Excess engine oil -- Please help

[mymelody88]

Had my C220 cdi service few weeks ago, however, ever since, after I done about 7 miles or so (when the car warmed up), the excess engine oil comes up.

I took it back to the garage, and they said there is nothing to worry about. As it will burn off quite quickly (as i do about 200miles a day). however, has been 3 weeks now. The message start to beep when done 7 miles of the journey.

Have they overfilled it? (i mean a lot?)

I check the level when the car is parked etc etc... sometimes it says 'ok', and sometimes it says 'excess oil'. but is parked at the same location.

Can someone give me some advice and put my mind at rest please....

 

[Rory]

How old is the car?

If it's under warranty it's not acceptable to be getting false warnings. Suppose the car was overfilled in the future, perhaps by another driver, and you ignored the warning.

 

[mymelody88]

is 2001. brought the car beginning of the year, serviced twice (including this time). Both times I did a service B, as I do a lot of miles. last service was fine. but just this time, after getting the car back from garage, drive for about 7miles, the 'excess warning light' comes on.
But when it stationary and parked, when I check on the dash board, sometimes it says 'excess oil' but sometime it says 'ok'. even on the exact same parking spot.

So does that mean they havn't overfill that much? and they should be right that with the mileage i do, it soon be the right level again? Thanks!!

 

[alexander patie]

they have overfilled it, probably no more than 1/2 litre. it will probably do no harm at all. if it were at my garage we would have apologised and adjusted the level, not fobbed you off and told you not to worry. we like to keep our customers coming back...

was it main dealer, MB specialist or 'fred in a shed'?

 

[grober]

Absolutely no excuse for this. You should never run a modern car with excess oil. Best to run with oil level 1/2 way between min and max levels. I would buy a cheap dipstick/tool on E bay and check it yourself.

 

[SilverSaloon]

yes this is pretty poor.

you could get a hand syphon and suck some of the oil from the dipstick tube - maybe a little bit at a time until you no longer get the reading coming up.

or just insist they correct it (which is what i would do in this instance).

It could take a very long time to burn off or not at all. - all in which time you are running overfull.

 

[Rory]

I was thinking that it's probably a sensor fault.
If the car is doing 200miles per day then the oil level wouldn't stay too high for long, unless there's some other fault which is causing diesel to be diluted into the engine oil

 

[jaymanek]

There are various threads on here about this.
I wouldnt jump to blaming the garage straight away. Unfortunately the sensors are over sensitive and adding the book amount of oil (remember no dipstick) will inevitabley show as too much oil once driven.
It will show as ok in the garage but once the car has been driven and the oil expands you will get your message.

As a rule of thumb we always add 250 ml less than the book amount.

Safest thing to do is ask a local garage to remove a small amount.

 

[Tres Lomas]

Watching this thread...."making oil ?"

I have been watching this thread. Have you solved your problem ?

If not, is the oiil the correct color ? Does it have a smell of diesel fuel ?
You could have a bigger problem that is putting your motor at risk.

 

[stwat]

This thread(old as it is)just fuels my utter hatred of this 'trust the computer to look after the cars' syndrome on newer MB's and the confusion it brings to the car owners Why do away with bloody dip sticks and say that gearboxes are 'sealed for life' when all it does is make the running of the cars much harder for the owners to keep on top of?

Relying on a computer to tell you what the level of the oil is, when the computer doesn't seem to have a clue in the first place, is utter madness!!

Even the dealers and specialist don't seem to be able to get their heads round this idiocracy. "oh just leave it, it will be fine once it's burnt some off" To much oil in an engine is just as bad as having to little!! It pushes itself through seals and causes damage to breather systems, pipes and sensors etc and can cause unseen problems that only rear their heads in years to come.

Whats wrong with having an old fashioned engine and gearbox dipstick so at least people with even very little mechanical know how can at least check the levels from time to time without having to try and guess whether the warning they are getting is for low or high oil level etc.

Sorry for the rant but as you might have noticed, its one of my pet hates!

 

[kashif333]

i have the same problem with my C220 04 reg but next day when i check the oil level b4 start its come's up normal.........help pls....

 

[AndyPCD]

The correct way to check the oil is with the star machine as this gives you the most accurate way to check it. It wont be over filled by much but as the car warms up so does the oil and it expands then giving a reading that it is over filled. It would of taken the dealer about five minutes to check and correct the oil level for you.

 

[SSBB]

Having had similar issues with my C220, I have a plan...
Next service (done by me) Im going to overfill the engine oil just enough to activate the warning system, then I'll drain a small amount from the sump while the plastic sump guards are off, until the warning goes off, Ill remove a further 150ml and at that point a dipstick from a donor car (any one) will be used to physicaly measure the oil level which is now at its upper limit. I'll scribe a mark on the donor dipstick and use it the old fashioned way from then on.

 

[LTD]

The correct way to check the oil is with the star machine as this gives you the most accurate way to check it. It wont be over filled by much but as the car warms up so does the oil and it expands then giving a reading that it is over filled. It would of taken the dealer about five minutes to check and correct the oil level for you.

1. Dealers have STAR, owners don't. How can the owner check accurately if the dealer cannot take head or use the most accurate tool for the job ?

2. Overfilling by anything is plainly wrong. Given the dealer has STAR to determine by the most accurate method then it stands to reason that it should be correct. 100% correct.

If this is the level of service attained - could you trust them to use a torque wrench properly ?

I'd return and ask them to rectify the situation and offer some form of compensation for YOUR time and effort. You have already paid them for work they failed to carry out properly. After all, it's your car they are neglecting - not theirs.

 

[AndyPCD]

1. Dealers have STAR, owners don't. How can the owner check accurately if the dealer cannot take head or use the most accurate tool for the job ?

2. Overfilling by anything is plainly wrong. Given the dealer has STAR to determine by the most accurate method then it stands to reason that it should be correct. 100% correct.

If this is the level of service attained - could you trust them to use a torque wrench properly ?

I'd return and ask them to rectify the situation and offer some form of compensation for YOUR time and effort. You have already paid them for work they failed to carry out properly. After all, it's your car they are neglecting - not theirs.

1. The owner shouldnt have to check their oil if it was correctly filled by the dealer

2. I didnt say it was acceptable for it to be over filled with oil. As i said it would of taken them 5 minutes to recheck and adjust the oil level correctly and shoild of been done when the car was taken back for the second time to the dealer

 

[LTD]

I'd go as far as saying that it is totally unacceptable for a car to be returned to the customer with the oil over-filled.

The customer has then to drive a car outwith proper specification until the problem is noted and then has to return the car and negotiate the rectification.

Can the customer charge the dealer their rate for the inconvenience ? I think we all know the answer to that one .........

It's not a gripe at you Willow, just the negligence we are expected to accept from dealers.

 

[AndyPCD]

Well we all know they will probably not offer any form of compensation.
If it was me i would make them come and collect the car from me and sort it and then deliver it back.

The next thing they will be saying as they cant find anything wrong with it it must be a faulty oil level sensor and try charging you for that

 

[LTD]

the next thing they will be saying as they cant find anything wrong with it it must be a faulty oil level sensor and try charging you for that

:d

 

[LTD]

:d

 

[Smiley]

If only the trotters had known just how useful a dipstick is they would probably never have coined the phrase....