I think most of us will be breathing a little easier. This morning I was up bright and early to check. 1/2 litre in 8000 KM is very livable. Did you change the filter as well???? It would hold oil as well.
I think most of us will be breathing a little easier. This morning I was up bright and early to check. 1/2 litre in 8000 KM is very livable. Did you change the filter as well???? It would hold oil as well.
Bill
Bill, I'll be breathing a little easier for sure. Nevertheless, I'll keep a careful eye on oil consumption to the next change. Your question raised a point a wanted to ask about earlier. I routinely in the past would only change the filter every second oil change ... I believe that used to be fairly standard practice. For the $10 filter that doesn't seem to be wise penny pinching. Is it standard practice to change the filter every time?
However, this definitively proves that the car does not have what the C-class does, namely an oil level sensor that reports to the LED screen.
I would recommend a wide multigrade like 0W40 - easy flowing on startup and quite thick when hot.
Thanks Mike, but I can't find 0/40 anywhere..... 5/40 is the closest I came to that.
Re the oil level sensor, there 'IS' supposed to be a display on the LED main information screen. It is supposed to indicate when the oil level is about 1 litre down. Supposedly it first comes on intermittently and then on a permanent basis as the oil level drops further..... I tested the screen function this morning by leaving the gas cap off and the car door open... neither triggered an alarm (they are supposed to) as i engaged D and drove it a little..... Hmmmmm I've got a bad feeling again, will 'fiddle' with this further once the wife gets back from shopping
Mobil 1 0W40 is available at NAPA, Canadian Tire etc.
Change the filter every time! Cheap insurance!
The International owners manual for the B-Class indicates that there is an oil level sensor in some Bs, but only the CDI models as it turns out. The gas engines don't have it. I am glad for that, as the M 271 and M112 engines in the C-Class didn't even have a dipstick! I would trust a dipstick any time over an electronic nanny!
Mobil 1 0W40 is available at NAPA, Canadian Tire etc.
Change the filter every time! Cheap insurance!
The International owners manual for the B-Class indicates that there is an oil level sensor in some Bs, but only the CDI models as it turns out. The gas engines don't have it. I am glad for that, as the M 271 and M112 engines in the C-Class didn't even have a dipstick! I would trust a dipstick any time over an electronic nanny!
I guess my local Canadian Tires were out of stock... will try that next time.
re the oil level, I think we are talking different things. I'm simply refering to the 'low' oil level warning. Not an electronic oil level indicator that replaces the dipstick - I wouldn't buy a car that has that. However, there is no idiot light or pressure gauge on the B200 instrument cluster, but the message screen supposedly lights up when you're about 1 litre low... haven't observed that yet and I've got a feeling I may well have been close to that.... Hmmmmmm
You don't EVER want to experience that one; by the time the oil pressure drops enough to make such a warning appear, your oil pump is pumping air into the engine and the engine's being rather unwholesomely oil starved, which means the game may already be over/damage done.
Which happened on my Audi.
Mike's right about the oil level sensor & you can check if your level is Ok or requiring a certain amount of oil (think it is when it is a litre low) before you start up & this is on the CDI only (I'm sure). I always check using the dipstick after having the Audi go low on me due to defective valve spring oil seals causing excess oil to be burnt. This cost me an engine rebuild.
Which happened on my Audi.
Mike's right about the oil level sensor & you can check if your level is Ok or requiring a certain amount of oil (think it is when it is a litre low) before you start up & this is on the CDI only (I'm sure). I always check using the dipstick after having the Audi go low on me due to defective valve spring oil seals causing excess oil to be burnt. This cost me an engine rebuild.
Well, guys I need to disagree on several points. I looked at my 2006 B200 (gas engine) manual again and it clearly states that there is a 'low' oil warning that comes on when it's about 1 litre low. The symbol is an oil can. this will beep intermittently at first and then continue beeping steadily if it's not attended to. Warning words appear to tell you that you are low on oil.
re actually running out of oil. Happend to me in my 190E, and 240D. In the former the oil pan sprung a leak and a huge puddle was on the road. The engine ran for some time (a few minutes) before I noticed the oil smell and then saw the oil idiot light. Apparently no damage....
With the 240D, we had stopped for ice cream in the Rockys and I checked the oil and of course forgot to put on the oil cap after topping the oil up. The oil of course quickly came out the filling hole (older car with some blowback). As luck would have it I never realized this because there was paving going on exactly on the same road.... everyone in the car of course noticed the smell - which, of course, was our car but we thought it was because of the paving. We drove about 200 km through the mountains - up and down - and finally pulled into a motel in Osoyoos to see a huge puddle of oil on the ground after checking in. On filling, it took ~5 litre to show on the dipstick.... I doubt we had half a litre in there for many, many km. I drove it back to Ontario - with some trepidation - however, no problems. The compression - no lie - was in fact up when I had the dealer test it on returning to Waterloo.
Which happened on my Audi.
I always check using the dipstick after having the Audi go low on me due to defective valve spring oil seals causing excess oil to be burnt. This cost me an engine rebuild.
My first Audi used so much oil because of valve guide seals that it never needed oil changes. Sad but true. Had to change the seals yearly. Owners manual showed that 1 pint per 100 miles oil usage was within specs.
My SAAB has oil pressure sensor, dipstick , and a low oil level sensor. It activates at exactly 1 liter low, well before any damage can occur.The computer on the B has the capability to show it so MB should have installed on the gas engines as well.
Guenter, I can say for sure that the two engines you ran nearly dry suffered to some degree for it; perhaps you did not keep those cars long enough afterwards to reap the full "rewards".
If the B 200 has an oil level sensor, which as you say, seems to be the case due to what the manual says, why can't the driver do a level check using the dash at start-up, as the C-Class allows? The C 230 K our family used to own had this ability, AND a dipstick.....
Anyway, only if the oil can symbol AND the red "oil pressure" message come on would the oil passages in the engine be partly full of air, you are right.
So, as for why your car didn't alert you to it being low? Because as you say, it seems to only have been 0.5 L low.
Linear Mode
