Magic Engine Oil!

[John N]

I had my first Servicing carried out on Friday, they said it would be an hour but it took over two and a half, I watched them working away!

Saturday morning, washed and dried the car and as usual checked all fluid levels (more habit than anything) the Engine Oil was below the lowest Indicator!!

Had a little tantrum! (I was listening to Planet Rock rather loudly so no one heard me ranting) phoned the MB Dealership and explained the problem "The dip stick is hard to see Sir, are you sure it's so low?" After informing the Service Desk all about my Aircraft Engineering experience earned over the last 47 + Years, we agreed that I should pop in to get the Oil topped up!

20 Minutes later, I hadn't even taste the nice Coffee I was given when the Technician called me into the Workshop, pulled the Dipstick, cleaned it, dipped it again and showed me the Oil was indicating half way between the Upper and Lower Markers (as it normally is) .

They are adamant that they didn't add Oil, I am adamant that it was low, so it must have appeared by Magic on my 10 Mile journey!

They gave me a free Litre of Oil and asked me to keep an eye on the Level, all without mentioning "Silly Old Git" to my face!

 

[clk320x]

I had my first Servicing carried out on Friday, they said it would be an hour but it took over two and a half, I watched them working away!

Saturday morning, washed and dried the car and as usual checked all fluid levels (more habit than anything) the Engine Oil was below the lowest Indicator!!

Had a little tantrum! (I was listening to Planet Rock rather loudly so no one heard me ranting) phoned the MB Dealership and explained the problem "The dip stick is hard to see Sir, are you sure it's so low?" After informing the Service Desk all about my Aircraft Engineering experience earned over the last 47 + Years, we agreed that I should pop in to get the Oil topped up!

20 Minutes later, I hadn't even taste the nice Coffee I was given when the Technician called me into the Workshop, pulled the Dipstick, cleaned it, dipped it again and showed me the Oil was indicating half way between the Upper and Lower Markers (as it normally is) .

They are adamant that they didn't add Oil, I am adamant that it was low, so it must have appeared by Magic on my 10 Mile journey!

They gave me a free Litre of Oil and asked me to keep an eye on the Level, all without mentioning "Silly Old Git" to my face!

I only Only check engine oil after running car for 5 mins and then letting stand. Ensure the ground is level

 

[Stratman]

Do you think they'd fall for "My car had an AMG V8 when I dropped it off, now it's got a 2.2 diesel"?

 

[Martin 1]

Sounds very much as if the stealer let the apprentice play with your car, then simply lied, too common. I was told that at my request the oil would be drained, not pumped out, when I collected the car, guess what I was told ? "no need to drain it sir, not with modern cars". As with John, they left out silly old git

 

[clk320x]

Sounds very much as if the stealer let the apprentice play with your car, then simply lied, too common. I was told that at my request the oil would be drained, not pumped out, when I collected the car, guess what I was told ? "no need to drain it sir, not with modern cars". As with John, they left out silly old git

why do you prefer it to be drained?

 

[Alex]

Aren't you supposed to measure the oil level 5 mins after running at operating temperatures and switching off the engine?

 

[clk320x]

Aren't you supposed to measure the oil level 5 mins after running at operating temperatures and switching off the engine?

Hehe, thats what I thought too.

 

[John N]

Aren't you supposed to measure the oil level 5 mins after running at operating temperatures and switching off the engine?

Good point very well presented, I did that before I had my tantrum/rant! I also drove the car out of the garage to wash it!

 

[190]

There is a definite discrepancy between the stated oil change volume of 5.5L and the dipstick reading on my car. 5.5L gets me only 25% above min on the dipstick. To get to even close to the full mark I need to add at least another Litre. I've been sticking to the 5.5L fill.

Would an MB service use the fill volume or the dipstick. I suspect the fill volume.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

There is a definite discrepancy between the stated oil change volume of 5.5L and the dipstick reading on my car. 5.5L gets me only 25% above min on the dipstick. To get to even close to the full mark I need to add at least another Litre. I've be sticking to the 5.5L fill.

Would an MB service use the fill volume or the dipstick. I suspect the fill volume.

But they won't fill it to "max" because that's the maximum amount, not the ideal amount. It should rest between min and max, ideally the mid point, or the Goldilocks point. And that's 5 minutes after running at operating temperature, not when cold.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I had my first Servicing carried out on Friday, they said it would be an hour but it took over two and a half, I watched them working away!

Saturday morning, washed and dried the car and as usual checked all fluid levels (more habit than anything) the Engine Oil was below the lowest Indicator!!

Had a little tantrum! (I was listening to Planet Rock rather loudly so no one heard me ranting) phoned the MB Dealership and explained the problem "The dip stick is hard to see Sir, are you sure it's so low?" After informing the Service Desk all about my Aircraft Engineering experience earned over the last 47 + Years, we agreed that I should pop in to get the Oil topped up!

20 Minutes later, I hadn't even taste the nice Coffee I was given when the Technician called me into the Workshop, pulled the Dipstick, cleaned it, dipped it again and showed me the Oil was indicating half way between the Upper and Lower Markers (as it normally is) .

They are adamant that they didn't add Oil, I am adamant that it was low, so it must have appeared by Magic on my 10 Mile journey!

They gave me a free Litre of Oil and asked me to keep an eye on the Level, all without mentioning "Silly Old Git" to my face!

Perhaps the engine was at operating temperature. Y the time you got to the dealership, and by the time the technician had checked the oil level 5 minutes or so had passed, and so the level was correct.

The acid test will be to recheck when you check levels on your next Saturday morning wash. If it reads low then they didn't do a thing, if it reads noticeably higher than your last Saturday morning check, then they probably topped it up and denied it.

 

[Swotty]

Perhaps the engine was at operating temperature. Y the time you got to the dealership, and by the time the technician had checked the oil level 5 minutes or so had passed, and so the level was correct.

The acid test will be to recheck when you check levels on your next Saturday morning wash. If it reads low then they didn't do a thing, if it reads noticeably higher than your last Saturday morning check, then they probably topped it up and denied it.

 

[Swotty]

So how does the "engine needs to be at operating temperature" work for those of us who get in the car and check the oil level electronically? Is there a compensation in the measurement at cold?

Stuart

 

[TheFoX]

I had a similar issue when having the C Class serviced. I asked them to check the steering as it was pulling to one side, a job they failed to do. On leaving the dealership later, it was still pulling to one side so I did a U-Turn and went straight back into the service bay, then asked the manager why they hadn't done the work.

Ten minutes later, they presented the car telling me that they could find nothing wrong with the steering, but hey ho, it had magically corrected itself as I left the dealership for the second time.

I did inform the manager that I was a time served mechanical and electrical engineer, so I knew what I was talking about, but he just smiled at me and explained in that simple language they use for customers that their mechanics are trained to Mercedes Benz standards.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Oh dear.

 

[Martin 1]

why do you prefer it to be drained?

Some of the crud from running settles in the sump, draining gets more of it out.

 

[clk320x]

Some of the crud from running settles in the sump, draining gets more of it out.

Honestly I wouldn’t worry, the oil filter will do it’s job

 

[chrisk2010]

They do prefer to pump now days rather than drain... being an ex forklift mechanic i only ever reached for the pump when the sump bung was to hard to get at or i was laying out side a warehouse in the rain.

I requested that they drain it and had it explained to me that when you pull the plug from the bath some of the dirt is still there when the water is emptied ... i think someone posted that here too seems to be getting around.

The only way to really get the crud out is to flush the engine with cheap oil using either method which no wants to do as it's a waste of oil, plus there's the argument that you'll strip the engine of any "good" deposits "protecting the engine. With used cars i tend to change reguarly for a year or so getting a few thousand miles out of each change then back off a bit.

Personally i just buy the correct oil when it's cheap and change maybe twice a year depending on how hard the car has worked either buy mileage or stop starting there's no sure fire way to tell other than look at the colour of your oil if it's starting to degrade and look cooked i change it.

 

[190]

After 40 years of draining I've been converted to pumping simply because MB made the drain plug less accessible. I'm not worried about getting the "crud" out for the simple reason there won't be any if oil has been routinely change on time. Only neglected engines should have crud.

 

[chrisk2010]

After 40 years of draining I've been converted to pumping simply because MB made the drain plug less accessible. I'm not worried about getting the "crud" out for the simple reason there won't be any if oil has been routinely change on time. Only neglected engines should have crud.

Maybe i should have worded mine like that