jctevere

Yeah, dealers overfill 4matics, I have spoken with all the service techs and everything at my dealership telling them about the issue, but they claim that it still take 8.5 quarts... It's so silly. Also, I asked to buy a bottle of the official 5w-40 oil that only dealers get (without the ESP protection for diesels) and they tried to give me the ESP one, saying its what they use!

This is exactly why I don't go to dealers for service. It's not their car, so they don't care. Plus, I might as well do it myself, learn about the car, and save money. Not to mention that my engine bay isn't as filthy. Also, I seem to be missing the rear air filter clip that the 2011 has on my 2009... But I'm not shocked...

Pete7874

Haha... on that topic, I called my local dealer to ask which oil they use. They said M1 0w-40. But their invoice said Mobile ESP. Go figure. They can't even spell Mobil right.

kevink2

Somewhere in this thread, near end, is a pic of Oil Capacities, from a 2010 or later manual. Copy it for dealer.

Early manuals 08, maybe 09, stated all took 8.5Q's.

Based on local MB dealer here, and your comment and other's, MB no longer treats diesel and gas engine oils differently, going back to an old, single oil philosopy. In this case ESP for all! M1 says it's good for both engines:

Mobil 1 ESP Formula M 5W-40 --- FOR ALL !!

.

Pete7874

Interesting. BMW sure doesn't think so. They strictly advise against the use of low/mid-SAPs oils (BMW LL04, MB 229.51) in their gasoline engines outside of Europe, citing poor gasoline quality. US gasoline has 10x more sulfur than Euro gasoline. Supposedly this results in quicker oil additive pack depletion, which translates into inability to handle extended drain intervals. I can't recall right now what M1 ESP's starting TBN is but I think it's significantly lower than M1 0w-40's starting TBN of 12. I'd be a little worried about the ESP being able to handle 13K OCI in our C300, but maybe MB knows what they're doing...

The ESP UOA reports I've seen weren't very impressive.

kevink2

Sounds bad. Will have to see what "Dr Glen" has to say about the SAP effect. Mobil 1 claims from link:

-> Outstanding thermal and oxidation stability
-> Helps to reduce oil aging allowing extended drain interval protection

.

MBNA109

Having problems getting this company to respond & sell me the adapter.
Any ideas?

theramman

I just called their number, spoke to someone in sales and gave them my credit card number. Part came a week later. Works excellent.

Did you try calling a few times....I think I had to call twice to get someone on the line.

MBNA109

More than a couple of time but may try to catch them when they first get in.

Will do. Thanks.

kevink2

Did you follow all their advice on placing an order, dated May 24th?

.

MBNA109

Yes -
can't get provide any more info in my email than they asked:

We return all calls and emails provided they leave a name,call back #, and reason for the call. If they leave a message or email without that info we do not call back assuming it is a sales call.

JimPap

Anybody having problems with their MityVac?

I can get mine to suck as long as I'm pumping but I thought that once you got the oil flowing it would continue until it filled up the container.

At one time, I did overfill the MityVac and I think that's when my problem started.

JimPap

Has anyone found an electric pump that works well in this application?

kevink2

With oil warm to hot, may take 2 of 3 pumpings to maintain a high vaccum to draw in oil rapidly.

.

kevink2

Look around:

Jabsco 12V or 120 volt bilge pumps. http://www.jabscoshop.com/

Nyca has a combo jabsco pump and oil container, but the pump is too small (4A) or too restricted at the connections to flow quickly.

I have a 12V 6amp bilge pump, currently used for a spare sump-pump back-up in the basement. Prior use was to evacuate oil at the turbo's oil outlet for a 924-Turbo track car.

.

IGB

My understanding it that you couldn't "overfill" it if you wanted to because (from the MityVac 7201 User Manual):

As for how many times you pump it, for me, I have had to pump it several times (each time consisting of 10 to 12 pumps each). In fact my first time using it, I had used two hoses with the rubber connector between them but it was not a tight seal, so all along during the entire process, it was sucking both air and oil , took a long time for it to fill up., The second time, I only used the one hose, but I can tell you that my closest guesstimate would be in the range of 8 times (again, each time consisting of 10 to 12 pumps each). At least half of those were more towards the end (probably to get the last quart or so) when it starts to sound as if it is slurping...

JimPap

Thanks for responding.

I'm pretty sure that it over filled as oil was going into the top hose that goes to the valve.

But what you say about the connector makes a lot of sense. Mine is setup with the rubber reducer/connector and it may have been partially sucking air.

You said that you went to using a single hose. Will that larger hose go down the oil dipstick tube?????

Instead of pouring the oil out of the mityvac, I pumped it out using just the larger hose. It was a lot faster and didn't require all the pumping.

IGB

I think I might have a drop or two of oil in that top tube as well... I remember wondering how the heck did those get there. I'll take a closer look the next time I'm in the garage.

Yeah, I didn't realize it until the end of the process... Even tried to use a hose clamp to tighten the rubber adapter around the hose, didn't really help much (the adapter is pretty solid and hard to pinch). So instead of having the MityVac in front, I set it on the side (close to the dipstick tube) and used the one hose!

I am thinking of getting a longer hose and one that is a bit more flexible than the ones that come with the Mityvac.

Actually, I haven't even tried to stick the hose that far into the dip stick tube. I simply used one of the rubber adapters stuck the hose in it, and stuck that at the top end of the dipstick tube... Sort of similar to those who purchased and used the FluidEvacuators metal adapter. Worked fine for me.

Yeah, I poured it out the first time and had a few spills... Second time, I too pumped it out into the empty quart bottles I had... But when I went to dispose of it at Auto Zone the guy made me go in the back of their stock room to empty the bottles myself . So next time, I think I'm just going to take the MityVac there and empty it out of the spout on top directly into the tank!! Heck, if I'm going to do it myself, I'm gonna do it MY WAY

wszypszak

I am a first time MB owner and am trying to figure out all the bells and whistles. Question: Does a service needed or equivalent message illuminate when an oil change is due, and if so, how do you turn it off? I have owned BMW's, a Lexus, and they all have some secret method of shutting the light off so you feel you must go to the dealer for service.

Pete7874

www.pcretriever.com/mbsri/2009_all.pdf

wszypszak

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your courtesy.

Babak300

Hi everyone,
so has anyone here actually tried draining the traditional way? I have a small ramp (9 inches high) I use for my e46 oil changes, but seems a bit small for the W204 C300 and I can't quite get in there and find the drain plug.
Can anyone help out?

Much much appreciated

RLE

Why would you want to? I've been using my TopSider to suck out the oil
for ten years in two MBs.

Yes, it does get it all out.

Babak300

I guess because I don't know any better. Would you be kind enough and tell me what kind of pump I need to do it that way? or if there is a thread if you can direct me that way. I would very much appreciate it. I just cant do the $280 oil and $130 Air Filter charge any more at the dealer
Thank you so much for your help in advance

Bobby

Pete7874

You are looking at this thread. Go back a few pages, or better yet, start from the beginning... people have posted what evacuators they use and what dipstick tube adapters.

With that said, there is nothing wrong with draining the oil the old traditional way.

kevink2

To me, this or the actual adaptor is the way to go. Minimal leak points and maximum tubing ID for best flow. This is also Mandatory for those sucking oil from a 4MATIC, or you will leave a quart or two in the sump.

.