"Paul Fretheim" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@v23g2000pro.googlegroups.com... |I use Chevron Delo 400 15/40 oil in my 1982 300 TDT and change it | every 2-3 thousand miles, depending mostly on the circumstance, like | if I am on the road I don't change at 2,000 anymore, I wait until I | get home. | | I had to have the engine rebuilt at 400,000 miles. I now have
418,000 | miles on the car. It runs better now than it ever has. I am spending | $1,300 just now getting the air conditioning repaired, including a new | AC Delco compressor (not remanufactured) and a fill with R-12 (The | original refrigerant). | | I have read from different sources that 3/4th to 7/8ths of the total | carbon footprint of a car over its lifetime is created during its | manufacture. So it is very green to run your Mercedes as long as you | can. | | The vacuum auto locking system is the only thing on my vehicle which | is not functioning at this time. I have narrowed it down to a vacuum | leak somewhere between the front of the firewall and the lines that | lead to the locks, because the lock distribution lines to both sides | hold vacuum and the locks operate correctly. Soon I will find the | time to get that straight and then my car will be operating like new | despite being 27 years old and having over 400,000 miles of use. | | I tried synthetic oil in the engine before the rebuild and it did not | improve my fuel economy. I got 28 mpg before the rebuild and now get | 33 mpg, which is what my Mercedes dealer said I should have been | getting all along. I think my engine wore out principally because the | seals in the pump on my load leveler system failed and the very thin | hydraulic fluid from that system got pumped into the crankcase. | Nonetheless, the engine still ran O.K. for another 150,000 miles | before difficult starting finally forced me to have the engine | rebuilt. | | After the rebuild the engine still was hard to start until I | discovered that the PCV valve was not closing, so maybe I didn't need | the rebuild so soon after all. But the car runs great now and can | zoom over mountain passes that it dragged on before the rebuild, so I | am glad I had it done.
If you tried synthetic oil just before the rebuild at 400,000 miles, did you try it to see if it would help postpone a rebuild that you already knew was needed?
If so, click on the link below, then look down the page to the MOTOR OIL heading. Under the heading, look for an article named Reasons For Motor Oil Consumption and click on the link.
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Using a synthetic such as AMSOIL that promotes a longer service might have prevented the necessary engine rebuild at 400,000 miles.
A testimonial from a satisfied AMSOIL user - 930,599 miles:
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409,000 miles without an oil change:
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Chevron Delo and Mobil 1 have a tremendous marketing campaign and absolutely have their names in front of the public many more times than AMSOIL. Does the advertising make them better oils?
Take a look at the AMSOIL website and decide for yourself whether your making the right choice for the life of your engine.
European Formula 5W40:
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AMSOIL EaO Synthetic Naofiber Technology Oil Filters:
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Comparison of Popular Engine Oils:
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