check the oil again so I can't comment on further consumption.

 

So let me get this right... You guys are having to put oil in your cars, but you don't know what weight you're using? I don't quite get that, but whatever I guess most people don't take lubrication as seriously as I do I guess. Thanks for trying to find the documentation Tommy. You can just tell me where to look and save yourself the hastle but either way works for me. I guess I'll be calling MB to find out what oil weight the factory uses so that I can attempt to match it. My concern was not really with what MB accepts, I know that 10/30, 10/40, 15/50 would be fine for fairly moderate conditions/climates.

 

Castrol Syntech 5W-50 and 10W-40 are listed the the previously mentioned booklet as factory approved engine oils.

 

Would you believe, excessive oil consumption is considered to be more than 1qt per 1000 miles! It sounds like a lot, but thats the govts guideline. Mobil1 is the only way to go for replacement. It does not break down with heat and does not shear like organic oils do. Remember when Mobil had a 25k mile recomended oil change interval? 10k is a walk in the park for it!

 

Mobil 1 oil can go 25K miles but that is not the problem when the oil filter gives up before that. Mobil used to recommend replacing the oil filter every 3K miles. Todays filters are better with a bypass and secondary filter but I cannot sleep at night going past 10K without changing both.

 

Many manufacturers these days specify 0.5 L per 1000 km (about 1/2 quart every 600 miles) is "normal", anything above that is not normal. In the bad old days, up to 1 L per 1000 km was often considered normal. Light oil consumption is actually good for the engine. Make sure it's under 0.5 L/1000 km (say half of that for a broken-in car) and it's OK. Keep records though, including the shortfall at oil change time.

 

You need to see the service department soon. thats outrageous. I dont care what anyone says, a new car should not be burning that much oil. No way!! check the floor and make sure you dont see any puddles.