hoglaw

Hi guys, longtime forum lurker, first time poster.

I purchased a Mitivac 7201 extractor to perform oil changes, and have a hard time sucking up all of the oil. The first time I did (for my schedule A service) a year ago, i manged to extract about 6 quarts (of the 6.9 quarts the manual says to fill).

I recently did my Service B change, and managed to only extract about 5.5 quarts. Anyone else have this issue? I've tried a few things to ease extraction; Extracting from a warm engine, using both extraction hoses available (the larger one that comes with the mityvac seems to create a better seal around the dipstick opening), and removing the oil fill cap and filter housing.

Help? Does anyone else have this issue, or have a tip on something I should be doing differently? It's pretty annoying to go through the process to realize that you're leaving a significant amount of old still somewhere in the system.

hoglaw

Actually, i think I may have solved this one on my own.

Per the Owners Manual:
"Depending on your driving style, the Vehicle consumes up to .9 US QT of oil per 600 miles. The oil consumption may be higher than this when the vehicle is new or if you frequently drive at higher engine speeds."

I think that my issue was not that the evacuator only extracted 5.5 QT, and missed 1.5 QT; rather, I think the engine had burned through 1.5 Qt. since my last oil change.

Best explanation I can come up with. I warmed up the motor and checked the dip stick, and it was showing on the low/Min side, so i filled up another 2 QT's and so far so good.

Admittedly, I'm super surprised that per the factory, the engines burn through so much oil. This is my first German made car, so maybe this is par for the course (I've only owned Japanese imports in the past). But I have only experienced oil burn anywhere near this rate on cars that were 100k+ miles.

mjhawkins2346

This has been covered on the forum extensively. Search for oil change postings. The one with many listings covers this in depth.
There is an aluminum fitting with O rings that fits on top of the dipstick tube and attaches to your extractor. The dip tube is designed to pull all the oil when used with the fitting.
I've never seen the 3.5 (227?) engine use a lot of oil.

B737

no ^ im not sure why this is in the book. maybe to give customers a false sense of security. youre truck should not be burning any oil, ever. if it is, there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

to get all the oil out, unscrew the drain plug on the oil pan, wait 2 minutes, install drain plug and fill. no fuss.

mjhawkins2346

Kent on Mercedessource did a feature on this. There is a low point "pocket" in the oil pan that the dip tube sets in. You probably can drain this too from the drain plug but it's helpful to raise the right side of the car or you don't get that oil. The dip tube is about 1/16 inch of the floor of that pocket so it can extract all the oil. If you prefer to use the drain plug I suppose the 1/4 cup in that pocket isn't a big deal but I would suspect sediment would settle there.

I like the adapter because I can change all the oil and filter from the top.
I don't need to shimmy under the car or open up the belly shield. I also don't need to set down my beer. Talk about a benefit.

hoglaw

Great feedback guys, much appreciated. I'll (1) look through the past threads to see if there is anything I can buy that may help resolve the issue.

After driving my GLK for a week, and checking the oil literally every day after driving home, I really think the issue was oil burn. I'm just as skeptical as everyone else regarding the burn rate, but to be fair, the manufacturer who built the car addresses oil burn specifically, and the amount that I am hypothesizing burnt off (roughly 1-1.5 qt. over a 12 month / 9k mile timeframe) is well within the spec they articulate.

Shrugs.

Mmr1

That amount of consumption is low.

andreigbs

There is also some residual oil in the old oil filter itself, as well as the oil filter housing and the oil/coolant heat exchanger. Probably not a quart, but at least a half.

Agree with other posters: I don't care how much oil consumption the book says is normal, if I'm burning oil and having to top off a liter between changes, it's a must-fix.

Mmr1

Let me understand this, Your saying that if you have to put in a bit more than a quart in 10000 miles, than you must fix this? Is that correct? Is this your first vehicle ?

Mmr1

Your joking , right?

andreigbs

Hardly my first vehicle; Benz, diesel, or otherwise.

And yes, if my motor was using up a liter of oil between each oil change I would definitely find out th cause and remedy it. YMMV.

I've learned vehicle maintenance is a "pay me now or pay up later" type of relationship.

Mmr1

A litre of oil, just over a quart between 10000 miles is considered great, nothing to worry at all about. 2 liters is still normal. There is nothing to fix, the motor is not a sealed closed unit.

andreigbs

Perhaps "normal" for your vehicles, never for any of mine. With more than 2 million miles under my belt in 12+ vehicles owned, I call

If I was topping off with 2 liters between changes, I would definitely be saving up for a rebuild, new turbo (if equipped), new seals, or other internal work.

There is no way 1-2 liters of oil simply burning through the engine is normal and definitely not German-designed to be the norm. That statement in the owner's manual is only a caveat to protect the manufacturer in case such oil consumption actually exists. If it does, you likely bought an engine made on a Friday, when engineers were ready to leave work early, or on a Monday when they returned to work hungover.

thunderbirl

Had a similar problem today extracting oil from 2015 GLK350 4Matic today from topside with a Mityvac 7201.

After convincing myself that topside extraction works well for each of my previous Mercedes, I've used this approach for several years and have never had a problem. Used the same set up to change oil in my ML350 today with no issue. Previous engines changed successfully were M272. This engine is an M276.

Per the owners manual, the capacity is "6.5 liters including the oil filter". The dipstick was at the top of "full" before I started. The extraction stopped (sucked air) at about 4.5 liters and I could not get any more out with either of the supplied tubes. Removing the lower covers and pulling the drain plug gave me an additional 2.5 liters. (I always run a similar experiment test in other cars before routinely using topside extraction and have never gotten more than a few ounces back.)

I like the convenience of the topside extraction and would like to find a way to make this work. I've read that others have had their engines overfilled by various shops - and I think I can see how that could happen. I've read that there may be some adapter that can work described by Mercedessource on youtube. I looked at several videos that seemed relevant and don't find any device or adapter specific to an M276 engine. If there is a topside approach that is known to be successful for the 2015 GLK350 4Matic, please let me know.

dlearl476

bradsh

Can anyone chime in on what or where this adapter can be obtained from? I too have been trying to find this dipstick extraction adapter and not having a lot of luck.

Edit: I found some other posts indicating that the harbor freight extractor fits our dipstick without an adapter. https://www.harborfreight.com/6-1-4-...tor-46149.html i will try this and post when complete. Need to order up a new filter first.

JohnnyC

is it just 4matic owners having this issue? Hoglaw (the original poster) and thunderbirl have 4matic. The oil pan is differently for each drive train.

bradsh

Using https://www.harborfreight.com/6-1-4-...tor-46149.html I was able to suck out 6.8 US quarts (according to the abysmal harbor freight oil level meter on the extractor) from my 2013 GLK 350 4matic. The manual lists capacity at 6.9 quarts. I put 7.2 quarts back in to reach the middle of the dipstick. Seems like it works pretty well.

hoglaw

Sweet find, and thanks for the share.

Just a quick update, i ended up doing an old school oil change (draining the oil from the plug drain from the oil pan) and sure enough, I got all 7 quarts.

May look to see what adapters may help to create a better vacuum or seal, and see if that helps me get everything out...but until then, looks like I'll be doing old school oil changes with this SUV for a while

Ouishank

KC61

Yep, the old drain plug method works fine and it's free.

formerjeepguy

The GLK is high enough that you can get under there without much trouble. Even if I had to drive it up on ramps I would drain at the plug. I guess I am old fashioned but isn't that why they put the plug there in the first place?