superlubricity

After 2,500 miles and a ton of time on the dyno I knew it was time to give the car some fresh oil.

My shopping list:

1. a Mityvac from Amazon.com
2. an OEM filter (P/N 0001803009) from the local Benz dealership (Came with new O-ring)
3. 9-quarts of 0W-40 Mobile 1 Synthetic from the local Auto Parts store

Stuff I already had in the garage:

1. a big crescent wrench for the oil filter cap
2. a small slotted screwdriver for taking off the O-ring from the filter cap
3. some rags
4. a small oil funnel

The procedure using the Mityvac was very simple:

1. Just warm the car up. (I waited until oil temp hit 175-degrees F.)
2. Shut off car.
3. Remove the dipstick and fill cap.
4. Insert suction line into the dipstick tube until you hit bottom.
5. Attach the line to the Mityvac.
6. Give it 10-full pumps and it starts to evacuate the oil.
7. Towards the end I gave it a bunch of additional pumps every few minutes to get the last drops of oil out.

That's it. All the old oil was out. Pretty simple stuff and I didn't have to get under the car and I didn't make a mess.

Swapping the oil filter was also a snap. I used a crescent wrench to take off the cap. A 32mm socket would have been better and it will also allow you to use a torque wrench so you don't over-tighten. When you replace the filter element be sure to use a new O-ring. It should have been included with your filter.

I filled the engine with fresh oil. Took it for a spin around the block. Checked the oil level and it was just under the top red marker on the stick. Perfecto!

Photos below:

The Mityvac MV7201


Oil and filter


Filter box w/ part number


Close-up of filter


New and old filter


New filter snaps into the cap


Filter and fill caps removed


Mityvac line in the dipstick tube


Connected to the Mityvac


Here comes the oil!


Almost filled up


Hope this was helpful!

Even Money

You gonna send the used oil in for an analysis?

superlubricity

Nope. Just going to recycle it.

RLx02

thats the exact pump my friend has/used on my car when we changed my oil. Works perfectly. Keep up the good work on the write ups and dynos!

maximooz

Great write up! I think I'm going to start doing it on my own too.

chief63

Very nice info thanks for taking the time!

Even Money

Much easier than changing it on the STi. Nice write up!

New wheels in about 4 weeks!

superlubricity

Heck yeah! We need to do a Black/Black & Grey/Grey photoshoot.

M-bENZ

I have that Mityvac too...just helped my friend change the oil of his CLK500 two weeks ago.

Andy

qship5

MityVac FTW!!! Once you've changed the oil on your car with one of these you'll never want to do it any other way. (You could probably do the job dressed in a suit and not even worry about getting your clothes dirty!)

BTW, nice write-up.

matt55

I'm due to change my oil soon too and I have a Mityvac also . I have changed my oil in other MBs this way but I noticed some differences with the oil filter change. Other MBs have O rings on the shaft that holds the filter and that shaft comes out with the filter .It looks like the shaft stays in place when you remove the top cap. Is that so? Also I placed the tube into the dipstick tube the other day just to make sure it would fit and it seemed to bottom out a bit short compared to my other MBs. I know that each of the rings on the Mityvac indicate 2 quarts of oil so to get 9 quarts out the oil will be near the top of the Mity vac. Did you notice where the oil topped out on the Mityvac? I only fill back what I take out so I want to make sure the vinyl tube goes in the pan far enough. As far as the wrench to take off the filter cap I use a rubber strap wrench to prevent marking the cap. Thanks for the post it was helpful.

superlubricity

- Shaft appears to stay in place. Mercedes doesn't show/list the shaft as a separate item in the illustration below. (14 = Cap, 13 = O-ring, 12 = Filter, 10 = Housing/Base)
- I got the vac tube to go all the way down. I marked it with my hand and compared to the dipstick. They vac line goes about 1.5" deeper than the dipstick.
- I was about 1 quart low. Topped the Mityvac up to about 7.5 liters.
- 9-quarts got it back to full.

ZephyrAMG

Thank you so much for such a complete, comprehensive and informative review. Best I have seen. Much, much appreciated. I will utilize and incorporate this tutorial next time...

emericr

Is your plan to avoid going to dealer. If so, how do you reset the computer?
I am not sure that makes sense to avoid the $350 charge from dealer as if something happens related to you making a mistake, you are stuck with bill.
If you are doing this just because you want cleaner oil in between your service, then, dirsregard my comment above.
Nice write up anyway. Thanks for taking the time.

Mort

Nice Post !

I always jack up the car and put it on stands and usually end up getting oil all over the floor and myself. I do get to have a good look around underneath for leaks, scrapes, dents, etc. I do get my oil analyzed.

I may not be too old a dog to learn a new trick.

Thanks

superlubricity

I prefer more frequent oil changes, especially after break-in.

I still plan on having the dealer perform all scheduled maintenance.

ZephyrAMG

Can you give a round about figure for total cost out the door for this at home service? Thanks.

Sincity

Great writeup. I like the ease of pumping the oil out and having the oil filter on top.

rory breaker

This is a good q - the mityvac is $75, each qt of 0w40 (if I remember right from when I used to use that stuff religiously and even went out looking for the old green formula regularly) is ~$6, the filter has to be $15 minimum, gotta be at least 7qts...so minimum $70 in materials, plus the $75 initial mityvac charge.

I think my dealer charges $100 for an oil change...up to you if its worth the extra $30 to do it yourself. Probably kind of a "fun" job actually if you're used to working on cars, this will be one of those nice 15 minute accomplishments on a sunday morning that gets your day going

Good writeup OP!

2010c63AMG88

very nice write up thank you.

matt55

Loooking at the photo showing the oil level in the Mityvac it looks like it is at 7 quarts.How much more came after this photo? Also did the old filter come out with the cap or did it stay on shaft? Thanks

dockt

I like all posts w/ close up pics of that badass front end, lol. Thanks for the write up!

dremorg

Very nice write up! Very informative. Thanx for taking the time to do so. I might be doing that myself soon.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

interesting, nice write up

superlubricity

Matt, the photo titled "almost filled up" doesn't show it filled all the way up. That's why I wrote "almost".

Like I mentioned earlier, I was a bit low on oil to begin with. I evacuated approx. 7.5 liters of old oil. The old oil filled the Mityvac in-between the 7 and 8 liter line.

I filled it back up with the required 9-quarts.

The old filter comes out connected to the cap. The shaft remained attached to the bottom of the housing assembly.