GL350 maintenance
 

My wife just bought a 2011 GL350 Bluetech with a decent extended warranty. Having owned a Range Rover Supercharge for the last 7 years, I'm a stickler for preventative maintenance. We had 161K on the Rover until she was hit and totaled. Never had an engine issue. Now we have this beast. I've read all of the stories on this and other forums regarding sludging. Fortunately we have most of the manintance records. Unfortunately the oil changes were done every 10k, at either a MB indy shop or the dealer. The EGR valve has just been replaced. The oil cooler was replaced in 2015, along with engine mounts, front struts, cooler and turbo lines. Also the transmission filter and fluid has been changed twice What do I need to do in order to get any sludge out and keep this thing running? Im a stickler for oil changes every 5K. Current mileage is 82K.

Thanks for the suggestions on the engine flush. I'll go that direction right after the holidays. I have read through the link several times the past few days. Wish I read it before last Saturday. We could have gotten a nice GL550 with the same miles a year older. Anyways, I will continue with my 5K oil changes and engine flush. Might do two flushes in over the next few months. The warranty is through warranty solutions and have read decent reviews about them on both this and other forums. It's just extra cheap insurance for a major engine repair. I know that they may not cover everything and I'm ok with that. I'm coming from 7 years of Range Rover ownership and so far it seems that the part cost are running about half of what Land Rover charges.

+1

Stephen service center is recommending 15w-30 redline diesel motor oil, not sure how this will help the overall reliability. Mercedes recommended oil spec is 5w-30.

Not sure how increasing the oil viscosity will help oil going into the intake and burning, also if oil and fuel are mixing and getting burned before the DPF filter, will thicker oil and fuel mixture affect the burning in DPF ?

did anyone followed the recommendations given by Stephen service center ?

Thanks

My timing chain stretched at 55k miles using those 10k mile intervals and recommended MB oils. Something is causing all the problems that the OM642 engine has and I'm not going to just keep doing what lead to that problem. I've changed my drain interval to 6,000 miles since I replaced the chain. I'm not using any additives but my reading indicates that the reduction in zinc and other additives to meet EPA rules is what is leading to timing chain issues.

I'm using Pentosin Superperformance oil now (MB approved but still 5W 30). I need to look at the Redline oil for summer use. I believe that it is NOT MB approved but Redline believes it meets the specs for ash, etc.?