Setting oil level? Hot vs cold
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 27
Likes: 10
Setting oil level? Hot vs cold
Ok so someone spot check me here. New to MB and I am getting a huge variation on the dipstick if I check cold vs ~15 minutes after shutdown.
Checked my oil level 15 minutes after driving about 30 miles and the oil level reads just touching the full mark.
When I check after 3-4 hours or in the morning it is way past the full mark.
Which should I be aiming for? I am going to drain quite a bit out but for some reason I am having difficulty setting the level on this thing. At first I thought I was checking too quickly (only waiting about 5 minutes for drain-back), but I thought I got it to about 85% of the full mark and it is reading way high now.
Going to try to figure out how much variation I get on the dipstick but I have never had this happen before, lol
Checked my oil level 15 minutes after driving about 30 miles and the oil level reads just touching the full mark.
When I check after 3-4 hours or in the morning it is way past the full mark.
Which should I be aiming for? I am going to drain quite a bit out but for some reason I am having difficulty setting the level on this thing. At first I thought I was checking too quickly (only waiting about 5 minutes for drain-back), but I thought I got it to about 85% of the full mark and it is reading way high now.
Going to try to figure out how much variation I get on the dipstick but I have never had this happen before, lol
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 27
Likes: 2
CLS 500 w218
checking oil level was confusing when i bought the car...now I do it this way: cold engine: when you take oil dipstick out for first time, there is almost no oil on dipstick, I have to put it all down again, wait for 3-5 seconds, then pull it out and it is in half between the marks. The same I do if the engine is hot, only difference is than oil level is on the full mark, which it should be only when the engine is hot..
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 27
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Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2019
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From: Saddlebrooke, AZ 85739
2013 CLS550 4Matic OE Tuned
I check my oil level when fueling up. The pads at gas stations are absolutely level. Yes, my garage is pretty level, but not as level as at a gas station.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 27
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I actually have used a level on my garage floor and it is damn near perfectly level. I do a lot of work on cars and it is very helpful for trans fluid changes and such. It was one of the requests when we built the house
So here is what I am trying. I pulled out about 1.5 quarts which put the oil just below the minimum level on the dipstick when completely cold, waited overnight to check. Then I filled about .75qt of oil which put me right at the halfway mark, again completely cold.
Next I am going to drive the car probably 35 miles round trip and check it after 20 minutes with the hood and consider that a hot reading.
So here is what I am trying. I pulled out about 1.5 quarts which put the oil just below the minimum level on the dipstick when completely cold, waited overnight to check. Then I filled about .75qt of oil which put me right at the halfway mark, again completely cold.
Next I am going to drive the car probably 35 miles round trip and check it after 20 minutes with the hood and consider that a hot reading.
