Changed oil in the Mercedes today

[wavinwayne]

I changed out the unknown oil in my wife's '04 Mercedes ML350 today. I found out the hard way why MB dealers use an oil extractor for this vehicle.

Long story short, when I removed the drain plug, I quickly had the biggest oil spill my garage floor has ever seen. 8.5 quarts of oil comes out of a sump with much more force than I thought possible. It splashed everywhere. A few quarts made it into my drain pan. The rest had to be wiped up with towels, shop rags, and a lot of newspaper.

SO, if any of you ever decides to do an oil change on a Mercedes SUV, my advice is to use an oil extractor. That's the last time I ever change the Mercedes' oil via the drain plug method.

On a side note, I couldn't tell what brand of oil filter it had in it. It was a decent looking catridge filter, but it did not have a brand name on it anywhere. It just said "Made in India" & had the numbers H10R10F1 and 21603 printed on it. Any idea what type filter this was?

 

[alreadygone]

Plug in side of pan, or point straight down?

Bob

 

[huffmuds9320]

Congrats on your first oil change. I still like drain plug method. If you find that it splashes a lot, try holding a large funnel right near it so it will channel the oil to the drain pan. I do that method when I'm removing the oil filter on the VW. I guess you can find a good technique to minimize spills and splashes.

Hey do you get to drive that Mercedes once in a while? You deserve to drive it for doing all that maintenance. Just let her drive your VW for a day. Enjoy that nice Mercedes.

 

[bdcardinal]

plugs on those are on the side of the pan. the spray usually coats the right front suspension and brake rotor.

 

[Merkava_4]

Using an oil extractor would take all the fun out of an oil change in my opinion. That's one gadget I never plan on buying.

 

[mstrjon32]

I want to get one myself, but since I have to get under the car to take off the filter anyway, there is really no added benefit.

 

[Chris142]

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plugs on those are on the side of the pan. the spray usually coats the right front suspension and brake rotor.

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Nice. I really want one of those

 

[wavinwayne]

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Plug in side of pan, or point straight down?

Bob

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On side of pan, pointing toward passenger-side wheel.

 

[wavinwayne]

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....Hey do you get to drive that Mercedes once in a while? You deserve to drive it for doing all that maintenance...

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I get to drive it today. We're about to leave to take the kids to the zoo. 200 miles round trip.

 

[trixman]

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Using an oil extractor would take all the fun out of an oil change in my opinion. That's one gadget I never plan on buying.

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I'm telling ya...Once you bite the bullet and get one...you wonder why you hadn't done it before. Mine is great!

It not just for OCs. I do ATF, DOT3, PS drain and fills with it too.

 

[Jeepster_nut]

Next oil change try to have someone hold your shop vac hose on the oil fill opening (with the cap off of course) with the shop vac running. Then remove the drain plug. It should slow down the flow of oil enough until you can place the drain pan where you want it. But be careful when you shut off the shop vac because it might cause what already happened to you!

 

[Alan]

My MB C280 pretty much has the same engine just a 2.8l version of it and using an extractor makes an oil change just spiffy.

 

[MysticGold04]

candidate for a Fumoto valve? I have these on both of my vehicles and love it dearly. Way less messy on the drains... of course the filters are a different story!

 

[Quattro Pete]

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On a side note, I couldn't tell what brand of oil filter it had in it. It was a decent looking catridge filter, but it did not have a brand name on it anywhere. It just said "Made in India" & had the numbers H10R10F1 and 21603 printed on it. Any idea what type filter this was?

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I couldn' figure it out either. Was it a paper or polyester one? Pprobably hard to tell once it's covered in oil.

I noticed some websites offer to types of these OEM filters (Mann, Mahle, Knecht, Hengst): paper and polyester ones. The polyester variety appears to be twice the price and is recommended for extended service intervals/synthetic oil.

What oil and filter did you end up using?

 

[wavinwayne]

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Was it a paper or polyester one? Probably hard to tell once it's covered in oil.....

What oil and filter did you end up using?

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The old filter looked to be the standard paper type cartridge filter.

I used GC & a Wix oil filter. I'll use either GC (if available), or Syntec 5w40, or Mobil 1 0w40 for the life of the vehicle. I plan to change the oil twice a year, which will be roughly every 5-6k miles.

I also plan to stick with Wix for the oil & air filters. I see no need for anything other than Wix. They seem like top-notch filters in ever application in which I've used them.

 

[Dave Hess]

Did it feel strange adding so much oil to an engine (8.5 quarts) ??

 

[wavinwayne]

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Did it feel strange adding so much oil to an engine (8.5 quarts) ??

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It got boring after a few quarts. I was wishing I had a 55-gallon drum, and a pump like they use at the quick lube.

The cartridge filter setup, with it's (4) o-rings that have to be replaced, was a little intimidating at first. Luckily, it turned out to be so simple, an organ grinder monkey could be trained to do it faster than me.

 

[Thermo1223]

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Did it feel strange adding so much oil to an engine (8.5 quarts) ??

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Thats a lot of oil for a gasser...nice.