Mobil 1 in a C250td ???

[Laters]

Which Mobil 1 do I use in a 1998 c250td ?
I've just given my car interior its first good clean/polish since I bought it & I found a sticker under the sun visor vanity mirror cover that says next service due 76600 miles. Its now done 77400 miles .

There is a big sticker on the top of the engine (taken from a Mobil 1 oil container) & written next to the oil cap is Mobil 1 only.
Here's the strange thing. The sticker on the top of the engine says Mobil 1 0w40, in the service book Mobil 1 10w40 is written in the oil type/viscosity for the last 2 services (one at MB other at independent )

The ASSYST says 5300miles to service.
I have spoken to the previous owner who claims the engine has had nothing but Mobil 1 used since new & he had it changed every 6000 miles.
The last service in the book is 70568 miles that was done on the 11/05.
Is the changing of the oil (especially using Mobil 1) really necessary every 6000 miles or is it a bit OTT?

When I change the oil (which I am still tempted to now) what do I use?

I still want to use Mobil 1 but cant find 10w 40 as the people who serviced it have written in the service book. Does it exist? I haven’t found it.

Do I use normal Mobil 1 or Mobil 1 td 0w40?
http://www.oil-store.co.uk/?path=item&id=113

 

[TVRTASMIN]

There is a 0W/40 Mobil 1 for petrol engines, but i suspect you want the diesel variety.
Sorry i don't know the viscosity.
Mobil 1 is one of the best synthetic oils, so it sounds like your engine is getting well looked after.

 

[Doodle]

Mobil1 and Mobil1 TD are exactly the same thing as far as I recall. I believe there have been a couple of posts on the subject, and it was revelead to be merely a marketing exercise.

Pretty sure there isn't a 10w40, only 0w40 or 5w40

 

[Dieselman]

Mobil1 and Mobil1 TD are exactly the same thing as far as I recall. I believe there have been a couple of posts on the subject, and it was revelead to be merely a marketing exercise.

Pretty sure there isn't a 10w40, only 0w40 or 5w40

True.

As we don't get extreme cold in the Uk there's really no need to go for ultra low winter viscosity. In addition this reduces the chance of losing viscosity as the polymer chains break.

I always thought that an oil was it's hot viscosity with additive to reduce the viscosity when cold. Apparently this is incorrect and it's the reverse, so if the polymer chains fail the oil will shear down to a thinner viscosity and the wider the viscosity index the more likely it is to happen.

Thinner oils provide less protection so don't be tempted to reduce the hot viscosity.

The 6000 mile changes do sound a bit short but will keep the oil in good shape.
The oil doesn't really wear out it becomes loaded with contaminents, so the more regular the changes, teh better the condition of the oil.

I've recently been reading up on oils and filtration and am surprised that standard filters are almost totally innefective, in fact Fiat didn't fit filters until 1970s and their engines have always lasted well.
If I recall the 500 and 126-600 engines never had a filter, just a centrifugal catcher.

Oh, something else I learnt was that Mobil1 has been downgraded twice to make it competative in the marketplace. Apparently the Tri-synthetic may be a low grade base stock with which has been synthesised as opposed to a pure PAO base stock.

 

[Doodle]

The Mercs are going to be fed Silkolene Pro S in the future, my last bulk buy of Mobil 1 is nearly exhausted, and it's too thin for the Integra's VTEC system. The lower price helps too!

 

[racall]

I was told by a well known top mechinic who resides in kent that Mobil1 was a waste of money putting it in a c250 oil burner as it is a bit on the thin side.
He recomened Fuch oil. PS i've a c250 oil burner as well.

 

[KLP 92]

I just use a good quality diesel specific 10w40 oil. I used a 0w-40 in my old diesel and i wasn't impressed with the results as the engine became more noisy.

Personally save the money, buy some normal diesel oil, if you want real benefit to the engine, just change the oil it at 5k intervals instead with the money you saved.

 

[TVRTASMIN]

Mobil1 and Mobil1 TD are exactly the same thing as far as I recall. I believe there have been a couple of posts on the subject, and it was revelead to be merely a marketing exercise.

Pretty sure there isn't a 10w40, only 0w40 or 5w40

Yes a typo there i'm sorry (now edited).
I have seen 0W/40 ,5W/50 and 15W/50.
The 5W/50 is very common in France. I once used the 0W/40 in a Rover V8 and it sounded awfull. Rattled too much. The 15W/50 grade is the best one for the older design of engine.
I've definately seen a diesel specific Mobil 1, which i would assume has more detergent in it as per normal diesel oils. I can't see a company like Mobil just relabelling the 0W/40 petrol engine oil.

I use a decent quality semi-synth 10W/40 in my oil burners and change it regularly. No greater than 6K and possibly six months max.

 

[Doodle]

There are proper diesel specific Mobil oils, but mainly under the Delvac range (and I think there is one in the US for diesel Truck & SUV).

But as far as I am aware, the Mobil1 TD stuff over here is exactly the same as normal Mobil1. The marketing information mentions both diesel and petrol, and the TD oil meets the relevant API petrol specifications too.

I can very easily see them just relabelling it, the whole idea was to market it to diesel drivers who would normally buy a specifically marked diesel oil and therefore ignore the normal Mobil1 product.

 

[Laters]

I was planning to continue the 6000mile oil change that has been used as the engine is very sweet.
I'm still tempted to continue using Mobil 1 anyway as I had a bad experience when changing oil brands with one of my old MB engines.
I had to change the hydraulic tappets as they sudenly went very noisy & don’t want to have to go through that again with this engine.
I must admit that I am not overly happy that they have been using 0w40 when the specs for the engine suggest 10w40.
After searching for a while I did come up with this from the Australian Mobil site.
http://www.datateck.com.au/lube/mobil_au/
MERCEDES-BENZ C250TD (W202), 2.5 Litre 5-Cyl. Turbo Dies., Auto. (1996-2000)

Crankcase MOBIL 1 0W-40
Service Refill Capacity: 6.5* Litres
Automatic Transmission Refer to Dealer
Service Refill Capacity: 8.0 Litres (See Note 327, 12)
Differential Refer to Dealer
Service Refill Capacity: 1.1 Litres (See Note 326)
Power Steering Refer to Dealer
(See Note 84)
NOTES
* Includes Oil Filter
12 Dry fill capacity shown, fill only to full mark.
84 Use only DaimlerChrysler approved steering gear lubricant meeting Sheet 236.3 (Part No 000 989 8803).
326 Use only DaimlerChrysler approved differential lubricant meeting Sheet 235.7 (Part No 001 989 1703).
327 Use only DaimlerChrysler approved automatic transmission lubricant meeting Sheet 236.10 (Part No 001 989 2103).

 

[Glenn Smith]

Personaly I don't sign up to the fancy oil brigade, the last oil I bought met and exceeded the spec for my car, got it from CAS, who did me a little deal £30 for 25litres. This is how i see things, long life oils are expensive but there to reduce servicing costs on new vehicles, but a good oil will get dirty (if not it isn't doing it's job) so how does it last any longer?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Personaly I don't sign up to the fancy oil brigade, the last oil I bought met and exceeded the spec for my car, got it from CAS, who did me a little deal £30 for 25litres. This is how i see things, long life oils are expensive but there to reduce servicing costs on new vehicles, but a good oil will get dirty (if not it isn't doing it's job) so how does it last any longer?

My dad does much the same he bought several boxes of Tesco's 1 litre bottles of oil. Meets MB/VAG specifications, etc. And it was cheap enough to change whenever he has the time to do it.

How cheap? ...49p a litre!! Cheaper to buy in 1 litre bottles than 5 litre cans!! And you can walk in an buy it 24 hours/day!! Amazing.

PS It's a Rover 220 SDi and it's running as sweet as a nut. Not a hand-me-down in this case, it was a hand-me-up as it was mine before.

 

[Doodle]

I would agree, the only reason that the C250 especially gets fed decent oil is that it's more expensive to buy cheap stuff for it separately than to feed it the stuff I bulk buy for the Integra, which demands top quality oil.

Frankly I reckon it would quite happily run on Mazola if required...

 

[Dieselman]

This is how i see things, long life oils are expensive but there to reduce servicing costs on new vehicles, but a good oil will get dirty (if not it isn't doing it's job) so how does it last any longer?

Because it has more and better additives to control acid formation and to stay in grade longer.
There are three basic oil types, mineral, synthesised mineral and pure PAO.

The quality and longevity goes hand in hand with the base stock and then additives.

Mst oils will meet the specification but some will exeed them by some margin. This ensures a longer protection.

An important figure is the TBN (total base number). Once the TBN depletes the oil is no longer protecting.

 

[racall]

Ive been using Mobil 1 for the last couple of years in my old oil burner.I'm advised that is a waste of money using it in a c250 diesel turbo.My question is if i switch back to semi synetic oil or even mineral oil would i be heading for trouble? Would the remaines of the old mobil 1 mix with the new oil or do i use a engine flush first?

 

[Dieselman]

Why do you think it's a waste using it in the diesel engine?

 

[racall]

i was told it was too thin

 

[Dieselman]

What viscosity?

 

[racall]

What viscosity?

I used 0w-40w