I had been considering for some time doing the next the oil change on my CLK myself - after all, how hard could it be?
First, I had to get myself some suitable ramps. Average ramps will not do. I needed ramps that can take a (front) tire width of 225mm minimum, and sustain a load of 2 tons over the pair. I also needed to get the car lifted about 8 inches for working comfortably under the car.
My engine needed 8 litres of MB approved oil. The make is immaterial provided it is to MB spec 229.5.
I also needed a MB filter, a sump plug crush washer and an MB filter wrench.
Once the front of the car was safely on the ramps and the rear wheels were wedged with chocks, I could crawl under the car and remove the front and rear splash covers under the engine. The forward panel is held by 6 studs (2 shared with the rear panel) and this has to come off first. The rear panel is held by another 4 studs, and the sump drain plug is concealed by this panel.
I unscrewed the oil filler cap, and decided to remove the filter before draining the oil. in case I had a problem with the filter removal. However, using the special wrench the filter cap unscrewed quite easily.
Now revealed, the old filter element was quite an effort to extract from the filter canister - it need a good vertical pull as the 3 internal O rings grip very firmly.
Once the filter assembly is removed from the canister the old filter can be slid off the shaft in a downwards direction. Four new O rings are supplied with the filter, and three must be fitted in the correct grooves on the shaft and one on the cap. You can ease them off using a small screwdriver, as shown below. This is the large one fitted on the filter cap.
With the new O rings in place, the new element can be slid up the shaft into position. I then re-installed the new filter assembly into the canister and tightened it to 25nm.
Next I removed the sump drain plug under the engine. This has to be done carefully to catch all the oil that will gush out once the plug is totally out. It is possible to almost remove the plug and allow the oil to flow slowly at first.. I had allowed the oil to mostly cool from an earlier run, as I did not want to get my fingers in hot oil.
No pictures here as I could not get the camera into position.
I used a bucket large enough to hold 8 litres to catch the old engine oil, and this took about 15 minutes to completely drain. 8 litres of oil will fill a bucket like the one shown below.
Next I fitted a new crush washer and re-installed the sump plug. I then re-fitted the 2 splash panels in the reverse order to the removal. A little grease on the screws also seemed a good idea.
I then added 7.5 litres of new oil via the oil filler hole, using a tapered funnel and rags to prevent spillage.
I removed the car from the ramps and ran the engine for 5 minutes. I then switched off and allowed the car to stand on the level for another 5 minutes. I checked the status of the oil level via the engine management system, and added the remaining oil until it reported OK. I double-checked using an MB measuring stick (no dipstick on my model) and the level was also OK.
I cleaned up, reset the service interval on the cluster, and the job was done.
What oil do you recommend using on the 2003 Mercedes Clk 320 w209? I was hoping to use Mobil 1 5w-30 syn, but underneath the hood it states to use a different weight? Would using the Mobil damage the engine? I am new to owning a Mercedes and didn't want to make a costly mistake. Thanks
I use Firefox with the the Jasc Paint Shop Pro graphic editor and they come through loud and clear...you should also be able to see them with the Window's Media and FAX viewer.
Do yourself a favor, save yourself a whole lot of trouble and time... Purchase a filter wrench for removal of the oil filter
along with a topsider fluid suction tool at any boating supply store...
After removal of the old filter and replacement of the new filter element and o rings...
Stick the topsider plastic suction hose down the CLK oil dipstick, pump up the topsider, open the suction valve and just let the topsider vacuum the dirty oil out of your crankcase...
Once the old oil is removed, just replace with fresh 0w40 in the case of the CLK500...
Simple proceedure, takes about a half hour and you don't even have to get your hands dirty...
This is by far the easiest way to change oil on your CLK...
I think that it's a problem with ImageThrust where they are hosted. They disappeared a month ago, and while I was discussing with the mods the best thing to do, they suddenly appeared again.
So let's leave it for a few days. If they are still missing, pm me and I'll email the set over to you.
Turn the key to position 1, press the mileage reset button 3 times and you should hear a beep. Use the up down buttons on the steering wheel to scroll through the menus. You should be able to reset the service indicator from there.
Hi Keyhole,
Just bought 2003 CLK500 last summer and the mileage is 45000ml, the previous owner has given me all the service recept done on this car and the service B was done at around 43000ml and last weekend the car had 48500 ml on it and I changed the engine oil and filter. When I drained the oil and measured it, the car had 8.8 qrt and the engine level show OK. Then I filled 7 qrt of new oil and the level also show OK so now what is the correct capacity of the oil, should I add oil when the level show OK? please advise.
Hi Keyhole,
On the cluster display, I think 7 quarts is the right capacity for this CLK 500 and on the cluster display shows engine oil level OK. I have an engine oil leak at the back of the engine before I changed the oil and I assume 8.8 quarts caused this leak. I will add 1/2 quarts as per your advise.
When you set your ignition key to position 1 (0 is the first position) you must use the steering wheel buttons to tab your display to the default, showing temperature only. [Otherwise it will display your last setting]
Now when you tap the reset button 3 times the display will show terminal voltage of your battery [eg, EB=12v]
Further tabbing will display the wrench and the message 'Service A (or B) in xxxx miles'
This is where the reset button will clear this message.
I got mine from the M-B dealership. A bit pricey from there, but they are strong metal. I have read here that in the US you can pick up a plastic version from any auto parts store. :thumbsup:
The vacuum was purchased from Amazon.com it is called MityVac (MV7300) holds 2.3 gallons or 9.3 Quarts and is Pneumatic so you simply plug your air compressor up to it via a quick connect and it immediately starts to suck up the oil from the bottom of the pan. I had to purchase about 7 feet of 1/4 hose from the Home Depot because the hose that is supplied was very short. The cost was about $100. I highly recommend it because it took all of the pain and mess out of doing the oil change. I also purchased my Fleece Oil filter from Amazon, it was a K&N for about ~$17. All went very well.
I got a different one from amazon called the Motive Power Extractor. Its manually operated via a hand pump (No air compressor). Works well just takes a bit of time.
Hi Guys.
I very interested in doing my own oil change on my C240. I was directed to this forum from the W203 lot as it was a good thread to check out.
I'm feeling much more confident with having a go at it now and the instructions on page 1 were great.
But I'm really keen to try the pump extraction method as I don't have ramps and it's a way I've not tried before.
One small concern is where I find the dipstick tube on my 240.
You guys are suggestion it's by the firewall behind the engine with a red cap (as per pic).
Mine has a black cap in that location and others on the W203 thread suggest this is the transmission tube. My oil tube should be at the front of the engine.
Anyone know where I should be looking?
Apparently the CLK and C Class share the same 240 motor.
I've changed my CLK oil as well and you definitely need an oil extractor. Connects to the battery, in the dipstick hole and oil is gone is 20 minutes. I pad 25 bucks shipped. Get one. Filters are 6-7 bucks on autopartswarehouse too.
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