thanks for all the tips!

I talked to the service advisor at MB and it is actually synthetic even in the break in period. The salesman wasn't too knowledgeble, infact he told us the C was for Cold and S was for summer on the automatic transmission!

I will change it at 15000 km so around 10k miles.

Thanks
Ron

 

Yep, that's about it. When the FSS first came out, there were al bunch of engine failures as MB dealers used dino oil. A Class action suit was filed and Mercedes settled. The V6 in my car has a 150K mile extended warranty and a $30 cupon on a oil change. This was the settlement. I've heard several stories about the engine failures. One story was MB didn't tell the dealers that FSS cars had to use synthetic oil. But I can't believe that MB would make such a mistake. Another says the dealer ignored MB's instructions and used regular oil and after awhile engines started to fail, as regular oil running 10K miles is a suicide for high tech engine today. I had a 86 Prosche, which the owners manual suggested the use of synthetic oil, at 3K miles oil changes intervals, these was very expensive when you figure that car has a capacity of 12 or 13 quarts of oil. However synthetic wasn't widely available back then, I used regular oil and change it faithfully every 3K, but back in those days Porsches used a quart or more oil between 800 and 1000 miles. If you let the car sit for a couple of days, and started it up, you would get a James Bond smoke screen out the exhaust for a few seconds. Air cooled VW's did the same thing, never really found out why. But a Porsche collector who bought my car said. "they all do that." and didn't seem worried about it when he bought the car.

 

My wife gets her's changed on her 2003 C240 whenever the computer says to do it but--------- due to the low mileage she does (less than 20,000 kms a year it was suggested to do it twice a year which she has done so far. They use Mobil 1 10w40 for the summer and Mobil 1 5w 30 in the winter at her dealership.

brianf

 

The dealer uses Mobil 1 5/30 all year round in my C Class, I questioned the viscosity during winter, and the service advisor said this was the proper oil , but 10/40, 10/30 are also approved. But weather conditions also dictate viscosity choice so if you live in a area that has particular cold winters and hot summers, I would let the dealer choose what is best for your car. Contrary to what some folks believe, dealers shops do know what their doing.

One thing, I also drive very low mileage in 4 years I've clocked 28K miles plus or minus, and I have the oil changed every 5K miles, and try not to go over 5K. My FSS is a 10K miles which is about 15KM metric I think? This was a personal choice as oil even synthetic will break down over time, especially with mess use, I've been told, not my Mercedes, but by others. My wife's car still has 3K oil changes intervals, since her last oil change she has gone 7K miles on regular oil. I keep on asking her to have it changed and she was Monday, but ironically he was involved in a accident Sunday, she didn't get hurt, but the rear passenger door is gone. She as a 04 Hyundai XC350L under warranty. I told her to cancel and we will have the oil changed at a private shop, as I was rear ended many years ago with a car which was new and under warranty, I had problems with the car, for the six months I owned it. When everything seemed to be working OK, the rear ender occurred. I bought the car to the dealer for service and I guess they noted the damaged bumper cover and trunk. Strangely enough afte the car was fix, I had a few more "warranty" problems, electric problems and the dealer told me they aren't covered now as it was due to the accident, which was BS, IMHO, but trying to fight city hall was a dead end. I paid an a lot of money to have them fixed it filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office of Consumer Affairs, after several weeks they replied and there investigation said I was stuck and the dealer could somehow prove the two were related. They wanted to persue the matter in court, but I would have had to spend a lot of money, I told them to forget it and never went back to that dealer. I tried another dealer and their computer showed the car was involved in an accident, long story short, they said they would need to investigate and do this and that. I said no thanks and when I had a problem I took it to a private shope who fixed it fine and said the dealer were out of line. Interestingly after the electric problem, most of my visits to the shop were maintenance.

 

Is there a part number for the tool to remove the cover to access oil filter? Also, is synthetic required for my 1994 C280?

Nick

 

for as long as it is 74mm 14 point.

synthetic is what we are using now.

 

As far as what viscosity oil to use ...... as C280 Wizard said.... it really depends upon the climate where you live.

As far as the long interval goes for the first oil change goes .... Back in the "old days" when you built-up a new engine you would run it (like Lugnut Says for 500 - 1000 miles) on a non-detergent oil so you would have maximum wear. The idea here is so that the piston rings will "seat/seal" to the cylinder walls faster.

It's synthetic oil in your car ....... so that's probably why the first one is such a long duration. Auto manufacturers oil change intervals are a bit on the long side, so use your best judgement just make damn sure that it won't effect your warranty.

Synthetic vs. Mineral Oil:
Back in 1998, Mobil filed suit against Castrol for falsely advertising Syntec oil as synthetic, when in fact it contained a highly hydroprocessed mineral (Dino) oil instead of a chemically synthesized basestock. Due to the amount that the mineral oil had been chemically changed, the judge decided that Mobil lost that suit. As a result (except in Germany), any oil containing this highly hydroprocessed mineral (Dino) oil (currently called Group III basestock by the American Petroleum Institute) can market themselves as a synthetic oil. Since the original synthetic basestock (polyalphaolefin or PAO) costs approximately 3 times as much as the Group III basestock, most of the oil blenders switched to the Group III basestock, which significantly increased their profit margins (the price of synthetic oils didn't drop, as I recall, to accommodate this cheaper basestock, which makes up >70% of a bottle of oil). In Europe, blenders still need to use some PAO in order to meet the toughest ACEA specs. In the US, Mobil 1, Amsoil, Red Line and Royal Purple are the only ones I am SURE OF still using PAO. If you can get a material safety data sheet (MSDS) for the oil you are interested in, look for PAO or polymer or oligomer of 1-decene as a component for a tip-off. Synthetic blends contain some amount (not defined, as far as I know) of synthetic basestock. The small amount of viscosity modifier present in most multi-grade oils probably fulfils this requirement, making synthetic blends another profit centre for the oil blenders.

As far as oils go ...... Mobil 1 for me !!

 

that was a good one explanation.

from the time i can remember, i only use mobil for MB and castrol for BMW... 20W-50.