Oil Change Or Not?

[MakaveliX]

Car is a 2002 Mercedes ( family members ) 2.6L

They told me the last service was a couple of years ago so lets say 2022.
Since then the car has literally done about 400 miles, not a lot I know but I now own the car and have given it a good run as it is a large engine.

Unfortunately there is no dipstick however the screen inside the car states the oil level is fine.
I have pulled out the filter and housing from under the bonnet, and the oil which has accumulated looks perfectly fine ( dark brown, not too thin, not thick and not milky at all )

Is it advisable to not drive the car until an oil change and filter has been done ?

The oil cap had some stuff like this on it, but I have done some reading and it's apparently normal because the car for the last 4 years has only been used for occasional very short journeys and is a result of the engine being turned off before it had a chance to get to operating temperature. I have cleaned it off and now it is fine.



Thanks

[GreenV8S]

MakaveliX said:

Is it advisable to not drive the car until an oil change and filter has been done ?

Why are you asking? Is there some problem not mentioned in your post?

[itcaptainslow]

It’s already a year overdue a service. Short journeys are an arduous service condition so you’d probably find Mercedes recommend a shorter interval than normal, too.

The oil will be contaminated - it would definitely be advisable to change it, and the filter.

[cuprabob]

Yes, just do an oil and filter change for peace of mind.

And yes you do get "mayo" around the filler cap on cars that do short journeys.

[MakaveliX]

GreenV8S said:

Why are you asking? Is there some problem not mentioned in your post?

Nope. It’s just that it’s been two years but the car has only done A few hundred miles since then.
Either way I’ll get one done

[dingg]

I wouldn't be worried about running it tbh.

A nice long journey will drive off any residual condensation and the oil will be as good as new.... Well almost as good as new...

[donkmeister]

dingg said:

I wouldn't be worried about running it tbh.

A nice long journey will drive off any residual condensation and the oil will be as good as new.... Well almost as good as new...

The logic of "boiling off" the water seems to make sense, but I've never seen any first hand accounts of this actually succeeding, only "do this, it works, probably". I do however have experience of it not working. Admittedly that's a sample size of one.

I had the HG fail on an MG TF, but due to fortunate circumstances found it within a few miles of the failure, had been driving sedately, and had the car recovered by an MG specialist.

After the head machining, HG replacement along with the various K-series upgrades, despite the HGF being found so quickly the new oil acquired mayo remnants (getting flushed out of oil passageways and ending up in the new oil) and hadn't lost the water in a few hundred miles of driving and getting the oil nice and hot. Another oil change sorted that but it was alarming to find mayo after having the HG replaced!

[trevalvole]

OP - you may well find that the service intervals on these are every two years. They are on my '03 C320 with a bigger version of the same engine as the car you're talking about.

[5s Alive]

You probably have nothing to worry about but my concern would be what grade and quality of oil has been used. Oil does degrade over time, especially once used and contaminated with oxidative byproducts of combustion. High quality oils are more resistant to this. I'd change it for the best quality/specified grade of oil available. Easy and cheap for me as I do this myself, perhaps not appropriate for your circumstances.

[GreenV8S]

The OP isn't asking whether it's worth changing the oil.

They're asking whether they should avoid driving the car until the oil change has been done. Which strikes me as a bizarre overreaction to the car having slightly old oil in it and a bit of emulsion under the filler cap..

[5s Alive]

Yep, misread the op, very unlikely to be harmed by driving it further.

[MakaveliX]

Fair enough thanks guys. Just wanted to play it safe.

[MakaveliX]

trevalvole said:

OP - you may well find that the service intervals on these are every two years. They are on my '03 C320 with a bigger version of the same engine as the car you're talking about.

W203 right ? Think that’s the specific generation.
I would do the change myself but I don’t like the idea of going under the car in an uncontrolled environment. Also the under tray would need to be removed pain in the backside unless on a 2 post ramp

[donkmeister]

MakaveliX said:

trevalvole said:

OP - you may well find that the service intervals on these are every two years. They are on my '03 C320 with a bigger version of the same engine as the car you're talking about.

W203 right ? Think that’s the specific generation.
I would do the change myself but I don’t like the idea of going under the car in an uncontrolled environment. Also the under tray would need to be removed pain in the backside unless on a 2 post ramp

I thought the W203 C class was designed for topside oil change? Filter up top, extraction pipe where you would expect to find a dipstick?

What you need is a Pela pump.

[Peanut Gallery]

donkmeister said:

The logic of "boiling off" the water seems to make sense, but I've never seen any first hand accounts of this actually succeeding, only "do this, it works, probably". I do however have experience of it not working. Admittedly that's a sample size of one.

I had the HG fail on an MG TF, but due to fortunate circumstances found it within a few miles of the failure, had been driving sedately, and had the car recovered by an MG specialist.

After the head machining, HG replacement along with the various K-series upgrades, despite the HGF being found so quickly the new oil acquired mayo remnants (getting flushed out of oil passageways and ending up in the new oil) and hadn't lost the water in a few hundred miles of driving and getting the oil nice and hot. Another oil change sorted that but it was alarming to find mayo after having the HG replaced!

Hand up for it working here - SWMBO worked a 5 min drive up the road, but insisted on taking the car. After a month of that the oil was very mayonnaise like, probably up to the level of the OP.

Took a good 10 hours of driving to clear it, but it did clear eventually.

In other news - the Toyota IQ (and its counterparts) all have an oil fill cap on a sort of pipe coming off the head, no matter the mileage driven the cap always gets mayonnaise on it.

[MakaveliX]

donkmeister said:

I thought the W203 C class was designed for topside oil change? Filter up top, extraction pipe where you would expect to find a dipstick?

What you need is a Pela pump.

Lifesaver, thanks !
I knew the filter was there but not an extraction pipe. I have just located it, on the top left of the engine bay

Should be all good doing it myself then.

[donkmeister]

MakaveliX said:

donkmeister said:

I thought the W203 C class was designed for topside oil change? Filter up top, extraction pipe where you would expect to find a dipstick?

What you need is a Pela pump.

Lifesaver, thanks !
I knew the filter was there but not an extraction pipe. I have just located it, on the top left of the engine bay

Should be all good doing it myself then.

Some don't like the idea, but I've heard anecdotes where people have tried removing the sump plug after oil extraction and no more comes out... The engine is designed for that, so the pipe will get right into the bottom of the sump.

All I know is it's one of the things I miss now I don't have a Mercedes!

[MakaveliX]

The oil tank is between 7.5L and 8L according to the manual.
I have about 7.25L of fresh unused oil here. Is that ok ?

[5s Alive]

MakaveliX said:

The oil tank is between 7.5L and 8L according to the manual.
I have about 7.25L of fresh unused oil here. Is that ok ?

That's the dry capacity so probably less required for a drain and refill however you're likely to come up short with 7.25L. I'd suggest buying another litre to make sure and this will probably also leave some spare for top ups.

[B'stard Child]

donkmeister said:

dingg said:

I wouldn't be worried about running it tbh.

A nice long journey will drive off any residual condensation and the oil will be as good as new.... Well almost as good as new...

The logic of "boiling off" the water seems to make sense, but I've never seen any first hand accounts of this actually succeeding, only "do this, it works, probably". I do however have experience of it not working. Admittedly that's a sample size of one.

I had the HG fail on an MG TF,

Mayo oil from a HG failure is a totally different issue to a little mayo on the inside of the oil filler cap

My commute is quite short and in winter I do see a build up of mayo on the oil filler cap

A journey of 100 or so miles in winter will remove it all - never see it at all in the summer.

It’s one of the reasons I time my oil changes to just before winter or just after