Oil Level after Dealer Service, is this acceptable?

[Rory]

At £15 per litre, this is not funny....

It's not funny what they charge for oil anyway. Surely buying it in bulk they don't pay any more than Costco do (about £4/l ex-VAT) and they're not selling it at a loss.

I'd never heard of supplying your own oil for a service until I got an MB but even the dealer suggested it to me for intermediate oil changes when the car was on ServicePlus.

 

[219]

For my W126 , the handbook states the oil capacity is 8L , so that is what I put in ( since I buy it in 4L bottles , it is easy to put in two bottles ; with other cars I have used measuring jugs to get the correct quantity ) .

Once I have started the engine and run it for a couple of minutes to fill the filter , then stop and let it settle , the reading on the dipstick is right on the maximum mark .

I have always filled with the specified quantity of oil as per the handbooks for 'oil change , with filter , and this has always taken it to the maximum mark .

 

[bogcaster]

I also have a viano with the same 3.0 diesel 120 engine. I supplied 10 litres to the dealer but they only used 8.5 of it and i thought they short filled as the booklet specs 10 litres. I checked and it was on the upper Mark to my surprise. I have had no over fill errors. 16k miles later, it's still just over half way like your picture. It's on 52k miles now so engine Still young!

Check how much they charged to ensure you have not been riped off and top up a little bit as per blackc55 suggestion is my view.

 

[jefrs]

I was always under the impression that the correct position was half-way between the two marks, not filled to the max mark. Over-filling can be worse than under filled. When I last had the oil changed by the garage, they gave me what was left in the second container.]

Also note that dipsticks vary, what is X litres at the mark on one car will be elsewhere on another. It does not need to be an exact science.

 

[ringway]

Goes black instantly in a diesel.

Fresh oil in a diesel engine doesn't go black instantly, (well, not if the oil is changed frequently and almost all of the oil is emptied from the engine).

When I change my oil (I pump out with a Sealey pump, which is the method used by MB, BMW and other main dealers,) I wait for 15-20 minutes for any remaining oil to fall down the sump walls and return to draw-out once more. I also suck out the oil filter chamber where a there is another 150ml lurking.

I change my oil and filters on the 210 and the Sprinter every 4-5000, miles and if I check the level even after 500, miles, the oil still looks clean.

The fresh oil will only look black if mixed with dirty used oil.

 

[rascalmaster]

Did they leave you some oil in the boot?
Stealers often do this; so you might find that you've got what you were billed for; just not all in the sump...

Just got Vito back after first service, I checked oil level and found it was not filled to top marker on dipstick. Is this considered to be acceptable or should it be filled to top marker? I queried this with dealer and this was the response;

The workshop agree that the oil level showing on the dipstick is correct and nothing to be concerned about! The oil will expand when hot and if the level is too high it will come up as a warning on the dash as over filled!

I hope this explanation is acceptable to you.

Or is this a case of wool over eyes

 

[stevieb15]

It's not funny what they charge for oil anyway. Surely buying it in bulk they don't pay any more than Costco do (about £4/l ex-VAT) and they're not selling it at a loss.

I'd never heard of supplying your own oil for a service until I got an MB but even the dealer suggested it to me for intermediate oil changes when the car was on ServicePlus.

Oil is cheap, it lasts for ages. I'm at a loss as to why this is a recurring topic. Every time you fill your car with 70 or 80 litres of petrol that might last a week you're spending between £94.5 and £112.00.

 

[rascalmaster]

Oil is cheap, it lasts for ages. I'm at a loss as to why this is a recurring topic. Every time you fill your car with 70 or 80 litres of petrol that might last a week you're spending between £94.5 and £112.00.

depends how often you change it.

MB wanted me to pay 10£ something + VAT per litre for mobile 1 ESP... over £110 in all.

i presented them with 2 small empty 5 litre petrol cans which they filled up with Mobile 1 ESP from their service drum and I payed approx £50.

so a saving of over £60 quid.

i change my oil and filters every 6 months. we have 2 mercs.

it does all add up...

 

[Rory]

Oil is cheap, it lasts for ages. I'm at a loss as to why this is a recurring topic. Every time you fill your car with 70 or 80 litres of petrol that might last a week you're spending between £94.5 and £112.00.

Yes, but that's how much fuel costs - there's nothing you can do about it. How would you feel if your car was empty when you took it to the dealer and they offered to fill it up while road-testing it, and then presented you with a bill for £400?

With oil, there's just the feeling that you're being ripped off when the dealer charges £15.50/L for something you can buy for £4.

 

[James1976]

Beware there are a couple of engines that don't like over-filling in terms of above half way. The 3 litre M104's one of them. Fill it over half full and you're likely to get it blowing oil out of the cam cover and possible head gasket due to high oil pressure.

I know as mine was filled to the top, it blew it out all ove the place - oil level reduced and now fine and completely oil tight! MB issued a TSB about it some time ago and officially reduced the oil capacity of the engine.

Having black oil in diesel would drive me mad - I like the nice golden look :-/

 

[jefrs]

Most engines do not take well to being over-filled. Probably worse than being low. There is a warning on the filler cap, you can blow gaskets.

Having praised my indie above, I find that their last recent service put a little too much in. I've managed to syphon 1 litre out and the engine is a lot more lively. But it is only just down to the full mark, I think I need to pull out some more but the syphon is so slow. S210 E320 M112.941

 

[GlenQ]

I was in my local stealership yesterday and overheard a customer complaining to the service manager that the level of the oil after a recent service was between the upper and lower marker on the dipstick.

The service managers explanation was that they do this on purpose because of expansion of the oil when hot.

Go figure??

 

[markjay]

I was in my local stealership yesterday and overheard a customer complaining to the service manager that the level of the oil after a recent service was between the upper and lower marker on the dipstick.

The service managers explanation was that they do this on purpose because of expansion of the oil when hot.

Go figure??

As mentioned earlier... I have no issues with this practice from the technical point of view... but if he checks his bill he will find that he has been invoiced also for the oil that never went into the car.

 

[jefrs]

See my post#31 above.

I bought one of those really cheap pumps that fits on a drill and some 5mm hose...
I have now removed nearly 2 litres of Mobil 1 (what a waste) and the oil is now about 1/3 of the way up between the low and the high marks.

What is immediately obvious is that the engine is now far more responsive on pick-up across the entire range (it responds to throttle and spins up quicker), with a lot more bottom end grunt 1000-2000, mid-range seems to have more power too. Fuel consumption had been poor 22-24mpg whereas previously I had been seeing 30-32mpg or better on the same duty. I expect to see much improved mpg with the next few tank fills.

The top mark does not mean full, it means maximum, over-filled.


From a technical point, when the engine is run it gets hot and the oil gets distributed around the engine. So it will be off the bottom of the dip-stick, and why you only measure the level when it is cold. (apologies for the egg sucking refresher course)
Mid-way is the correct point and should be the capacity stated in the book of words, and what you get charged for.

 

[BTB 500]

Small update on this. Having done about 500 miles since the service I mentioned earlier, last week I suddenly had the "engine oil level too high" error come up!

Off on holiday with the caravan in tow at the time, so obviously the extra load on the engine was enough to raise the oil temp. slightly, triggering the warning as the oil expanded.

 

[rizzer]

I contacted Mercedes Customer Service and their response was the same as the dealer, as long as the oil level is between the two marks it okay. But as Bill has just discovered even when oil level is just below the top mark it can expand and give a warning of high oil level, when the engine is working harder. I did say to MB that it had just been driven 40 miles back from the dealer, but apparently that wasnt far enough to get the engine hot!! It still leaves me a bit confused why the high mark is where it is, even when below this mark it can cause a warning, why dont they lower the high mark slightly! I have asked many people where they would top the oil up to and all have said to the high level mark!
Checked dealer invoice for quantity of oil used on the service and they have charged for 10L plus 1L for the glove box. I have just been told that the 1L should be included with the service at no charge. I queried the invoice, its on account, but have not heard back yet.