EROD

I changed my right foglight today and decided to do the in-between DYI oil change while I had the car up. Removed the covers and was thoroughly confused as to which of the many bolts down there was the drain plug. I saw one on what I think was the oil pan (black metal cover, there's another black cover further back but i think that's the transmission fluid pan, its plastic or rubber coated or smething) Additionaly, I read that this car has two plugs. Anybody have some pictures or diagrams that show the plug(s) location? I'd hate to pull that one off and have transmission or some other fluid come out.

dmyrick

i don't think there is a drain plug for the 63, i think it has to be sucked dry from the top.

hcetzneb

The is a drain plug on the lower oil pan.. and also there is a drain plug on the oil cooler, which holds about a quart so make sure you drain that one to.

Vegas_AMG

Is there a little more comphrensive DIY on changing the oil? I'm going to do mine @1.5k miles. I'd like to know where the oil cooler is.

EROD

I'm going under the beast again today to try to knock this out. I'll try to take some pics and document the process. In ref to your ?, the oil cooler is on the passenger side, right behind the foglight area. To access it, you have to remove a couple of bolts and a plastic fastener on the underside cover. Not sure if you can access said drain plug this way or if you have to go the "remove the wheel and fender cover" route. If that's the case, I think I'm just gonna go the top-side way next time and save the hassle.

And while I'm the subject, would the top-side way extract the oil in the cooler (about 1 qt according to post above)? I was under the impression the oil from the cooler drained into the sump after shutting the engine down

Sincity

Good question. I wonder as the oil drains using either method, will the oil in the cooler simply drain down as the oil level falls?

EROD

The oil cooler lines appear level with if not lower than the oil sump so not sure if the oil in there is all making it back to the sump when the engine is off. For those of you who have done a top-wide change with the mityvac extractors, how much oil was taken out? If it is 9 qts or close to it, then I guess that answers that question. Any "experts" out there with known facts wanna chime in?

On a different note, the SA where I bought my filter claims synthetic oil has a functional life of over 13000 miles and hence the reason MB calls for oil changes at 10000miles. He recommended that I just replace the filter element to filter out any contaminants in the oil the old filter has stopped filtering. In his opinion, new oil is not needed. Thoughts?

black-clk500

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was wondering how much of a hassle it is to drain the oil cooler on our cars?

My beast is going in for it's first oil change (to the dealer) and I've reread SuperLube's post on the Minivac deal and at the end of the post he showed pics of the oil being drained from the pan and the cooler. I know most people are just happy with a suck job and call it done, but I think I want the dealer to drain everything, including the cooler.

I am worried that the tech will cross thread a plug or mess something up, especially if getting to the oil cooler drain is a biatch

So what has to be done/removed to get to both the pan drain and the cooler drain?
How much disassembling needs to be done?
Maybe I can live with a standard suck jobber!

Can anyone answer this?
Thanks in advance

ATL_MB

The oil cooler drain is easily accessible once the under-body trays have been removed (which you have to do to get at the engine oil drain plug). It is on a line between the front and side-mounted coolers. It is painted closed, and will take a bit of force to get off the first time, and you will need a new crush washer for both drain plugs (you will need two different crush washerse - they are not the same). And the mity-vac will not get the oil out of the cooler, it will leave around a quart or so in. See post 77:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...-photos-4.html

black-clk500

Thanks a lot ATL MB!
Should I have the dealer order new plugs and washers?
I had them replace my plugs when I had my LSD serviced, they wanted to reuse with loctite.

So if it just involves removing the lower plastic shields and drain plugs, I guess it's not too involved for the tech? I just wish I had the ability to do this myself, but I don't have the facilities.

This all got me thinking, if there's roughly a quart left in the cooler, etc wouldn't the new oil and filter eventually filter out most of the old contaniments via the new filter?
So maybe the minivac approach is not the end of the world? And the tech doesn't have to do much to my car, thus limiting the possibility of cross threading, over/undertightning plugs, leaky drain plugs, loose plastic panels, etc.
I just like to limit the time the dealer spends on my car.
There's no doubt, IMO, draining the pan and cooler is the best approach--but maybe the minivac approach is "good enough."

Thoughts?

Yuille36

Changing your oil the old fashion way, is a no brainer. There is a drain plug on the oil pan, and one on the oil cooler. My E63 has two oil drain plugs on the front and rear oil pans. The C63 only has one. I wish that, I had pictures to show you.

black-clk500

Thanks Yullie you're always helpful

I just can't decide what to do.
I wish I could find a mechanic like the old timers who actually cared about the cars they work on and respected the machine.

Unfortunately, with the advent of financing, just about anyone can buy or lease an enthusiast car and they have become common place and no big deal to own and many people treat them like throw aways and unfortunately the dealerships feel the same way.

I'm just very type-a and treat all of my things the way they should be treated because I know how much work I had to do to buy them!

Jon2007E63P30

So I do it the old fasion way as well

jvanbrecht

There is no need to order new plugs, unless you or someone stripped the original. You do need new crush washers each time you remove the plug and put it back in though (they are like a $1 or so)..