Viesel

I just rolled 5000 miles over the weekend and ka-ching, it is requesting a qt of oil. I would think that 1qt in 5k miles is probably normal for any diesel, but I just dont know for the CDI. I think that I am going to go ahead and change it this weekend, even if it does get lemoned and I can get another one that doesent have the problem that mine has. So what I am curious about is how many miles other CDIs get before the first qt of oil is needed.

johna1

14000km/8700miles and none so far.

rbordel

I went the 13000 miles to the first scheduled oil change without the car requesting more oil.

Frank Wiesmann

If you drove it hard it would not be unusual for it to need oil after 5,000 miles. Plus, Diesel engines tend to use more oil when they are new. Thsi schould die down as you rack up more mileage.

Viesel

You know what? I checked it again this morning before I started up the car and It showed completly full. When I checked it the first time, I had just stopped the engine and maybe all the hot oil had not drained down to the pan for an accurate reading.

GDawgC220

could be a oil level sensor out of whack...not uncommon

Viesel

Oil level sensor out of wack doesnt sound like a good thing. I really wish it had a dip stick. I would feel much better if I could actually see the level on a stick.

ToyCollector

I hate to ask the obvious. Was it on completely level ground throughout all these checks? An engine can easily have half a quart to quart up in all theoil galleys and heads when hot so checking it hot would certainly play a part in the reading you got.

Viesel

As flat as Florida is, you ask me if it was level? Yeah it was, actually so level that the water will not even drain off the driveway after a rain. I checked it again a few mins ago and it was full. The first time must have been due to the oil not yet draining all down to the pan like you say.

LeslieRushforth

Just over 1 year old, with 14,200 miles before asking to add 1 Qrt of oil.
ASSYST reads 4,200 miles to go before service B.
The car is driven 50% of the time in slow moving traffic and 50% freeway.

Leslie Rushforth
Chesterfield
England.
E-mail
leslierushforth@aol.com

BudC

What oil (type and viscosity) does Mercedes recommend for the CDI in England?

marc777

Went to its 24,000 mile first service and never needed oil.

Marc

LeslieRushforth

Recomended oil for the E320 CDI here in the U.K. is MOBILE fully synthetic Mobile oils have two grades of fully synthetic I guess one for gasoline engines the other for diesel engines voscosity ???.
I put the diesel oil in.

BudC

Is it 0W-40 or 5W-40 or ?

JPM

In my experience, the car will put up a request to add oil at next refuelling, then the level check will show all is OK, then a few weeks later it will ask again. If you then put in the requested quantity all will be well and the distance to next service will go up by 1500 miles or so within a couple of days. Mine needed 1L of oil at approx 13,000 miles.

glojo

We have never been asked to add oil, but 1 litre of oil seems a large amount to request. Was the vehicle on the level, and I suppose, is this the normal amount that is requested? I certainly don't doubt the display instructed you to add the oil.

Regards,
John

JPM

The "add 1L oil at next refuelling" request comes up while driving. First time was driving up a slight slope, so I ignored it (after getting home and checking the level in the usual manner 5 minutes after switch-off on level ground etc, display said oil level OK). Second time, a couple of weeks later, was driving on level road, so put the oil in to see if it would shut it up and if the service interval would extend as I'd read elsewhere. The indication doesn't seem to bother with smaller quantities - and I've read that topping up oil by less than 1L is not picked up (or not treated) by ASSYST in the same way so you don't get the benefit of the extension to the service interval.

BudC

The car measures the capacitance of the oil to determine it's quality. When you add oil, you are essentially freshening the oil and if you add enough fresh oil, the system will recognize it and lengthen the time to the next oil change.

Now some people might call this a benefit but others who have so-called free maintenance would not. It only extends the time until they are allowed to bring their car in for that free service.

Changing the amount of oil doesn't effect the length of time to the next service, it's the quality of the oil and length of time since the last oil change that matters. The type of driving you do also is accounted for.

You should be very careful not to overfill the crankcase because with too much oil, the crankshaft will beat the oil into foam. In fact I think Mercedes have told their dealers to put only 8 quarts into engines that would normally hold 8.5 in order to avoid overfilling.

glojo

Thanks for the reply, it is a pity that Mercedes-Benz does not calibrate the sensor to allow smaller quantities to be added.

I know of one person that was told to add 1 litre, then he was told that it was over-filled???

Thanks again for the reply,
John
An overcast afternoon in Torquay

michakaveli

What's the current status with your car Viesel? I know you're on at least three forums regarding your issues... Tough to keep track sometimes :-)

Davel

Not sure about the diesel, but the gasoline motors have a drain-down period that has to occur before the oil level can be checked. If you check it immediatley after turn the car off it would probably indicate a low reading...

glojo

Hi Davel,
Totally agree with your point, and coincidentally both engines (320CDI and 500 petrol) hold approximately the same ammount of oil. 7.5ltrs

Rgards,
John
Dusk at Torquay