Successful DIY oil change

[keyhole]

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.

The removed panels are shown below.

continued....

[keyhole]

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.

continued

[keyhole]

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.

[ecimiguel]

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

[keyhole]

To the best of my knowledge - any oil that complies with MB specification 229.5

It will tell you on the can.

[JIME]

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...

[keyhole]

Originally Posted by JIME

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...

Yea.. whatever floats your boat....

I personally quite like getting under my baby and taking a poke around.. And I don't mind if I get a little dirty either.

After all, that's what the drain plug is there for.

[rf065]

Hi Keyhole,

the pictures do not show up for me? Can anyone else see them?
Thanks for the informative post though, any chance of e-mailing the pics to me?

Russ

[keyhole]

Hi Russ

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.

[rf065]

Thanks

Russ