does anyone else have a problem with a car going through oil really quickly? in my 300ce, im burning a quart every week or two. im running 10w30 on a car with about 152k miles on it. also, does anyone know if royal purple oil is that much better and worth the $6 a quart?

 

W124s are notorious for oil leaks. If you want you can tackle the 3 major leak points, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and timing chain cover gasket. Also try a thicker oil. Some people say the royal purple stuff works, I don't know. I just use synthetic oil.

 

im not using synthetic. you think if i switch to a thicker synthetic, i wont lose the fact that it is synthetic may compensate for thickness?

 

Do a search on the topic. There's a big discussion on this that can probably answer all your questions.

 

Don't forget valve guides and seals. At 150k you might get away with just new seals.

 

looks like your car is a hybrid, eats both gas and oil!

 

why use synthetic if you're just blowing a quart a week out the tail pipe? Fix the oil leak first, then you can worry about what kind of oil to use. If you've been using regular oil and you switch to synthetic, you may end up with more leaks. Synthetic tends to find it's way out of smaller holes and creates more leaks in older cars.

 

its a pain, is changing the seal inexpensive and easy to do? i may try it

 

I can't confirm this but I've read that pouring a bottle of brake fluid, yes, brake fluid, into the oil fill helps condition old leaky seals. I think I read that recently over at Mercedesshop Tech forum.

Sure sounds like your car need its valves attended too in any event at that age and mileage.

Run the thicker dyno oil and see what happens....synthetics are very thin viscosity and usually find leaks and weeps soon after switching to it from good old fossil dyno like mhorn says.

 

i just put in some motor oil additive that is said to stop leaks and fill seals in under 1000 miles.........and now we wait

 

Don't hold your breath.

If you're burning/leaking that much oil, you've got a serious problem. Take it to a local independent repair shop and see what they say. It may only be the guides, or it might be as serious as a head gasket or a rear main seal.

 

Agreed. Be prepared for anything ranging from new seals and guides on up to a valve job. Good luck.

 

Really? Hmm...I'm gonna do a bit of research on that one Jim, that would be awesome! I added a bit of ATF fluid to my steering Fluid reservoir and my girlfriend almost had a heartattack! I can imagine what would happen if I added brake fluid to the oil!

 

So what was the verdict on this one?

 

man... I know this is an old thread... but my car burns oil at a rate of about 1 quart per 1,500 miles. I have had the head gasket, rear main seal, and a valve job done within the last year or so. When I park my car for more than a few days, I do not notice any oil spots, so it must just be burning oil...

I had a leak-down test performed before the valve job and apparently one of the cylinders had a bit of leak down. But shouldn't the valve job have fixed that? Oh well, my car has 191k on the clock and is 16 years old. Maybe I should just keep adding oil and live with it!

 

Depends on your skill level. See link below.
http://www.mercedesshop.com/Wikka/M103ValveSeals

Edited:
Just noticed your car has the double overhead cams so I don't think my directions will work.

 

Get it in and have it check. 1 quart/weeks seems too much.