hi all:

i just purchased a used 1998 e300 turbodiesel w/ 122k miles on it from a small non-mb dealer. car has that magic carpet ride, runs strong and true and everything works. the previous owner used 10w-40 castrol (ouch!) for most, if not all, of its life thus far, according to the service booklet. i called a local mb dealership and they had the complete history on the car and were able to verify no major engine or transmission work, however there were some gaps in the service intervals. from the owner's manual, the 98's do not require a 229 spec oil...just a weight of oil according to climate, e.g. 10w-30, 10w-40 etc...

while i am new to mb ownership, i own another diesel ('03 Jetta TDI) and wrench on it, so i am not a total newbie, though the mb appears to be about 3 cuts above my TDI 4-banger and considerably more complex. the very first thing i did was change the oil and filter (5w-40 shell rotella syn T) and air up the tires. car currently gets 30+ mpg highway, so no complaints there.

here's my question. if you were me, what additional servicing should i do on the car right now? should i do the rear diff fluid change, trans service, and/or radiator change? there was nothing written in the service booklet on any of these items and i want to make sure i am being smart going forward. also, i did notice some nailing at idle and added some pro service to the fuel and this quieted it down considerably to a "normal" level. i am planning to do a liqui moly diesel purge before winter to get rid of this. any help or suggestions as to the above would be very much appreciated.

j

 

If it's got oil change it if it's greased regrease it. I,d use synthectic in the tranny & diff
At least you have some history with yours my 87 300D I didn't so just went over everything I could now I love it and it treats me good

 

thx for the pointers, guys. my understanding is that shell rotella 5w-40 syn T is a full synthetic. wrong? tranny, diff, and coolant flush is definitely going to happen before the snow flies here in ohio. i believe the spring perches were already done a few years ago, but i will check them. i know they were all bad from the factory, often/almost always rusting out underneath the paint. btw, if i had the full manual, would the spring perches be difficult to change in the event they were not changed? i'm pretty handy with a wrench and know how to follow directions (and will, if i absolutely have to).

john

 

thanks forced. i will call my local mb dealer and check on the perches. i have tried finding the manual, but no vendor i am seeing online has them in stock (status as 'backorder item'). do you have a good source?

also, do you have recommendations on the following:

oil recommendation? mobil 1 0W-40?
trans fluid recommendation? open to ideas...
differential oil recommendation? i was thinking of Lucas Syn 75W-90.
coolant recommendation? i was thinking of Zerex G-05.

much obliged,
john

 

To use the right mercedes AT fluid because there are 2 types for this car, one if no differential and another if there is a switch for limited differetial.

 

thanks again, forced, for the rec's. yes, this car has a W/S switch. forced, do you still recommend the same trans fluid?

 

again, many thanks.

 

If you have a black switch labeled ASR to left of the w/s switch then you have a posi rear and it calls for a diff AT transmission fluid. I have the same car with 133K miles with the ASR switch and just changed my AT fluid. I decided to use mecedes AT fluid and got it off of ebay.

 

yep golddie59, got the ASR. would the 722.6 spec work. like:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...#ht_500wt_1182

if so, is this a good price i'm seeing?

thx...