Change to synthetic oil?

Wow... 100,000 miles drain interval for diesel? Did she say how often she changed the oil? Even with 100K miles, you still have to do the regular oil filter change.

100,000 miles drain interval must be synthetic... Call them up and confirm... plus find out how much that stuff cost. Mobil Delvac 1 is also a very pricy stuff.

How bad of oil leak? You have to determine whether those expensive oil draining out onto your driveway is worth it. If it is like valve cover gasket, you can change them...

People with diesel swears by constant 3000 miles oil change with normal oil... SAE30 in summer and 15W40 in winter. All 15W40 oil are designed for diesel engine but can be used in gas engine. They are both thick oil.

The reasoning is the combustion waste is detrimental to engine because the additives get saturated that it cannot provide anymore absorption/protection.

This make me wonder about the oil... I believe it is specifically designed for long distance fleet truck in mind... where it is all highway driving... plus they have these super huge oil filter... size of your quart milk container and two of em! Not only that, they have I believe 5 gallon oil capacity ( I am not sure about this... but near that amount or higher)

My advice is call up that company and ask. Otherwise, switching back to dino oil probably will stop that oil leak you have... unless that is a mechanical problem like bearings.

often

The oil concerned may be synthetic but possibly not. The *standards* met by the oil do not indicate anything special and plenty of mineral diesel oils meet those standards, none of which indicate an oil above a CCMC E3 or MB 228.3 level which indicates a nominal 45,000 kilometers [not miles] life. It is rather peculiar that ACEA standards are quoted although these have been obsolete for many years. Also odd is that the MB specs quoted do not indicate a duty life of more than

15,000kms in light duty applications, although the inclusion of API CH4 and petrol SJ would indicate a *multifleet* oil, that is one being suitable for both petrol and diesel [including heavy duty use] for a nominal 45,000kms and normally met by advanced mineral oils. All in all, the specifications quoted as being met are a complete hotch potch of conflicting duty cycles with huge ommissions. This does not inspire confidence in the product

This is not correct in many cases. Diesel engines have as much variation in service intervals as petrol engines. This '83 engine in particular is an indirect injection engine which pollutes the oil particularly heavily with soot. With normal oil that meets no more than API CF4 or mb227.1 then 3000 mile change intervals are to be recommended. If a Super High Performance Diesel oil is used that meets API CH4 and specifically mb 228.3 is used then 5000 miles are no problem. More than 5000 miles would seldom be advised even using nominal 100,000km oil due to the very high soot load that pollutes the oil from this engine, especially at this age. It seems that the oil mentioned might [does] meet this need. As for 100,000 miles in an old Mercedes indirect engine, it is just not possible and the web site concerned is rubbish.

There are 0w/30 and 0w/40 diesel oils that are now good for up to a realistic 30,000 miles in modern diesel engines.

Huw

Huw... what do you do for a living? You seem extremely knowledgeble about lubricants.

So tell me... how about a 1995 MB diesel? What is the recommended oil and interval? How about the 98-99 where I believe is synthetic only diesel engine?

I do have an interest in such things ;-)

I know more about the oil than MB vintage.

What is the recommended oil

98-99 was the transition period into modern Mercedes V petrol engines and common rail CDi direct injection diesels. It was also the transition period for Mercedes oil specifications where the new engines needed new long drain lubricants to utilise the extended service potential of a new generation of computer monitored engines. Of course not all versions of these engines have a service interval monitor and CDi engines fitted to Vito vans have fixed service intervals of 14,000 miles IIRC. The new oil specifications for these new engines are the 229 series which are multifleet oils suitable for both petrol and diesel engines over an extended interval. The minimum 229.1 spec need not be synthetic except that oils of this specification used in the USA are required to be synthetic, probably due to somewhat dirtier fuel available there in some regions. I would prefer to use oil that meets 229.3 as a minimum in those engines. In fact I use an ultra high performance oil that meets 228.5 in some of my diesels, but this is a diesel specific heavy duty oil suitable for up to 100,000 miles in appropriate engines. It is pretty amazing that the oil I presently use that meets that highest of specifications is not a synthetic but a semi-synthetic oil. I believe it is one of only a handful of oils that are not fully synthetic which exceed 228.3 and 229.3 for diesels.

For those with an interest in such things, ACEAE5 and is actually inferior to E4. E5 is actually equivalent to API CH4 and performs similarly to E3 [mb228.3] while E4 is about equivalent to mb228.5. You've probably gone to sleep by this point and I am also now going for some shut-eye.

Huw

I bought my 300D Turbodiesel with 282,000 miles on it. The previous owners (3) had all religiously maintained the car.

Records showed that Kendall oil was used at every change. I flushed the entire care of every fluid on purchase, and switched to Valvoline Synthetic, a blend specifically for diesels.

The car hasn't dropped a drip since. It's just a wee-little bit smoother since. I'm sold, personally, on synthetic. Just knowing that it won't break down and stays slick where dino juice goes limp is enough for me.

Valvoline

But both synthetic and mineral oils will soot up and thicken at a very low mileage with these engines. What you need is the maximum possible ability to hold the soot in suspension without the oil thickening too much. Unless the oil meets one of the Super High Performance Diesel [SHPD] specifications, which includes API CH4 and CI4, then a synthetic might be inferior to a mineral for this application. Now it is perfectly possible to find a synthetic as good as this but much more common to find a mineral oil.

Mineral oil is not going to 'go limp' in the very short service interval needed for this engine [needed due to dirt contamination]. These properties are distinctly different and the bias for this engine is tilted emphatically towards efficient contamination management.

Huw

Hi guys!

Well , what about these "Frantz filters"? I am talking about the ones that use toilet papers as filtering element. I talked to guys that have used them on older cars. I t requires to drill into the oil pan to connect a hose. I think that takes some courage. Any experiences regarding that matter?

Marius

I've been doing between 5k and 8k between changes and call me!

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