Best oil 2009 CLC 1.8

[Nimrod172]

Hello All,

I have a 2009 Clc 1.8 petrol, I drive approx 500 miles a week and I notice it drinks a lot of oil, I bought the car in Jan and it had about 1/4 up on the dipstick, and checking it Last week its dropped below the min line, I top up a litre of oil and lasts about a month does this seem normal for my usage? The car has 72000.

Also I notice when its cold outside or moist the car puffs out a cloud of white smoke when at idle only I only took notice because other cars dont seem to be smoking while mine is?

Following on whats the best kind of oil and brand? I've been using fully synth mobil 5W-30

Thanks for your help!

 

[190]

So approx. 1 litre every 2000 miles. While an engine with 72000 miles shouldn't do that, it's not a disastrous rate of consumption and within MB guidelines. You could try a 5W40 and another brand of oil such as Shell Helix Ultra.

 

[DSM10000]

As said, 2000 miles per litre is not excessive Are you absolutely sure there are no oil leaks ?

There could be leaks that only happen when the engine is warmed up and oil may drop onto the plastic covers under the engine and blow away with the slipstream

Ask your garage to get it up on a ramp and check for leaks as well as checking for a blocked engine breather circuit , you could also ask them to carry out a cylinder compression check.

 

[markjay]

You should also check for engine oil leaks. Lost oil will either drip on the road surface overnight, or will leak onto the exhaust pipe and burn-off leaving a burnt smell.

Also, check the engine block breather under the air filter box, if it is clogged it could give rise to high oil pressure and burst oil seals.

If there's no oil leak, then firstly make sure you are using the correct oil spec (MB 229.3 or MB229.5), and you can also try thicker oil e.g. 5W-40, though if your engine does have an oil consumption issue then this will only improve things slightly.

With regards white smoke, it is common for water vapour to manifest itself in this way when the engine is cold, and this is normal. Burnt oil will be bluish in colour and have a distinctive burnt oil smell to it.

 

[markjay]

Not directly related, but your car will have the M271 engine, which is prone to timing gear failure. At this mileage, I would also get the timing gear checked. Though this will not be the cause for the oil loss.

 

[markjay]

Other things you can try is take the car to an MB specialist who will scan the ECU for fault codes using STAR diagnostic computer, and you can also run a compression test and a piston oil leak test (by adding a spoon of oil into the combustion chambre and checking if compression goes up).

 

[markjay]

And last... I would avoid snake-oil remedies that promise to restore compression and reduce oil consumption such as lead pellets or oil additives etc.