Slk 200 R172 2011 oil consumption

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tedfred

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Dear All,

It seems that what ever dealings I have with Mercedes dealers is destined to go wrong.
I bought oil for the car from Mercedes Nottingham, having first e mailed them to ensure what I was buying was correct. Having established the correct oil in a 20 L quantity I decided to buy 5 L version as I just need enough to top up .5 litres every 200 miles. Unfortunately, I purchased 5 Liters of MB 229.51 the advertisement I responded to was about the only one which did not specify whether it was for a Diesel or petrol engine and I of course bought the wrong oil. Strange; it seems I am supposed to know that 229.5 means Petrol and 229.51 means Diesel. Mercedes also it seems do not see the need to differentiate between the two using words like DIESEL and PETROL on the container? However, trying to explain the error ( their error) to the dealer fell on deaf ears and I have to pay the £14 return postage. That brings us to discussions in the post office as to whether engine oil is a flammable substance and therefore can not be handles by the post, half an hour later I successfully manage to convince them that the oil will not explode even though they insist that Google says engine oil burns at a high temperature.
This brings us on to Mercedes in Swansea, where I am told that the engine should never be filled to the full mark on the dip stick, as this will result in an " Overfill" alarm appearing on the dash panel if you were to travel a long distance? It seems that Mercedes only ever fill these engines to the half way mark on the stick? With reference to the oil filter housing identified earlier by Lostkiwi, the Swansea dealer leaves me with an impression I have to use a special tool to fit over the dome of the filter and engage with a large retaining lock ring around its circumference. I am also told that the " Dome " is easily over tightened and damaged??

What is it about these cars, information seems to be like gold dust and is compensate by a saturation of the urban myth and legend. I should quickly add that I am not referring to any information gleaned from this website, this website is where I go to get a true picture of what is fact.

Regards to all

Tedfred
 

LostKiwi

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However, trying to explain the error ( their error) to the dealer fell on deaf ears and I have to pay the £14 return postage.
229.51 is perfectly fine for petrol cars even though its formulated for diesels.
I've run all my cars on 229.51 for years as it has a better detergent package than 229.5.
 
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tedfred

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2011 : SLK 200, AMG , R172 Eng' 271.861
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LostKiwi,

I wish I had written here prior to returning the oil now.
Perhaps those detergent properties might have freed up the possibly gummed rings.

I thought that by using the diesel version, Mercedes would have invalidated my warranty when they check the oil's DNA after the engine seizes.

I don't know what to say now, Oh Bother , or words to that effect.

Thank you as ever

Tedfred
 

Wighty

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LostKiwi,

I wish I had written here prior to returning the oil now.
Perhaps those detergent properties might have freed up the possibly gummed rings.

I thought that by using the diesel version, Mercedes would have invalidated my warranty when they check the oil's DNA after the engine seizes.

I don't know what to say now, Oh Bother , or words to that effect.

Thank you as ever

Tedfred
As LK says , my Clk petrol quotes 229.51 in the drivers manual as well as 229.5
 

Submariner1

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Dear All,

My worst fears have bean confirmed, the oil level has dropped to the half way point between max and min on the dipstick over a mileage of mere 250 miles, which seems strange indeed.
I am now trying to get a straight answer for Inchcape Mercedes in North Oxford as to whether I will be charged £160 for an investigation into the problem, which seems rather odd seeing that the car is supposed to have a 3 year warranty. The service manager was supposed to phone me back earlier this week but did not. I telephoned again today and was told he would phone me back today but he failed to do so. I am seeing a clear picture now and am starting to regret buying this car, it has been a on going struggle since day one. I am beginning to think this warranty is worthless.

Does anyone know whether there is any form of crank case breather assembly attached to this R172 engine, the failure/blockage of which could cause a excessive crankcase pressure to cause the oil to blow past the rings?? Its just an initial thought. The other thought is that as the car has done 18000 miles since new, 7 years ago, has the lack of use caused some other fault to occur.

Regards To All

Tedfred

If I had that on a 3 week old warranted car, I would definitely go in.
Simples, they ‘at their cost’ find out what is wrong. Change the Oil and filter and basically prove to me they have sorted it.
And I would want a letter, that if it lost similar amounts of oil after that; I would deem the fix to have failed , and would want it in writing for from them now, that they would take the car back then.
Or they can take the car back right now, on the spot - take both keys so they know you mean it.

If I got any resistance or bullshit at all, I would demand to see the Dealer Principle!
Sorry but with Mercedes you have to get some balls!

OK I am a hopeless mechanic, but have had 10 Mercedes from new. And I have never had to top up even 1mm drop between 5000 mile oil changes.
( Measured on a dead flat surface, after a serious warm up, you must get it really hot if you use Mobil 1 as it expands like hell!, and allowed to drain down for 15 mins and then measured )

Even the current 5.5L V8 that I bought with 40,000 on the clock, and has now done a further total of 4,500 in 1 year 9 months and not a drop of oil was consumed (over 2 oil changes).
Note the 5.5L CL is VERY gradient fussy. My drive has the slightest tilt. Measured facing south and she will show 2mm high, turn her 180 deg. And she will show 2mm low. Driven to the one place around here, that is dead flat, and the oil level sits just about touching the bottom of the upper plastic red marker.
My previous SL500s 5.0L V8s were no where near as gradient fussy.

As for low mileage, effecting the consumption. My mother had a C270CDi with an average annual mileage of 700 miles per annum. It Never used a drop of oil between services every 2 years!
Even when I ragged it to Harrogate and back to Guildford it didnt use any oil.

The only Mercedes I have had that used a lot of Oil was a loaner SL55 AMG. That used about 0.8L per 1000 miles for the 3 months I had it. I alerted that to MB and they said it was within tolerance, so not to worry.
Off the record the mechanic reckoned as a loaner car it had been severely abused from day one. I got it with 4,000 miles on the clock. I pressed them pretty hard, and they pretty much admitted ( contrary to the manual ) if you shag them from day one, then the engine is basically buggered for life and you will end up using circa up to a Litre per 1000 miles.

(note I run in cars over 3,000 miles building up to a max.of 3,000 revs, change oil, and then the next 3,000 miles mainly under 4,000 with occasional 5,000 revs not under load.
Note always kept engine under 1,500 rev till completely hot.
Change the Oil and then to me they are run in. ). Mobil 1 0W40.

Only engine trouble I have had in 28 years of running Mercedes, is on the wifes current A Class, where we have a suspected semi faulty timing chain tensioner at 59,000 ... but it is 2002!
... And the wife drives it LOL.
And to be honest, in hindsight imo A Class and B Class Mercs aren’t really true Mercedes Vehicles!
 

Submariner1

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Dear All,

LostKiwi, I believe that the £80 fee is for 30 mins of the Technicians time, enough time to place a diagnostics computer on the car and in this case determine why the radio lost " Smooth Radio” DAB transmission at 3pm on 21 May 10 miles south of Bicester on the A34?? If the technician finds a fault then the £80 fee is canceled.

I spoke with the Service Manager this morning, he has promised me that the car will be checked for Radio reception faults, the fuel gauge issue and the oil consumption issue . This will be done free of charge, as I have only had the car 4 weeks. I was also informed and I am hesitant to put this in writing, Mercedes do not accept that a car is at fault unless the oil consumption is greater than 1 liter in 600 miles. That's about a sump full every 300 miles? I am informed that BMW, Nissan Et al hold the same view.

It is suggested that as my slk200 has only traveled 18000 miles in 7 years then possibly the oil scraper/control rings are sticky and the engine needs further use? I am told that there is no exhaust gas test to tell if excessive oil is being burnt by the engine and the only way of determining the extent of the problem is by measuring the the oil consumed after a test run over a set distance. Sound really technical to me. With all the computers and analyzers available, has no one thought of putting a port in the exhaust manifold and analyzing what is being burnt in the engine? Perhaps the initial action should be to flush the engine with cleaner in an attempt to un-gum the rings?


Regards to All.


Km
Tedfred

Sorry to be blunt but you need to wake up!
Yeah I have seen that crap about 1 litre to 1000km ... and he is right!
The minute they mentioned that , I would have handed them the keys!
And ask “is this going to be painless or shall we arrange a meeting with my solicitor.Time is your enemy.

Best do it now.
How do you feel about buying 2 litres a month and topping up carefully every 2 weeks?
In perspective:
My sister just sold her CLK 200 1997 with 74, 500 miles driven like a pussy. It too never needed topping up between two yearly services! Thats a 21 year old car!

And if you think blasting it around will solve this ... you are sadly mistaken.
 

alexanderfoti

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So, the reason MB state the seemingly ridiculous usage is normal is because those engines will use that amount of oil in certain cirucmstances:

High speed autobahn stuff
Aggressive usage (on a track or similar circumstance) (AMG's for example)

And in those usage scenarios, that is absolutely normal, and the engines are not damaged.

The problem is, when they apply that limit to normal use. 1L in 650 miles is insane and would probably block cats quite quickly.
 

Submariner1

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Thanks Grahmcol,

The frustration I have is that technically I am taking a risk if I use engine flush to attempt to unblock the gummed up Rings
assuming they are bunged up. That of course assumes that I can find the dammed oil filter when I refill with oil.
If I was in any way aware of how scarce information was concerning this engine/car I would have bought a VW Golf.
Please note that I have yet to take the lower engine trays off the car and venture on an expedition of discovery.
An added worry is that its booked into the MB dealer I bought it from in two weeks, they are going to do a oil level test over a measured distance???? Sounds like a thrash around the countryside in my car at my expense to me, sorry that's cynical but you would feel the same if you had dealt with these cowboys.
Incidentally, if you Google " Mercedes complaints" you can get a PDF download explaining how seriously they view customer care. Then provide you with an 0 0800....... number that is out of use, the alternative number is associated with their finance division, the one which has previously taken me 7 telephone calls to speak with a representative who then tells me to go and consult an independent Financial adviser to answer questions on MB finance deals..........No! I am not making this up, I couldn't do that, I do not have the imaginative powers, if I had I would write fantasy fiction novels for a living.

Regards as always

Tedfred

THE MINUTE YOU TOUCH THAT ENGINE YOU HAVE LOST!

It appears you havent got the balls to stand up to them, so I suggest you ask them to buy back the car and cop a £4000 loss. That would be your cheapest route.
Oh by the way all your woes will be recorded against that car, so selling privately in the future, will be risky.
Every day you delay, your case weakens!
If you have run over the month your excuse should be they didnt resolve your issue and you had to wait weeks for them to book the car in.
 

Submariner1

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Thanks for your support Guys,

In fairness to all, the dealer has not yet looked at the Oil issue as I have had to wait 3 weeks in order to book a date when I can have the use of a courtesy car. Although thinking about it a three week wait speaks volumes.
I am tempted to put 5 litres of oil at £25 a through in the book and tell them to use that as opposed to billing me a tenner a litre, though I also feel its a problem they should fix at their expense.

While I am here, can anyone give me a rough location of the oil filter on a SLK 200 R172??? PLEASE.

Thanks again, regards Tefred

By the time that 3 week period is up you will have lost your case!
 

grahamcol

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Just a further illustration of oil usage (or rather non uasge). My original C200 bought at 111k miles never needed topping up even at circa 150k miles when it was written off after an accident. It simply didn't use oil !
As ive said before, others too, Mercedes idea of acceptable oil usage is not acceptable !
 
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tedfred

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Thank for your replies,

As for returning it to them, I have asked and the answer is NO. They have offered to buy the car off me though I will have to take a loss on the car. I have not been given a price, yet.
The car is booked into the workshops Wednesday 20th, when I am told the problem will be resolved.
I am also told that the stains on the wheels due to the brake dust being lacquered into them will be looked at once again and if the staining is deemed to warrant it the work will be repeated. Yes it seems they do use outside contractors to do the work.

Thanks for your replies

Tedfred
 

grahamcol

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Op I feel it's probably in your best interests to formally reject the car and possibly threaten them with your solicitor. I've been through this S--t with car dealers before, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't stand any more messing around. Good luck with it all
 
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tedfred

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I appreciate your advice as always, However, I will wait till their inspection/examination results on Wednesday. If positive I will test it again myself.
It's 7 years old, has done 18,000 miles, it's got 4 equally part worn Continentals on it , the originals I feel, it does not look as if it's been thrashed and is got a full service history from the dealer I bought it from. I am not panicking at present, though I might next week!

Regards

Tedfred
 

Wighty

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I appreciate your advice as always, However, I will wait till their inspection/examination results on Wednesday. If positive I will test it again myself.
It's 7 years old, has done 18,000 miles, it's got 4 equally part worn Continentals on it , the originals I feel, it does not look as if it's been thrashed and is got a full service history from the dealer I bought it from. I am not panicking at present, though I might next week!

Regards

Tedfred
Tyres have a date on the sidewall . 4 numbers in a rectangular box , so 2313 means 23rd week of 2013 .
 
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tedfred

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That's worth knowing Wighty , many thanks . I will look that up as soon as I get home .

Regards Tedfred
 

Wighty

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I appreciate your advice as always, However, I will wait till their inspection/examination results on Wednesday. If positive I will test it again myself.
It's 7 years old, has done 18,000 miles, it's got 4 equally part worn Continentals on it , the originals I feel, it does not look as if it's been thrashed and is got a full service history from the dealer I bought it from. I am not panicking at present, though I might next week!

Regards

Tedfred
What's the latest , did the issues get resolved ?
 
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tedfred

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Hi Wighty,

Sadly NO. One reason is that I have not travelled 1000 miles yet and other is that I had the car serviced at Star Eng in Reading 3 weeks ago, hence the oil level is obviously different once again.
Strange you should reply to the thread today as I have checked the oil level 2 hours ago, and it is down to the 5th indication mark from the top. The car has only done about 70 miles since it was serviced. It is now booked into Merc in Newbury in a couple of weeks to have the front passenger side rpm sensor cable replaced under the warranty, I will ask them for their opinion.
I am thinking of not correcting the oil level and continue driving the car to see if the level drops any further, within reason. AS the current level is that which it always seems to default to.
Incidentally, I was finally contacted by a Merc representative in Milton Keynes this week ( after speaking with God knows how many people throughout Europe for 5 months) who has agreed to service the car free of charge including all the consumables next year, as a compensation for the appalling service I have received from the North Oxford dealership.
Though I am thinking of trading the car in for a different Model long before the next service is due.

Thanks again for your interest.

Regards

Tedfred
 

Wighty

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Hi Wighty,

Sadly NO. One reason is that I have not travelled 1000 miles yet and other is that I had the car serviced at Star Eng in Reading 3 weeks ago, hence the oil level is obviously different once again.
Strange you should reply to the thread today as I have checked the oil level 2 hours ago, and it is down to the 5th indication mark from the top. The car has only done about 70 miles since it was serviced. It is now booked into Merc in Newbury in a couple of weeks to have the front passenger side rpm sensor cable replaced under the warranty, I will ask them for their opinion.
I am thinking of not correcting the oil level and continue driving the car to see if the level drops any further, within reason. AS the current level is that which it always seems to default to.
Incidentally, I was finally contacted by a Merc representative in Milton Keynes this week ( after speaking with God knows how many people throughout Europe for 5 months) who has agreed to service the car free of charge including all the consumables next year, as a compensation for the appalling service I have received from the North Oxford dealership.
Though I am thinking of trading the car in for a different Model long before the next service is due.

Thanks again for your interest.

Regards

Tedfred
You are certainly going through it buddy , I hope you won't be fully put off the brand by this bad experience . I think I'm looking at probably adding about 0.6L for the last 2200 miles to Austria and back , but some of that was German autobahn speeds so fairly normal . Good luck with it all .
Has the car got 5w40 oil in it now ?
 
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tedfred

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YES, The correct oil is in the car, though I am informed correctly that the alternative diesel version would have been Ok.
Good luck with your Austria trip I trust all goes well

Thanks Once more

Regards

Tedfred
 

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