Musikmann

Bo, with the Italian Tune Up, is our target a certain engine temperature or RPM? I put mine in 3 today and ran it on the interstate at about 4000 RPM for about 15 minutes. It's a warm day and the temp was approaching 100 C so I quit before the 30 minutes you suggested had elapsed. I could not see any smoke but I'm going to keep a closer eye on the color of the oil. Since you recommended it, I'm scheduling an oil change for next week, right after I have run the "techron tank" as low as I feel comfortable.

loubapache

I think the target is to drive near the redline RPM (or as high as one is comfortable) so to raise the temp of the engine internals, in hope to burn or dislodge whatever sludge in the engine. That is why the oil gets dirtier faster in this phase but that is not because the engine is producing more of it, rather the engine is cleaning itself.

If the oil consumption problem is caused by engine hardware problem (rings, etc), then one should see accelerated oil consumption during Italian Tune-ups. If oil consumption does not increase or even decrease, then there is a chance it is caused by sludge.

Musikmann

Thanks again Bo; you have really been helpful with my problem.

For what this is worth, it's been about 700 miles and the car's measuring device still says engine oil level is o.k.

tirona

great job on this thread guys, there is a lot of good info here. good to hear your issue is getting resolved musikmann.

Musikmann

Thank you Tirona, I am pleased with the progress so far.

tirona

i have actually gone through 4-5 tanks of gas since last time i did the techron treatment, and i haven't changed the oil yet. i changed the oil a little over 1&1/2 months ago and a couple days later i added the techron to the gas tank before filling up. but i didn;t know that i was supposed to do the treatment before changing the oil. my oil is still clear, hasn;t turned that dark yet. should i change the oil asap, or is it ok to wait until i'm due for it?
thanx

Musikmann

I don't think I have never changed the oil right after a tank of Techron either, unless it was just by coincidence. In fact, the way I have been doing it is to add the Techron every 3000 miles (my other cars, not the Benz) around when the oil change has been done. I think sometimes it has been right before the change, and sometimes after - I don't have a good memory, or written notes, for that.

tirona

in my case, i added it right after the oil change. it was my first ever time using it, and to tell you the truth i didn't read the bottle carefully, just bought it at autozone, drove to the gas station, added it to my almost empty tank and then filled up.

Musikmann

For what this is worth, the reason they tell you to add it to an almost empty tank is because you are then supposed to add the number of gallons that the bottle is meant to treat (12 for the small one, 20 for the large one). I never let my tanks get that low, so I add it whenever I think the mileage interval requires it, and then I fill up the tank.

tirona

by low i mean i still have a couple of gallons left in the tank, my yellow light usually turns on when i have done 330-350miles on that tank, and i fill it up right after that. but even if we waited closer to the end, i don't think would hurt that much because our fuel pumps aren't inside the gasoline tank. anyway, i usually fill up right after the yellow light turns on.

loubapache

You do not have to change the oil now. If you do use Techron in the future, just use it before oil changes. If your engine is clean (Many MB engines are clean with short OCI's), then Techron would probably not add too much dissolved deposits in the oil.

In theory, using Techron would make the oil dirtier and more fuel dilution. I think that is why Chevron recommends using it before oil changes.

tirona

thanx for your reply loubapache, good to know i don't have to change the oil now, didn;t plan on changing it until the beginning of july.

Musikmann

I didn't realize that Bo, thanks for the information.

loubapache

Chevron TECHRON Concentrate Fuel System Cleaner

TECHRON® Concentrate Plus Fuel System Cleaner has been reformulated to clean harmful gasoline sulfurs from fuel gauge sensors and prevent further buildup. And, as always, it's unbeatable at cleaning the entire fuel system and restoring lost power and performance due to carbon buildup. TECHRON® Concentrate Plus

* Cleans fuel injectors, intake valves and combustion chambers
Reduces carbon buildup and deposits that cause knock, ping and run-on.
* Restores lost power and performance in one application
* Use every 3,000 miles or at every oil change for maximum benefit.

benz-tech

couple of things: MB recommended the "Itailian tune up" on the 350 (272) engines because the ring tension was too lite to seat when driven like a grandma. on an engine with over 50k, i doubt that it will, but it may, help.

i disagree with MB on 'normal' oil consumption. i consider 2,000 miles per quart too much. in my experience, engines that burn around 1qt per 1-2k miles have stuck oil control rings needing a re-ring. most of the engines that burnt over a qt per 1k miles had cylinder wall damage. hopefully your dealer will work with you if you are slightly below the official consuption limit. if all else fails, raise a big stink if they don't offer to fix it. that seems to work around here.

most techs recommend the decreasing the service intervals-in my opinion:
engine oil: 7,500 on mobil-1 only don't cheap out and put crap in. the reality is almost all our customers go the full 13-14k and we have seen no problems with it so what do i know. i know this is easy for me to say since a b-service cost's me about $50 but i still think its the best for the cars.
type 6 trans- 50k for V8's and ML's. lighter/slower cars seem to go 75k and still have pretty clear fluid when draining.
i hope it all goes well with you.

Musikmann

Bo,

I have seen those instructions (maybe recommendations is a better word) on the bottle too, but we are interpreting them differently.

I thought the "at every oil change" just meant at about the same time, thinking that would be easy for us to remember, assuming dino oil, and that we are changing the oil every 3000 miles. I certainly do this on my other 2 cars (1991 Camry and 1994 Plymouth) both of which I never switched to synthetic oil; large bottle of Techron (both have 16 gallon tanks) and an oil change every 3000 miles.

Where do you get from that to change the oil right after using it? I'm certainly not arguing with you, but I don't see where they say before or after. However, I agree with you, whether or not you have inferred that.

With the MB, I'm going to do it as you suggested, but there are roughly 9000 miles on that oil and I think we both agree that is long enough to be using it.

Thanks,
MM

Musikmann

Thanks for the insight benz-tech. As I suppose you have read on here, my oil consumption has decreased since I've been driving the car harder. Plus as you wrote, I think I still am "slightly below the official consumption limit" which they told me is 1qt/700 miles. The average I suppose is acceptable - 4qts/9000 miles, but what concerned me most was the gradual increase. I only drove 300 miles between the 3rd and 4th quart. Now it is about 800 miles and the car still measures the level as o.k. I need to check the dipstick soon, because it might be very close to the minimum mark.

Bo aka loubapache pointed out, the additives and stabilizers in oil with a lot of miles are probably breaking down and losing viscosity, and this (at least partly) could explain why is is getting past the oil rings, into the cylinders, and burning off. I still think it's odd that I am not seeing any smoke from the exhaust, but I'm attributing that to the properties of synthetic oil.

robertr020

Thanks for all the good info on this thread. I have a 2001 E320 4matic with about 64,000 miles. I don't drive to work, so only drive the car about 5 miles each weekend to the grocery store or gym. I also travel a lot and the car will sometimes sit for a month or more at a time. It's been about a year and half since I last changed the oil (during B service) and I have another 4000 miles before next service is due. I recently drove the car out of town (about 250 miles) for work, about 1/3 of the way there I got a FSS warning to check engine oil level. I checked it when i got to the destination and it was about two guarts low. I parked the car outside the office for the week on a hill. I never drove it until I was ready to leave at the end of the week. When I started it up, some black smoke came out the tail pipe. I stopped at the local auto parts store and added some mobile1 5w-30. MB oil was not available. Then i drove home.

My question is: should I change the oil after a certain period of time vs. mileage? Is it bad to mix oil, example 5w-40 MB Oil with 5w-30 Mobile1? They are both full synthetic. Is there a brand of oil that MB recommends (other than their own). Are there any other additives (oil additives?) that MB recommends?

Musikmann

Hi Robert,

You are very welcome, the people on this thread have helped me a great deal too.

First of all, I don't think you are driving your car often enough. At least start it and drive it long enough to get the engine (and oil) up to normal operating temperature, about 80 C, a couple times a week.

The MB recommended oil for our cars today is Mobil One 5W-40, there is no such thing as MB motor oil. Some of the other oils/fluids are privately labelled for them, one example is their automatic transmission fluid. Some people mix their oils on purpose, but I don't believe in that. As long as you added fully synthetic to fully synthetic, you should be o.k. there.

With your driving habits, I think you should change your motor oil once a year. I think the dealers can change your FSS to read as a time interval instead of mileage, which in your case makes more sense. Also, I think you should have an oil change now, and then have the A service in another 4000 miles like the FSS is telling you.

Good Luck!