Oil Change, from Top or from Bottom
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2004 CLK320
Oil Change, from Top or from Bottom
I frequent 2 dealerships and for both places, they change oil from extracting the motor oil from the top.
I am curious. I understand that for w209, there is a drain hole in the bottom. Isn't it beneficial to let the old oil to fall out by gravity? This way, all the accumulated sludge and deposits will be drained out as well.
I am curious. I understand that for w209, there is a drain hole in the bottom. Isn't it beneficial to let the old oil to fall out by gravity? This way, all the accumulated sludge and deposits will be drained out as well.
Last edited by mis3; Feb 10, 2012 at 02:27 PM.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
As long as you use the correct oil & drain intervals there will be no sludge dropped out. Sucking from the top is fine. Maybe at 150K miles a bottom drain once would be a good idea just to check. You just have to drop the engine protection plate. Have you owned the car from new? Do you know it's entire service history.
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I prefer top side - it's much cleaner, plus no crawling around on the floor. I use a MityVac, which then makes it very easy to transport the used oil to the recycling facility (i.e. the big oil vat in the back room of the local Advance Auto Parts store).
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2004 CLK320
i did buy it new and I do have the entire service record.
Since my car is always serviced at the dealership, I do not have to handle the used oil.
I found an indie recently and he prefers to drain the oil from the bottom. I may give it a try with the ATF partial flushes.
Since my car is always serviced at the dealership, I do not have to handle the used oil.
I found an indie recently and he prefers to drain the oil from the bottom. I may give it a try with the ATF partial flushes.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
I too like sucking from the top. If you have used the correct oils & serviced from new at correct intervals I'm sure you have a nice clean engine & the oil will have kept all the crap in suspension. It's your choice. If you do a bottom drain please tell whoever does the job to be careful when replacing the skid plate not to overtighten the retaining bolts. Ham fisted mechanics are always stripping the threads the bolts go into. Then it's Heli-Coil's and all that cramp.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Feb 11, 2012 at 09:49 AM.
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late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
Yes- The drain plug is microencapsulated with a sealer.
If you want to reuse the old one you can seal it with a suitable Loctite or similar product.
With cars on Mobilodrive Maintenance plan Benz just throw them away.
If you want to reuse the old one you can seal it with a suitable Loctite or similar product.
With cars on Mobilodrive Maintenance plan Benz just throw them away.
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I do mine from the bottom. On the V-8s the oil pan has two drain plugs due to a configuration that has to clear a cross-member. Draining from the top leaves something like a liter behind.
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2004 CLK320
Do you replace the drain plug? How much are these plugs?
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Maybe you're supposed to change drain plugs, but I'm old school. I only change drain plugs when the threads get messed up which mine were not. From what I could gather from the million ft-lbs of torque that mine were tightened to I don't think that the dealer ever drained the oil from the bottom.
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late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
mis 3 - the first time you undo a plug it can be tight due to sealant on the threads. A new crush washer & a quick paint with sealant is all you really have to do if you want to save some money. The plugs are not expensive if you want a new one. Up to you. There is no right & wrong here IMHO.
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2004 CLK320
The indy did the oil change for me yesterday. He did the oil change from the bottom and he put in 7.5L of Mobil-1 0w40.
I ran the car. I stopped the car for 10-20 minutes and let the oil to get drained down to the pan.
The Check Oil Level in the display said OK. However, I went to dyno mode and at startup, the oil level said 7.0L. I recall that it used to say 7.9L at startup. Not sure how accurate is this oil level in dyno mode.
Should I put more oil? I was there at the oil change and he did put in 7.5L !
I just checked the owner manual. For my car, the oil capacity is 8 L.
I ran the car. I stopped the car for 10-20 minutes and let the oil to get drained down to the pan.
The Check Oil Level in the display said OK. However, I went to dyno mode and at startup, the oil level said 7.0L. I recall that it used to say 7.9L at startup. Not sure how accurate is this oil level in dyno mode.
Should I put more oil? I was there at the oil change and he did put in 7.5L !
I just checked the owner manual. For my car, the oil capacity is 8 L.
Last edited by mis3; Feb 15, 2012 at 10:31 AM.
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2008 CLK550 Cab
The indy did the oil change for me yesterday. He did the oil change from the bottom and he put in 7.5L of Mobil-1 0w40.
I ran the car. I stopped the car for 10-20 minutes and let the oil to get drained down to the pan.
The Check Oil Level in the display said OK. However, I went to dyno mode and at startup, the oil level said 7.0L. I recall that it used to say 7.9L at startup. Not sure how accurate is this oil level in dyno mode.
Should I put more oil? I was there at the oil change and he did put in 7.5L !
I just checked the owner manual. For my car, the oil capacity is 8 L.
I ran the car. I stopped the car for 10-20 minutes and let the oil to get drained down to the pan.
The Check Oil Level in the display said OK. However, I went to dyno mode and at startup, the oil level said 7.0L. I recall that it used to say 7.9L at startup. Not sure how accurate is this oil level in dyno mode.
Should I put more oil? I was there at the oil change and he did put in 7.5L !
I just checked the owner manual. For my car, the oil capacity is 8 L.
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2008 CLK550 Cab
What V8 has two drain plugs? If mine does I missed one. I do mine from below only becuase I can't see the end of a pump tube, so I don't know how much I'm leaving behind. No way you can get every drop from above that a drain from below can. May be ****, but I'm Ok with that.
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’27 AMG SL55(ordered), ‘23 EQS 580 SUV, ‘19 AMG E53 Cpe, ‘48 Willys Jeepster
What V8 has two drain plugs? If mine does I missed one. I do mine from below only becuase I can't see the end of a pump tube, so I don't know how much I'm leaving behind. No way you can get every drop from above that a drain from below can. May be ****, but I'm Ok with that.
