Engine Maintenance

[JSJ]

Hi guys,

I am clueless when it comes to cars so I was wondering what would be the best form of maintenance for my c180 kompressor 04 C class 4 door?

i.e
1) I have heard to keep the car left running for 1min before you drive off and before you turn the engine off (seems like a waste of time to me)

2) change oil at x number of miles. How many miles and which engine oil would be suitable for the engine of this type?

3) I kind of went a little fast in my car and now when i hit higher revs the car doesnt sound great and was wondering if there was a way to reduce the exhaust noise, or engines noise (or wherever it is coming from) and thats not through hiding the noise but more by servicing my car.

4) How about the automatic side of it? is there a way of servicing the gears etc or something I should be doing?

Apologies for the moronic posting but I really dont have a clue and I could read the manual but you guys put it plain and simple (with easy to follow instructions if poss)

 

[television]

Hi guys,

I am clueless when it comes to cars so I was wondering what would be the best form of maintenance for my c180 kompressor 04 C class 4 door?

i.e
1) I have heard to keep the car left running for 1min before you drive off and before you turn the engine off (seems like a waste of time to me)

2) change oil at x number of miles. How many miles and which engine oil would be suitable for the engine of this type?

3) I kind of went a little fast in my car and now when i hit higher revs the car doesnt sound great and was wondering if there was a way to reduce the exhaust noise, or engines noise (or wherever it is coming from) and thats not through hiding the noise but more by servicing my car.

4) How about the automatic side of it? is there a way of servicing the gears etc or something I should be doing?

Apologies for the moronic posting but I really dont have a clue and I could read the manual but you guys put it plain and simple (with easy to follow instructions if poss)

(1) Warming up the car before you drive it is not recommended, start it up and drive away, do not thrash it until warm.

(2) Any good make of fully synthetic that meets the spec in your service book

(4) do have the fluid and filter change at 60k miles

 

[recycled]

start up and drive off. do not rev for full power until temp reaches midway at least.
Fully synthethic oil mobil 1 0w- 30 or 0w-40 will do. every 10K miles. shell ultra
ATF fluid 60kmiles

 

[c240yaz]

Hi guys,

I am clueless when it comes to cars so I was wondering what would be the best form of maintenance for my c180 kompressor 04 C class 4 door?

i.e
1) I have heard to keep the car left running for 1min before you drive off and before you turn the engine off (seems like a waste of time to me)

2) change oil at x number of miles. How many miles and which engine oil would be suitable for the engine of this type?

3) I kind of went a little fast in my car and now when i hit higher revs the car doesnt sound great and was wondering if there was a way to reduce the exhaust noise, or engines noise (or wherever it is coming from) and thats not through hiding the noise but more by servicing my car.

4) How about the automatic side of it? is there a way of servicing the gears etc or something I should be doing?

Apologies for the moronic posting but I really dont have a clue and I could read the manual but you guys put it plain and simple (with easy to follow instructions if poss)

Regarding item 1). No need whatsoever to leave the engine running for 5 seconds, never mind 1 minute, before switching off. Who told you this nonsense ? Definately a waste of time.

(Delay in engine turn off does apply to some helicopter engines, but for more than 1 minute! )

 

[Harley Man]

shell ultra ATF fluid 60kmiles

I would not use anything other than the genuine MB auto trans fluid, there is no eqiv listed.

Its only on Turbo's you should run them for a min or so after a hard drive to allow the oil to cool the turbo bearings and stop the oil getting baked in the bearings

Harley Man

 

[Glenn Smith]

I would not use anything other than the genuine MB auto trans fluid, there is no eqiv listed.

Its only on Turbo's you should run them for a min or so after a hard drive to allow the oil to cool the turbo bearings and stop the oil getting baked in the bearings

Harley Man

Any engine that has been driven hard will benefit from a short period of idle to let things cool down slightly, turbo engine are more important.
Merc. workshops use shell atf 3403 ml15.
As for warming up, in very cold weather there may be a benefit from allowing the motor to warm slightly before driving, personaly i never drive off straight away i always allow a few seconds for the oil to circulate and the fast idle to settle down.

 

[recycled]

I would not use anything other than the genuine MB auto trans fluid, there is no eqiv listed.

Its only on Turbo's you should run them for a min or so after a hard drive to allow the oil to cool the turbo bearings and stop the oil getting baked in the bearings

Harley Man

shell ultra is the oil. it came out wrong on the type face. Is there any shell ultra atf fluid?I think not.

 

[Dieselman]

Merc. workshops use shell atf 3403 ml15.

Oh no they don't. They use MB ATF A001 989 210 310.

 

[recycled]

Any engine that has been driven hard will benefit from a short period of idle to let things cool down slightly, turbo engine are more important.
Merc. workshops use shell atf 3403 ml15.
As for warming up, in very cold weather there may be a benefit from allowing the motor to warm slightly before driving, personaly i never drive off straight away i always allow a few seconds for the oil to circulate and the fast idle to settle down.

Well the handbook says in mine start up and drive away briskly.Do not ask for full power until the temp has reached midway point

 

[Dieselman]

Well the handbook says in mine start up and drive away briskly.Do not ask for full power until the temp has reached midway point

That's right, although a few seconds of warm up isn't going to hurt and may allow the metal to expand uniformly.

What it means is don't allow the engine to sit idleing as it's bad for emissions and the engine, but conversely don't thrash it either.

 

[Glenn Smith]

Oh no they don't. They use MB ATF A001 989 210 310.

I was looking for an alternative, at my local the technician there took the details of his barrel which was shell, what do you think is in a bottle of merc atf? i think you'll find it's bottled and labeled for mercedes they don't actually make the stuff.
I don't let my engine warm up but just start and give a few seconds for the oil to get around, before putting in gear i allow the fast idle to slow slightly, this allows things to settle slightly and friction to reduce from the cold start, before putting load on the engine. but i'm only talking a few seconds.

 

[BlackC55]

MB uses 3 different types of atf.

One for the early boxes S&E switch

One for the 722.6 box

And one for the 7Gtronic.

That shell atf is probably for the early boxes.

 

[W321]

That's right, although a few seconds of warm up isn't going to hurt and may allow the metal to expand uniformly.

What it means is don't allow the engine to sit idleing as it's bad for emissions and the engine, but conversely don't thrash it either.

Totally agreed.

Don't forget that gravity is always at work. When a vehicle (any vehicle for that matter) has been parked for a significant amount of time e.g. over night, the oil settles at the bottom of the engine (in a reservior called an oil sump).

This is one of the reasons why you shouldn't race the engine first thing in the morning. You need to allow the oil to spread throughout the engine and lubricate all the moving parts. Otherwise, in the long-run you may damage you engine.

With this in mind, I think it's prudent to let the engine run for a few seconds before you take off. I would even dare say that the engine runs better when you do this. (Just my humble opinion)

 

[MBManInKen]

As for warming up, in very cold weather there may be a benefit from allowing the motor to warm slightly before driving, personaly i never drive off straight away i always allow a few seconds for the oil to circulate and the fast idle to settle down.

Mercedes disagree with you:

During cold weather, you do not need to wait for your car to 'warm up'. Starting off straight away will actually get the oil moving through your car's engine sooner and reduce wear on its moving parts.

 

[Glenn Smith]

MB uses 3 different types of atf.

One for the early boxes S&E switch

One for the 722.6 box

And one for the 7Gtronic.

That shell atf is probably for the early boxes.

No it is the one recommended for the 722.6 and the only one they were using, 7G not out at the time.

 

[ceejaySL]

As for stopping, on turbo cars, Honest John (and others) advise to run the engine on for a minute at rest after a lot of use to let the turbo cool down enough to let the oil lubricate the bearings rather than glaze with the heat as it would otherwise.

 

[Glenn Smith]

Mercedes disagree with you:

So we start our engine, slam into gear and go, not me, don't give a monkeys what Mercedes say, i am a service technician and can assure any one that allowing a few seconds before setting off is beneficial to the wear any engine, what Mercedes are saying is that warming up is not beneficial, wastes fuel and increases wear, i agree completely, i'm not talking warming up just a few seconds, say 5-10 (conversely my Jag handbook does recommend warming at fast idle in very cold weather, but only for a short time.)

 

[eurico]

Let's put a little gasoline in the camp fire....
Modern cars all have heating cats that are active during the engine heating period so no problem in letting the engine idle when cold. In my opinion this however is highly benefitial because:
1) Oil takes a little time to get to the top end. Try removing the cam cover of a over winter night parked car and start the engine. You will be amazed at a) the time it takes for the oil to reach there and b) the mess you will make.
2) Engine bearing gap is designed mainly with a specific viscosity in mind. If properly calculated you can even run water through them with no problems - some time back there was a Slick50 advertisment that just did that. Bearings are made to have a oil wedge that impedes metal-to-metal contact - that's the priciple of hidrodynamic lubrication. When oil is cold, it's viscosity is "wrong", so they don't work properly not being able to withstand load. When it's too hot, same happens due to oil being too thin.
3) If you let the engine warm for some time (I let it in neutral for around 20 s) you are allowing for the oil to reach everywhere and get to some temperature (viscosity) without any load. The Mobil 1 advertisment that states that engine wear is done mainly when it is started is quite true - there is lot of metal-to-metal contact before oil gets circulating and if you apply load, you are forcing things together that should be apart.
I think all the manufacturers tell you to drive away as soon as you start in order to keep fuel consumption to the minimum possible. Idling in neutral does't take you anywhere...
I believe that the ideal situation would be to get things up to service temperature before using - bit like foreplay...

Use fully sythetic oil. The cheapest synthetic is better than the best mineral. Whenever choosing an oil, look at the viscosity index. That will tell you how the oil behaves when hot. It's basicaly the angle of the line that defines the correlation of viscosity and temperature. The higher the better. As an example: Mobil 1 0W40 has an vi of 187 and a Mobil Super 4T (full mineral) has only 141. In other words, when thigs get hot (when you are in a suthern european traffic jam in July, stopped in the middle lane with A/C on), mineral oil has gives up it's ghost (literaly - solvents evaporate) even if changed 50 metres before. What's remaining is a sludge forming vile substance like the x-files eye blackening alien stuff that is trying to block everything it passes through. Synthetics have a better chance of keeping metal things apart from each other.
So no use in using mineral oil and changing it every 5000 km as do.
Myth - shake a bottle of mineral oil and a synthetic one. First one is better because it's thicker - wrong. When hot, mineral water is almost as thin as water.
Another point is MB spec oil 229.5 vs 229.51. Don't use latter when you don't have a DPF. You are buying a lesser oil for more money. Mobil 1 0W40 (229.5) has a vi of 187 and Mobil 1 ESP 5W30 (229.51) has a lesser value of 164. I did a little research on oil for my C270 and turned out that Mobil 1 0W40 was the best option - no I don't get any money if you buy Mobil stuff. Just used as an example because I had all the info at hand.
Are you still reading? Haven't fallen asleep due to boredome? Slap yourself as there's more coming....
OEM 722.6 oil was made by Shell but you can also get it from dutch Kroon oil (http://www.kroon-oil.com/uk/products/productcatalog.php?prodid=344&m=desc)
OEM 722.9 (ATF 3353) is also made by Shell and Fuchs. You can also get it from Mobil but the specs are exactly the same as the Fuchs oil. As MB and Fuchs state that it can also be used in the 722.6, I am planning to change the oil on my car with this newer stuff. Will post results of broken gears when I finish the job.
Hope I didn't torch the camp, but these toughts are my humble and researched opinions. I could go on forever...

 

[recycled]

pheew!!

 

[Dieselman]

1) Oil takes a little time to get to the top end. Try removing the cam cover of a over winter night parked car and start the engine. You will be amazed at a) the time it takes for the oil to reach there and b) the mess you will make.

If the oil takes a while to get there why will it make a mess?
I suspect it's because the cam lobes will be throwing the oil around that is trapped in the cam lubricating sumps in the head to supply oil at start up, as it's supposed to so it is lubricating.

If your oil is taking a while to pump to the top of the engine you have a problem, possibly the non return valve is allowing oil to drain back to the sump out of the pump and filter.

2) Engine bearing gap is designed mainly with a specific viscosity in mind. If properly calculated you can even run water through them with no problems - some time back there was a Slick50 advertisement that just did that.

And did they show the scoring that Slick 50 will impart due to the particles wearing the bearing surfaces? No solid additive is going to be good for an engine. Engines will quite happily run on no oil for a while with no damage.
You also mean the bearing clearances are designed with a specific oil viscosity and flow rate. Typically the less friction loss required the wider the clearance but to stop contact a thicker oil is used and a high flow oil pump.

I believe that the ideal situation would be to get things up to service temperature before using - bit like foreplay...

I'll take a thermometer to bed with me, what temperature would you suggest..?

Whenever choosing an oil, look at the viscosity index. That will tell you how the oil behaves when hot. It's basically the angle of the line that defines the correlation of viscosity and temperature. The higher the better. As an example: Mobil 1 0W40 has an vi of 187 and a Mobil Super 4T (full mineral) has only 141.

If only it was that simple. The wider the Vi the more likely an oil is to break down under shear loads. Reason; the oil is actually the thinner viscosity oil with polymer chains that extend once warm to keep the oil in grade. if they have a wide range to cover they have to do more work to maintain both grades and tend to break down more.

So no use in using mineral oil and changing it every 5000 km as do.
Myth - shake a bottle of mineral oil and a synthetic one. First one is better because it's thicker - wrong. When hot, mineral water is almost as thin as water.

Depending on the viscosity grade. If both products are say 50 grade they will be the same viscosity at the same temperature.

Another point is MB spec oil 229.5 vs 229.51. Don't use latter when you don't have a DPF. You are buying a lesser oil for more money. Mobil 1 0W40 (229.5) has a vi of 187 and Mobil 1 ESP 5W30 (229.51) has a lesser value of 164.

Back to the old Vi again.

I did a little research on oil for my C270 and turned out that Mobil 1 0W40 was the best option - no I don't get any money if you buy Mobil stuff.

Hope I didn't torch the camp, but these toughts are my humble and researched opinions. I could go on forever...

Where was your research done, it appears that it was the Mobil 1 and Slick 50 websites.