1993_300SE

OK, so I just did an oil change. During my recent service visit, I know that the shop adjusted the oil level to correct for the leak so I figured it was correct. I used my pump to suck out the oil - got just about 8-8.5 liters out. Put 9 quarts back in. Checked it on the dipstick and it came up to the top of the red part, so I figured that maybe I was 1/2 quart over. Siphoned out 1/2 quart. Same result on dipstick. OK, so I siphon out another quart just to see what happens. Same result on the dipstick - still up to the very top of the read thing where it meets the wire.

The question is: How in the world do you check the oil in this thing? Does the blue dipstick mean I have to check it cold? I saw absolutely no change in reading even after removing over 1.5 quarts of oil.

DCElite

You should be able to check the oil level through the instrument cluster.

Diesel Benz

Is that a wish, speculation or did you just make a mistake?

I might agree that it could be useful to be able to read the oil level from the cluster menu like W211 cars do but if you mean "should" in this sense, it does not help the person asking if the car after all does not show oil level from the instrument cluster.

The cluster option exists on the S600, S420CDI and the S65AMG models only:
http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/manual...html#d75e49542

The car should stay steady for some time to reach an accurate reading with the dipstick. In this case I would not assume this being an issue. Perhaps your dipstick tube design is similar to that of mine (even if I have a different engine), the reading is only clear for the first time I check the stick after the car has been parked. If I take the dipstick out, clean it and measure (which I usually do), the dipstick is pretty messy from oil and I cannot find an accurate reading of the oil level.

1993_300SE

I am making the following assumptions here:

1. That the dealer had properly corrected the oil level prior to my change.
2. That the owner's manual correctly states that the car takes 8.98 quarts (8.5 liters)
3. That the measurements on my pump are accurate and that I really did take out approx 8-8.5 liters.

I checked again after about 30 minutes, and it seemed to show slightly below the top of the red thing (still above max). I checked again this morning and it was once again not measurable - both the first time I pulled the dipstick out and after I wiped and re-inserted it.

I talked to MBUSA yesterday and they recommended dropping the oil from the bottom in this engine because the oil pan is really deep. I did have to move the hose around a bit to get (what I believe was) all the oil out.

So, unless someone has a magic bullet, it appears as if I am faced with the following possible outcomes:

1. The engine was waaaay overfilled by the dealer to start with.
2. I did not get all the oil out when I used the pump method.
3. When I replaced the same amount as removed (and even removed an additional 2 quarts) it was still overfilled.
or 4. I really am just about 1.5 quarts low, not in the danger zone in either direction, and the dipstick just simply isn't an available option for checking oil.

Now the question is this: Exactly what kind of engine damage can occur if the engine has too much oil in it? I wonder if this could have been a cause of my leaky cam seals, if the oil had been too high for some time. The car seems to run fine.

1993_300SE

OK, for those of you interested here's the update:

1. I talked to the dealer tech and he said that they typically do overfill these because these engines are known to use oil in between changes. I was told that the overfilling doesn't hurt anything. I also read somewhere that there is actually room for an extra 2 quarts in the oil pan without damaging anything.
2. I talked to MBUSA and was told that there is a "oil level too high" warning on the S550. I am skeptical about this, but the dealer tells me this too
3. Most importantly I learned the "trick" to checking oil. Drive until the car is up to operating temp and then park for 5 minutes. It works like magic - I was actually able to get an accurate reading, just a couple mm above MAX. Fine.

As a side note I figure that there was probably 2 quarts too many in there (11). I then took out 8.5 quarts (11-8.5=2.5). I added 9 quarts (2.5+9=11.5) I removed just under 2.5 quarts (11.5-2.5ish=9ish). All is well with the world. Wow, what drama over an oil change!

1993_300SE

Another side note, I would love it if we could get an S420 CDI here in the US!!

JonMBZ

The car will tell you if the oil level is too high just fyi

1993_300SE

That is what I have heard, but I never saw that warning, even with 2 extra quarts in the crankcase. I wonder when the warning kicks in...

JonMBZ

Not really sure when it kicks in, but I have received many calls with clients concerned about the warning.