imrealdumb

Hi. My 2004 E320 mysteriously is asking me to add 1 qt of oil, even though I had an oil change a few months ago. I've read that it could be a problem with the sensor, but some people say just add 1 qt and it may go away. Any thoughts out there? Do I need to use the dipsitck to see if I really need to add a quart, or should I just add a quart and see what happens?

Thanks.

tjts1

Obey the car or suffer it's wrath.

konigstiger

IMHO use dip stick before adding more oil.

Heguli

This is the quite obvious thing to do if the engine is equipped with a dipstick.

F1Fan

Thre is a way to measure the engine oil quantity electronically. You'll have to search online how to do it on W211s. It is something like this. Put key to ACC or On position, but do not start car. Press the dash dimmer switch 3 times. Then press up or down on the steering wheel button. Once you get to the oil quantity screen, then either go to On position or start the car and it will shows the oil quantity down to a tenth of a quart, for example 6.8 qt. But I'm just recalling off the top of my head and my memory might be incorrect. This also assumes the car is sitting level on the ground. might help.

The bigger issue is the oil leak. You have one. Only question is where. Up top, it may be the valve cover gaskets, a common leak. On the bottom, it may be several things; oil pan gasket? Oil level sensor o-ring? Rear main seal? If it is either the oil pan gasket or oil level sensor, you will find oil all over the bottom. Take off the plastic engine cover on the bottom and take a look around. There have been some that reported that the oil level sensor developed a crack that allowed oil to leak through it. You won't know unless you pull your sensor and inspect it very carefully.

If you change the oil pan gasket and the oil level sensor and/or o-ring, and you still have a leak. It may be the rear main seal. In order to fix that, you would have to remove the transmission to get access. Is it worth doing?