2005 W211 e 320cdi - oil level conundrum

[morzov]

I am changing the engine oil on my e320 cdi with inline 6 cyl engine. It,s on level ground

It has a dipstick tube but no dipstick.

I have extracted 6.5 litres of oil using a Pela 6000 vacuum pump ( took ages!)

Now faced with the following:

Oil capacity is 7.3 litres

Using the dashboard electronic measuring functions I get

Oil level 2.4 litres

Amount of oil required 2 litres

Neither of these seem at all feasible

I don’t have an oil dipstick but I do have a transmission dipstick. So I put that in and it shows 70mm oil.

Assuming the electronic readings are both off can anyone tell me what 70mm on dipstick represents in terms of oil quantity.

If it is 0.8 litre then that would tally with the 6.5 litres removed

 

[Bellow]

Volume in CC = length x width x 7cm. If you can measure the sump dimensions at its base.

 

[W1ghty]

I am changing the engine oil on my e320 cdi with inline 6 cyl engine. It,s on level ground

It has a dipstick tube but no dipstick.

I have extracted 6.5 litres of oil using a Pela 6000 vacuum pump ( took ages!)

Now faced with the following:

Oil capacity is 7.3 litres

Using the dashboard electronic measuring functions I get

Oil level 2.4 litres

Amount of oil required 2 litres

Neither of these seem at all feasible

I don’t have an oil dipstick but I do have a transmission dipstick. So I put that in and it shows 70mm oil.

Assuming the electronic readings are both off can anyone tell me what 70mm on dipstick represents in terms of oil quantity.

If it is 0.8 litre then that would tally with the 6.5 litres removed

Just buy a new dipstick for that car ?

 

[morzov]

Volume in CC = length x width x 7cm. If you can measure the sump dimensions at its base.

I don,t think the sump is a uniform depth.

 

[Bellow]

I don,t think the sump is a uniform depth.

Can you measure its length and width at its base and again at 70mm above its base and average the measurements?

 

[Smiley]

Best solution is to drain the sump from the drain plug, refill with the correct volume of oil then measure where it comes to on the dipstick that you have - then you will know where you are for definite.

 

[W1ghty]

I’m still going with why not buy a correct dipstick

 

[Smiley]

I’m still going with why not buy a correct dipstick

afaik there is not a "correct" dipstick - it is just "a dipstick" - it does not fit all of the way in and sit in the tube all the time like the om642 one - so you have to figure out where the full mark is for yourself anyway.

 

[morzov]

Thanks for the replies. Did it via vacuum pump in the end. Both dashboard oil measurements then seemed to work when oil put in and I now have “oil level ok“ and “oil level 7.2 litres”.

TBH - interesting exercise but a bit of a faff and probably just let my Indy do it next time.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

afaik there is not a "correct" dipstick - it is just "a dipstick" - it does not fit all of the way in and sit in the tube all the time like the om642 one - so you have to figure out where the full mark is for yourself anyway.

You could buy the correct one and then leave it in if you want , why mb decided on a sensor over a dipstick but still fit a tube was simply dumb.

 

[Smiley]

You could buy the correct one and then leave it in if you want , why mb decided on a sensor over a dipstick but still fit a tube was simply dumb.

When I looked into it I could not find a dipstick that is the correct length and stays in the car - the one I have is too long but I do know where the full mark is now. I would agree that it was a very stupid design - and especially as there is some dismantling to be done before you can even insert the dipstick.

 

[rf065]

My CLK was the same, you can buy a dipstick from Ebay and WIS has information on how many mm for the high and low markings on the dipstick for your car. Just mark the one from ebay accordingly and that's all you need.
I too used the electronic measurement but found it never went below 2.4 litres after all the oil was pumped out, which should have read empty. Same when overfilled, it never went above 6.8 litres. Having a suction pump allowed me to experiment as much as I liked and my conclusion was, you cannot beat a dipstick. Cannot understand why Mercedes thought they knew better!

 

[morzov]

Yes dipstick good idea but you have to take half the engine cover off to get to it and not sure which is correct one anyway.

Agree with comment about electronic measurement. Mine said 2.4 litres when it was supposedly empty,

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Yes dipstick good idea but you have to take half the engine cover off to get to it and not sure which is correct one anyway.

Agree with comment about electronic measurement. Mine said 2.4 litres when it was supposedly empty,

 

[Bayleaf]

I may be wrong but didn't MB go back to useing the dipstick as my 2013 350 petrol has one.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

I may be wrong but didn't MB go back to useing the dipstick as my 2013 350 petrol has one.

Of course they did.

The dealers used a dipstick when servicing the cars without a dipstick , they thought they could corner a service market by deleting it .