Mercedes oil consumption

If its "made in Usa" it seems to be the emerging trend.

I've never understood why Mercedes says their cars can use that much oil. I know that oil consumption is usually influenced by piston to cylinder bore clearance. But Mercedes engines (don't know about the AMG models) are built with tight 0.001" piston to bore clearances and should not use oil like that. My old 617 diesel engine used a quart every 1,200 miles right before it was rebuilt. The cylinder bores were tapered in that engine. It sounds to me like Mercedes is afraid these oil burners will become warranty issues.

I've owned performance cars too. However, oil consumption is still a function of engine piston fit and valve to valve guide clearance. Just because you have lots of oil being pumped around an engine does not cause an engine to consume oil. High performance engines usually require more clearance between piston and cylinder because of piston expansion at higher temperatures. When forged pistons are used, clearances have to be opened up even more due to the thermal properties of the aluminum alloy. I've owned low mileage cars that used more than one quart of oil in 1,000 miles. But that still does not explain why a Mercedes with tightly fit cast pistons uses one quart of oil in 1,200 miles. My Mercedes have never done this until the engines showed considerable wear.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (VCopelan) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m18.aol.com:

Did you buy them new? Engines consume oil during their break-in period.

I am not a Mercedes owner, but a similar discussion rears its head in the BMW motorcycle list where BMW states 1 quart per 1000 miles is "normal". Some riders note that this is rediculously high, while many other riders note that their rides don't consume anywhere near that volume. All my vehicles never need to be topped up between servicing due to low oil consumption (140k km, worst case).

I suspect a similar thing exists with M-B vehicles where the 1 quart per 1000 miles is a worst-case spec in the hand-book, and not an average consumption. I defer to actual M-B owners who may righfully correct me.

-Steve Makohin | Reply to snipped-for-privacy@interlog.com 2000 BMW R1100S/ABS | (hotmail acct is spam catcher)

Although to me, this high level of oil consumption seems totally wrong, it is in fact what MB allows as "normal". There was some discussion about the switchover from organic to full synthetic oil causing a temporary higher rate of consumption, but with a 2001 model, this would not affect you since it came filled with synthetic. The only thing I can offer is that you should have it closely monitored and the moment it falls below MBZ "acceptable" range, make them do something about it. My guess is the problem will be failed piston rings due to improper engine break-in.

As per my BMW R1100S Service and Technical Booklet (Page 72):

Maximum Oil Consumption: 1 l/1000 km 350 miles/Imp. pint

Holy sh*t! I stand corrected on the maximum oil consumption for my BMW motorcycle. I'm lucky that it only actually consumes about 1/2 pint every 5000 km or so. Thanks for the correction.

-Steve Makohin | Reply to snipped-for-privacy@interlog.com 2000 BMW R1100S/ABS | (hotmail acct is spam catcher)

I'm not talking about the break-in period.

Probably so. I suggest you document the rate of consumption and if it does fall out of spec after the expiration of the warranty, try to get MB to cover it under "goodwill". If that does not work, then you might want to seek legal assistance.

I got an older Merc. 77 280E

Its funny, but in the genuine Merc workshop literature, they show an engine oil dip-stick with volume related graduations on it, so that you can actually measure oil consumption quite accurately. I don't know whether a 'special' dip stick was made for all the models to allow the dealers to see if a car was in or out of spec. All I can say is that I have never seen (or heard of) such a device for any other car. I wonder what the game really is here?

Cheers... Rob.

"PaulB" wrote:

I don't think that can be used as a rule. I have personal experience with a

1998 BMW 540 and a 1985 Mercedes 380SE (own both to this day) and neither of them ever burned oil. The Mercedes is losing oil, but to a leaky rear main seal, not to burning. My father's experience with German cars (2002's, a Bavaria, 3 Benz diesels) has always been better with oil than the american cars he has owned (plymouth's, pontiac firebird 400, a lincoln mark VII, oldsmobile bravada) or the american cars he has dealt with (olds 442 and chevelle 454). A far as the non-German european cars, I don't know.

1quart of oil

Too much light running and idling, especially during the early life of an engine but also later, will cause bore glazing and high oil consumption. Engines run under load for a high proportion of running time from new seldom consume more than a litre of oil every five thousand miles, if any at all.

There may be other causes for high oil consumption, like thrashing from cold or worn valve guides, but the above is most common in young engines, which is what a 40000 miler is.

Huw

Speaking of break-ins, I have always understood that full-throttle accelerations are actually good for a new engine. Fast moving pistons along with them being forced to the extreme ends of travel help insure proper ring seating. Every car I have owned has been broken-in this way and I have never had any oil usage problems (even on some vehicles known for that problem).

Interesting. My understanding, based on Merc manuals, is to drive through all the gears at varying speeds but not accelerate at full throttle.

DAS

Varying engine speed is important. The worst thing you can do on a new engine is to take a long trip and use the cruise control. There is also a myth that modern engine don't need a break-in period. This is not really correct. Due to improved materials and manufacturing processes, it's not as critical as it once was, but it's still important.

I agree with other posters that 1 l/1000 Km oil consumption is probably the worst case scenario and not what the average Mercedes should consume. If I were you, I'd take the car to another Mercedes dealership in your area and tell them losing this much oil is not normal. Insist that they do something about it. My experience with Mercedes dealerships is that their levels of service varies from dealership to dealership. It's much better to get them to fix the problem *before* your warranty runs out than to hope they will give you a goodwill warranty after it has expired. Just my $0.02....

1quart > of > > oil > > > >every 1500 miles. Per Mercedes everything is fine until you use 1 > liter > > of > > > >oil ever 1000 kilometers. Wow I must have missed that in the sales > > > >literature. At the current rate of degradation I won't hot this till > > 60,000 > > > >miles when the warrantee is gone. > > >