Engine Problems? What do you think?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
13' M350 BlueTEC
Engine Problems? What do you think?
Well I had to take my car in today.
2003 C230 Sport SEDAN
Blk/Charcoal
C2 package/Automatic
Here is a brief history so that you guys can get a good understanding of the problem.
I took the in car 3 times to get the oil topped off before my service A. That pushed back my service A 3000 miles. I have never seen any oil spots on the ground.
Service A went well except for the fact that i then started to receive error messages that the tank was 1qt over filled. Took the car twice and they then decided that I had a bad sensor. So they replaced the sensor.
4500 miles to go till Service B. I have taken the car in to get topped off once. My keys started not locking/unlocking the door with one click. So I decided to stop by MB San Diego this morning to get that fixed. On the way there I had to stop for gas. After filling up the tank I decided to check the oil level, and guess what. I was 1 qt short again.
So now they are doing a bunch of diagnostics on the car to figure out why I am losing so much oill.
they have been very good to me and I was given a C240 to drive for the cost of $10.
So my questions are:
What do you guys think is the problem? Has this happened to anyone else. If it has happened to anyone else, how was it resolved?
I am worried that something is wrong with my engine and hope that if there is something wrong they will fix it. I want this car to last and I do not drive hard on it at all. In fact I drove it really easy for the first 5000 miles(not reving it past 4000 rpm).
Thanks Guys
late
2003 C230 Sport SEDAN
Blk/Charcoal
C2 package/Automatic
Here is a brief history so that you guys can get a good understanding of the problem.
I took the in car 3 times to get the oil topped off before my service A. That pushed back my service A 3000 miles. I have never seen any oil spots on the ground.
Service A went well except for the fact that i then started to receive error messages that the tank was 1qt over filled. Took the car twice and they then decided that I had a bad sensor. So they replaced the sensor.
4500 miles to go till Service B. I have taken the car in to get topped off once. My keys started not locking/unlocking the door with one click. So I decided to stop by MB San Diego this morning to get that fixed. On the way there I had to stop for gas. After filling up the tank I decided to check the oil level, and guess what. I was 1 qt short again.
So now they are doing a bunch of diagnostics on the car to figure out why I am losing so much oill.
they have been very good to me and I was given a C240 to drive for the cost of $10.
So my questions are:
What do you guys think is the problem? Has this happened to anyone else. If it has happened to anyone else, how was it resolved?
I am worried that something is wrong with my engine and hope that if there is something wrong they will fix it. I want this car to last and I do not drive hard on it at all. In fact I drove it really easy for the first 5000 miles(not reving it past 4000 rpm).
Thanks Guys
late
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 757
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
C32AMG
It's likely that the rings aren't seated yet...high oil consumption on a low mileage engine is indicative of poor ring sealing.
Babying the engine when it's new will do this.I'm not saying that it should be run WFO during break-in,but you need to load the engine enough to force the rings against the cylinder walls so that they seat properly.Driving the car "really easy" when it is brand new will often result in glazed cylinderwalls.
See if you can have the shop do a leak-down test on all cylinders...I'll bet that they'll find more leakage than normal.
Give it a thorough Italian tune-up.
You won't hurt it.
Babying the engine when it's new will do this.I'm not saying that it should be run WFO during break-in,but you need to load the engine enough to force the rings against the cylinder walls so that they seat properly.Driving the car "really easy" when it is brand new will often result in glazed cylinderwalls.
See if you can have the shop do a leak-down test on all cylinders...I'll bet that they'll find more leakage than normal.
Give it a thorough Italian tune-up.
You won't hurt it.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
13' M350 BlueTEC
Follow up
Well they decided to first look at the keyless locking/unlocking problem. turns out that the atenna that receives the signal is bad. so they replced that.
now they are checking out the oil consumption. I will let you know what comes of that.
I cant beleive I went to easy on the engine. thanks for the info. good to know that stuff.
now they are checking out the oil consumption. I will let you know what comes of that.
I cant beleive I went to easy on the engine. thanks for the info. good to know that stuff.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,260
Likes: 6
From: Philadelphia area
2010 ML550, 2010 E350 4M, 1966 Corvette Convt C2
Actually you could have one of the rare bad engines. In this day and age break in does not mean much as so far as ring seating is concerned. Its also possible that its someting like a valve seal. Work with the dealer to resolve the issue
Almost a Member!
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
From: San Francisco
2004 CLK 320
I'd be very surprised if it was your rings. BTW they are "seated" and revving or loading the motor won't do anything for you now after 5k miles.
That theory is genrally applied for motorbike and race engines.
That theory is genrally applied for motorbike and race engines.
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 757
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
C32AMG
"That theory is genrally applied for motorbike and race engines."
Not quite.I've built a lot of engines,and none of them really ran well until they had been run hard.My point is that the rings may not be fully seated yet.
It won't be any cost to the owner to try by running the engine hard.I would be surprised if that didn't make some improvement.
If the oil leak-source is indeed valve-stem seals,he'll see some white smoke under high vacuum conditions,especially at startup before the catalysts light off.
As I posted earlier,a leakdown test would help to understand more about what's going on inside the engine.
Last of all,an engine is an engine,whether it's in a bike,street car or "race engine".No magic,just physics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to James' original post...by any chance are you trying to keep the oil level as full/high as possible?.That will quite often increase oil consumption,as the engine will blow oil out until the level goes down.In addition,checking the oil after a gas fillup isn't really enough time to get an accurate reading:I would expect it to indicate a bit low when checked under those conditions.
I run all my engines at the lower end of their operating ranges.A couple of them will promptly readjust their levels down to this point if they are filled to the upper limit of their respective levels.
Not quite.I've built a lot of engines,and none of them really ran well until they had been run hard.My point is that the rings may not be fully seated yet.
It won't be any cost to the owner to try by running the engine hard.I would be surprised if that didn't make some improvement.
If the oil leak-source is indeed valve-stem seals,he'll see some white smoke under high vacuum conditions,especially at startup before the catalysts light off.
As I posted earlier,a leakdown test would help to understand more about what's going on inside the engine.
Last of all,an engine is an engine,whether it's in a bike,street car or "race engine".No magic,just physics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to James' original post...by any chance are you trying to keep the oil level as full/high as possible?.That will quite often increase oil consumption,as the engine will blow oil out until the level goes down.In addition,checking the oil after a gas fillup isn't really enough time to get an accurate reading:I would expect it to indicate a bit low when checked under those conditions.
I run all my engines at the lower end of their operating ranges.A couple of them will promptly readjust their levels down to this point if they are filled to the upper limit of their respective levels.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
13' M350 BlueTEC
the tricky thing about measuring my cars oil
the c class does not come with a dip stick. You have to drive the car for a while and then let it sit for a couple of minutes on a level suface. All top offs to the oil that have happened in the past were because I was made aware of it by my center counsole FSS thing turning red while I was driving. Since I am going on a trip this weekend to Palm Desert I decided that I should check my oil. It turned out to be a qt low.
Another thing about the way I treat my car. Whenever I start it, I always let it warm up. I switch the center counsole FSS thing to the car temperature, the bar that grows from left to right, and wait for it to get at least two pixels thick. Is that being to easy on my car? Like I said earlier I am just trying to take really good care of this car.
Another thing about the way I treat my car. Whenever I start it, I always let it warm up. I switch the center counsole FSS thing to the car temperature, the bar that grows from left to right, and wait for it to get at least two pixels thick. Is that being to easy on my car? Like I said earlier I am just trying to take really good care of this car.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
13' M350 BlueTEC
Oil consumption test
They are preforming the oil consumption test on me. I am to log my driving and return after 1000 miles. I will tell you guys how things go.
thanks for you help.
thanks for you help.
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
From: Northeast
2002 MB E55 AMG
James ... here's a theory:
Maybe it's at least in part a DEALER problem. As in 'DUH' getting the right amount of oil in the engine in the first place.
Mine was overfilled on Service A (can damage the engine if not corrected) and, recognizing the error, I took it right back in.
TJC
Maybe it's at least in part a DEALER problem. As in 'DUH' getting the right amount of oil in the engine in the first place.
Mine was overfilled on Service A (can damage the engine if not corrected) and, recognizing the error, I took it right back in.
TJC
