berti_00

okay spring and summer are coming around the corner and am getting ready to change my oil?
thoughts and recomendations on thickness and what kind?

currently using 10w30

should i go thicker?

rusher

mobil1 0W40 or 5W50

ZorroAMG

20W50 for Summer. 5 or 10W30 for winter

That's what I did in Calgary with its hot summer and cold winter.

Also NO SYNTHETIC....mobil 1 is bad advice if you have never had synthetic in your car. Don't risk leaks....run standard mineral oil.

berti_00

thats what i thought too.... thanks mister

yah i wont do synthetic i've heard that from some benz tech too... cuz it will leake... standard oil it is
thanks Z

berti_00

ohh and are these a good deal?

BOSCH Part # H9DC0 $2.44

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/rafr...1193824k276414

smithcb2

I've been running mobil1 10w30 for 250k miles without issue (7500 mile change interval) and everything looked like new when I changed a head gasket at around 200k mi.

I'd never run real oil in any of my cars.. especially not a mercedes. If swapping to it started a leak, I would just fix the leak.

rusher

if your engine leaks, it is not caused by the oil.
you have just to fix the leak.

2PHAST

Not necessarily true. If your car is in questionable condition then maybe, but if you have solid head gaskets/valve cover gaskets, no problems switching to syn. Many W124 owners have done so without issue.

This is a good chart for Mobile 1 oils, I also am a user of the Truck & Suv forumula because of the higher content of detergents in this particular oil.

http://www.2phast.com/500e/techdocs/mobil-1_specs.xls

ZorroAMG

I won't get into this debate again because there are plenty of people that can back up both sides, including mechanics and industry professionals.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. There is NOTHING wrong with running mineral oil in cars DESIGNED to run on mineral oil.

curlytom

For the Synthetic oil crowd – I’m surprised no one has jumped on Castrol's “8X better wear protection than Mobil 1” claim

http://www.castroledgeusa.com/?utm_s...n=Castrol_EDGE

Zytek_Fan

Castrol 10w40 yo

YNVDIZW124

Castrol 20w50 in the summer 10w40 spring and winter...

berti_00

yah am gone go ahead and move on to 20w50 now the weather is good most of the times anwyays....

thanks fellers

ZorroAMG

Wait until it's actually warm outside. 39-45 degree weather wont require 20w50

berti_00

what do you mean? ur saying its still cold to use that type of oil?

ZorroAMG

Yeah..20w50 is SUMMER weather....this is hardly that weather.

kwb210

why would you do any different than follow the manufacturers specs? these engines are built to tight specs and need a lower weight oil 5w-40 as opposed to 20w 50 to get oil flowing when engine is cold. more so in our northern climate where our summer figures are not so hot

berti_00

so is 5w-40 thicker?

ohlord

Pre 98 non fss engine use the minimum recommended spec at least and you do not need 20w50.The 20 means the viscosity at ambient start temp and that is so thick it takes for ever to circulate at start up,which is the greatest wear point in an engines life.Minimum specs are in your manual.
If your engine is tight and has no leaks and is in good condition mobil1 ow40 is fine,at regular oil change intervals it is overkill as you will be tossing oil out that last 10,000 miles with the proper filter.Well before it has reached its service life.
I run 0w40 mobil 1 syn all year round and my climate is not much different than yours.12 miles north

will_w204

I can't believe the search function doesn't yield 10 billion results in every car forum in every part of the WORLD for thus question

These 14-24 year old cars are designed to run plain ol dino oil. Call the MB shops and they will probably tell you Rotella, Mobil 1 for synthetic in their shops.

lower # is related to ambient temp - unless you live in the Yukon Territory, anything 10w an below is fine. If it's 80* outside when you crank you car, hell, you can run 20w anytime you want.

30 - as in 10w30 - the higher number - is operating temp protection. My Yaris uses 30, a 20+ year newer design. Cars were not built to tolerances like today's cars - hence the rise of 20 and 30 weight oils in the past few years. You need to run either 40 or 50 - and YES, on a car with a decade or 2 of age and wear, 90, 150, 220k miles, WEAR will reduce any "tightness of tolerance" in ANY motor. Hence, why many shops (including mine, which is the best guy within 100 miles) uses 15w50 Mobil 1, year round, in EVERY pre-FSS Benz they service.

Synthetic is perfectly fine in an older motor. It's probably also overkill, but unless your motor has been abused from a maintenance standpoint (or you are on original gaskets on your m104), you won't have a problem with leaks. And it isn't like if you pour sythetic into a gummed-up Dino-fed motor, the oil is going to just spill out onto the pavement. I ran it in a 97 c230 for the first time at 90k, and I might have lost 1/8th of a quart in 5k of driving to seal leakage.

RBYCC

I agree and disagree with your statements..

Agree that conventional oil changed regularly with the filter will give all the miles you want out of any car, especially a Mercedes.
Doubtful the additional cost of synthetic oil will do more then make you feel good.

Disagree that synthetic oil will make your engine leak...
It may find areas that had minimal leakage and create more of a leak.

I ran for seventeen years on conventional oil per Merc recommendation and went to synthetic ( Castrol Syntec or Mobil 1 ) only after the twin turbo install.
Went synthetic due to the heat factor over stock created by the oil and water cooled turbos.

To each his own, but many Mercs with hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock never saw a drop of synthetic and are clean as a whistle inside !

190E 16V

Yes, Albert, go thicker.

My mechanic, MB-trained, (very particular, German guy, who is also race mechanic for a Daytona Porsche team) says use 15W40, or 20W50, in summer.

MOST IMPORTANT: change your oil every 3 months or every 3,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Fresh oil, to prevent deterioration of your timing chain guides, and no particulates suspended in the oil, causing wear.

Dino is fine if the oil is changed according to the schedule, above.

starcar

Same here, 15W40 in the winter. Not sure what I used last summer but will check with my mechanic.

berti_00

so if i were to change it now say in like a month or less still go with 15w40 with this stupid seattle snow lol?

Untertürkheim

Go with an AMG approved (-40 weight) 229.5 oil. M1 0w-40, Valvoline Synpower 5w-40, Liquimoly Synthetic 5w-40

Can not beat those.