Happened to check the oil level indicator today down 2 quarts. Good thing I checked
05-13-2018, 11:09 PM
#1
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Happened to check the oil level indicator today down 2 quarts. Good thing I checked
Been being a little more hard on the car lately, revving it a bit more and just having some fun. Really enjoying the handling in the twistys, nice to have turns, in Florida it was mostly straight out flat. Anyhow, driving along the highway today I hit the service indicator and oil level. To my amazement it said Add 2 Quarts. Strange because I got no message on the display panel prior to going into the service menu. My suggestion to everyone is check it there occasionally, Glad I did. The car now has 7500 miles on it and is 2500 away from the 10K service A. When I pulled the car in my garage I had a couple of quarts of Mobil 1 on the shelf and added both quarts. Started the car up and rechecked the level. Still saying add two quarts. Turned it off and restarted and checked again, still add two quarts.
I had to go out in my Truck for a while so left the car. Came back home around 10 tonight and started the car and ran it and hit the button again and still add 2 quarts showing. I'm thinking at this point, it's gotta go to the dealer, maybe by me adding the 2 quarts it is now overfilled two quarts as when I was in Florida the gauge seemed to be staying in the middle pretty well, just within the last 2000 miles this has happened. The car had run about 5 minutes idling and low and behold when I popped back up the oil level gauge it is now reading just a shade below max. and green all the way up to there.
Moral of the story, the gauge only updates at certain intervals and if you were to get over anxious and add a couple more quarts while it was still saying Add 2 quarts I woulda been overfilled 2 quarts then. Although I'd have to have been pretty stupid to put in a total of 4 quarts when it was only saying down 2 quarts to start with. Long winded post but just beware the oil gauge does take time of the engine on to update but does seem pretty accurate at least in my car.
I can imagine benz must have reliability tested this setup pretty well as you really need to count on this gauge. The only thing that gets me is I wish it woulda alerted me on the dash before I physically checked the gauge that the car was down 2 quarts, strange it did not. I'm wondering now how many quarts the car has to be down before a message does pop up on the dash? I should be good now though for the next 2500 miles until the first oil change at 10K miles in a couple of months.
I had to go out in my Truck for a while so left the car. Came back home around 10 tonight and started the car and ran it and hit the button again and still add 2 quarts showing. I'm thinking at this point, it's gotta go to the dealer, maybe by me adding the 2 quarts it is now overfilled two quarts as when I was in Florida the gauge seemed to be staying in the middle pretty well, just within the last 2000 miles this has happened. The car had run about 5 minutes idling and low and behold when I popped back up the oil level gauge it is now reading just a shade below max. and green all the way up to there.
Moral of the story, the gauge only updates at certain intervals and if you were to get over anxious and add a couple more quarts while it was still saying Add 2 quarts I woulda been overfilled 2 quarts then. Although I'd have to have been pretty stupid to put in a total of 4 quarts when it was only saying down 2 quarts to start with. Long winded post but just beware the oil gauge does take time of the engine on to update but does seem pretty accurate at least in my car.
I can imagine benz must have reliability tested this setup pretty well as you really need to count on this gauge. The only thing that gets me is I wish it woulda alerted me on the dash before I physically checked the gauge that the car was down 2 quarts, strange it did not. I'm wondering now how many quarts the car has to be down before a message does pop up on the dash? I should be good now though for the next 2500 miles until the first oil change at 10K miles in a couple of months.
Last edited by 2012 merc amg; 05-13-2018 at 11:15 PM.
05-14-2018, 02:47 PM
#2
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I posted about this issue recently. I have the same issues, the oil level gauge is a joke. I had mine checked and the dealership changed the electronic dipstick with absolutely no change in the eratic behavior (from “add two quarts, all green to remove excess oill”). As we speak my car is at another dealership for diagnostics. Recently, I did however, get a notification about removing excess oil but it shows up inconsistently. I was trying to find out the exact procedure to check the oil level but there are so many takes on it that I gave up. I wish I could get an answer directly from the manufacturer. Every time my oil level gauge was showing either too much or too low, the dealer physically checked the level and told me it was OK. By digging more into the issue I realized that these guys are pretty clueless .... it’s unacceptable and quite sad. I would say not to rush to add or remove oil until you have it checked at the dealership.... maybe they’ll tell you the right procedure to check the oil level otherwise you’ll be better off flipping a coin. I’ll update with what I learn when I pick up my car.
05-14-2018, 03:31 PM
#3
Proper procedure with an electronic measurement is pretty critical. With my porsche, I'm pretty sure the manual states the engine should be off / cool and the car on a level surface. I imagine if the system is designed to be measured in that state, measuring oil with the engine running or right after having been run could give significantly different answers.
Also, if you add oil, probably good to cycle the engine and drive around before rechecking through the diagnostic tool.
Isn't there a distinct set of instructions to measure the oil in these cars? I looked at the manual online but it just says use the dip stick (which obviously doesn't wok here). Seems bizarre that MB didn't provide information on this.
Also, if you add oil, probably good to cycle the engine and drive around before rechecking through the diagnostic tool.
Isn't there a distinct set of instructions to measure the oil in these cars? I looked at the manual online but it just says use the dip stick (which obviously doesn't wok here). Seems bizarre that MB didn't provide information on this.
05-14-2018, 05:19 PM
#4
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So with my 2015 BMW 750Li the procedure is very clear and the computer won’t do it if you don’t respect the specific steps: leveled surface, engine running (yes, running!) at operating temperature. I thought that with the electronic dipsticks the engine must be running and at operating temperature and not cold with the oil drained in the pan as with the manual dipstick check. It is absolutely sad for MB to describe in their 2018 manuals the oil check process for manual dipsticks when our cars don’t have a manual dipstick. People should get fired for this and, yet, lack of knowledge seems to be the norm while customers pay exorbitant prices for MB cars equipped with video games.
05-14-2018, 06:22 PM
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I pretty sure it's like the BMW in that it should be operating temp and running and on a level surface. To be safe I'd let it idle 5 or 10 minutes. I'd say in doing it this way you'll come up with pretty consistent readings from what I've seen. At least with my car based on being down 2 quarts in 7500 miles or so I'd say oil use of a quart every 3000 miles is not unreasonable. So even if the oil had not been checked at all for the 10K miles it might be down around 3 quarts and being that the engine holds nearly 9 would not have been the end of the world. Today I noticed after adding the 2 quarts it said it wanted yesterday I was getting a reduce oil reading when I checked it at the market parking lot and then when I got the car home in the garage no more reduce oil message it is just up to the max mark on the green graph. So it's fairly touchy when it's on either end of the spectrum whether it be to add oil or reduce oil. But yes, Benz should have better documentation on all this just as with the intercooler shields, that issue should have been addressed more rather than simply adding them to the newer builds and not telling the people without the shields who are driving around risking intercooler damage. They are gonna be mighty pissed when they find out Benz knew about all this and they need to spend $2500.00 to replace an intercooler.
05-15-2018, 11:05 PM
#6
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Update on the oil level check: the sensor was right, they put 1/2 quart more than required. They took all the oil out (in a clean pan!) and then put the same oil back, less 1/2 quart. Now, the indicator is green. Naturally, I asked for the millionth time what is the correct procedure to check the oil level in our cars with electronic dipstick. The service manager told me that it is the same as in the old cars with manual dipsticks: engine off, let the oil drain into the pan and then check the dipstick by switching the ignition to the “accessories” level (engine still off). Then the mechanic came by and said that the engine has to be idle at operating temperature and the car has to be leveled; when I asked if I can check the oil driving at highway speeds, he also said that’s OK. Then I pushed the limits and said: “so basically I can check the oil level through my service console anytime I want as long as the car is leveled and the engine has operating temperature regardless whether the car is at highway speeds or stopped and idling”. He validated that to be true. I then asked: “how do you guys check it in service?”. He said, we check it at operating temperature and idling. This is the closest to the procedure that I follow with my BMW so maybe this is the correct one. Nevertheless, it is quite frustrating to ask simple, basic questions and not have anybody give you a full straight correct answer.
05-16-2018, 12:08 AM
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Glad you got it solved. I plan on always just checking it in my garage with it idling I know the garage is level and the being level is the key, anything off and you will get inaccurate reading just like with a dipstick. I use to own a quick lube and had people come back sometimes who'd checked their oil on unlevel ground and blamed us for underfilling or overfilling and then were shocked to see it was right on the full line when I checked it. Of course nobody ever apologized lol 
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05-18-2018, 11:19 PM
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I'm pretty sure now the proper way to check the oil is to have the ignition in the first click with the car off and the oil gauge on from the service menu and then click the start button one more time without pushing the brake to the ignition on position and it will come on the oil gauge screen for a few seconds saying "Measuring oil level" then it will come up with a reading. I'm pretty sure the oil should be hot doing this, although I'll try it tomorrow AM with the oil cold and see if I come up with the same reading which right now is right on the Max line as I added oil the other day because it said it was low.
05-19-2018, 12:23 AM
#9
I'm pretty sure now the proper way to check the oil is to have the ignition in the first click with the car off and the oil gauge on from the service menu and then click the start button one more time without pushing the brake to the ignition on position and it will come on the oil gauge screen for a few seconds saying "Measuring oil level" then it will come up with a reading. I'm pretty sure the oil should be hot doing this, although I'll try it tomorrow AM with the oil cold and see if I come up with the same reading which right now is right on the Max line as I added oil the other day because it said it was low.
05-19-2018, 12:52 AM
#10
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I still believe that the engine has to be running, although the electronic dipstick will give you a reading in all circumstances aside from when the key is totally in the off position. Mine is now showing green whether I’m driving, idling or in the accessory mode. Please post your findings to see if anything makes sense in the end.
05-19-2018, 01:08 AM
#11
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Curious, why the confidence in this particular method? Also, if it's supposed to be when the engine is off, would seem more logical to me that you'd get a more consistent reading when the engine/oil is cold. If then engine has been running recently there'd be an inconsistent amount in wherever the oil gets pooled+measured (in my mind some of the oil is still in the other area of the system until things have had time to cool and settle). I would think it's either engine off + cold, or engine on + operational temp.
