W220 S320 CDI oil capacity question

[moj91]

Good afternoon all,

We changed our oil on our S320 cdi last week.

The dealer where i get my parts from was certain that it requires 8.5l from empty.
Several online sources also say the same.

I however sucked out nearly 11l. old oil.
I assumed it had either been overfilled previously and/or topped up un- necessarily by those driving it. The digital oil level indicator on the dash/obc has been sporadic the past 12 months so I'm ignoring it.

Having re-filled about 8.25l, to account for remaining oil in the system, i have today checked the level with a measuring dipstick and it shows 126mm. It was measured from hot, after about 15 mins. (The service document says measure after 5 mins..)

According to WIS the car should be refilled with 8.5l, yet the same service document then says if the measuring stick shows 126mm it needs an additional 1.9l!? So how can this be, its telling me that it actually needs nearer 10.5l in the engine!? Yet says 8.5 to max in the same service document/dealer/internet.
I really don't fancy over filling it (or back to how much was in it before) or running it low!

Can anyone shed any light on this because i am utterly confused!

Thanks!

 

[Wighty]

If it is the om642 engine which is the same as my E320cdi that 8.5 litres sounds about right for what I add after draining . Can you not just buy a normal dipstick from eBay or MB that doesn't have mm measurements just the normal minimum and maximum .

 

[mersum1es]

If It is OM648 (I6), does not matter both has 7,5L capacity.

Edit: 11L is crazy, was oil ok, or was it diluted by diesel?

Edit2: checked your car model year, it cannot be OM613... but NO V6 diesels fitted W220

 

[mioba]

OM648 is 8.5L I am sure (with filter). Read the manual. Capacities are there somewhere.

Are you sure your garage dipstick is for the OM648 and not for eg the OM613.

As a side get the electronic oil level sensor replaced.

Surely you cannot have removed 11l of engine oil. That would be some serious damage to the engine and surely some would have leaked over then engine bay.

 

[moj91]

Unfortunately the Manual disappeared during a dealer visit many moons ago...
Absolutely certain nearly 11 liters was removed, it has probably been running with that level for over a year.
The oil was filthy, but not thin/diesel smelling, which I've experienced before in other diesel engines with issues. It is of course possible some diesel has made its way in there, but the smell/'look' of the oil wouldn't suggest this.
I've double checked the gauge is correct, the engine is the OM648. I've even popped 2x other dipsticks in it, and gotten the same level which i've measured from. I've put an extra half a liter in to it which brings it close to the 'ideal' range as shown by the WIS document along with the given measurements in MM.
The consensus seems to be that, once drained, you re-fill with 8.5l of oil, then top up depending on what the dipstick shows.(assuming engine has been run to fill all passageways etc, and left to settle again whilst hot.)
The main thing being that it has at least 8.5l of fresh oil, but no where near what was taken out!
I will run this past a few other people also to see what their thoughts are, but after a lot of internet trawling, there seems to be many differing opinions!

Mercedes want a fortune for a correct dipstick, and the ebay ones offered are a minefield of different versions all claiming to be correct.

 

[mersum1es]

I cannot check manual because I dont have W211 anymore (OM613 it is 7,5L said in W210 haynes book), but I always filled my OM648 7,5litres because it was easy way when using 5L cans. Never got any message from oil level, never needed to add more even drove 20000km interval.

Sometimes faulty ****ing injector, or continuous DPF regeneration has caused oil overfill because of diesel. It would be nice to know what caused overfill in your case, and was it really pure engine oil...

 

[Wighty]

If you think you have the right level now with your two versions of dipstick and you still doubt the level , why don't you get a local Indy or MB to do a quick level check and at least then you will stop second guessing yourself ....and know that you have spent a year with too much oil in .

 

[moj91]

I'ts going in in a week or so for the DPF, so I will get them to double check.

 

[Pathfinder]

As mentioned above, the increased level is likely due to diesel dilution. It happens to all diesel engines over time, via the rings and valve seals, plus the likelyhood of overfill after last oil change. People always tend to put that little bit more in (the just to be safe phenomena)

 

[moj91]

We've had someone take a look at it and they have said it is just shy of Max on the dipstick test - although the oil level sensor occasionally says it's over filled (which may be due to expansion when v. hot) if the level is increasing slightly, then I will suck a little off in a month or so when I service our other car. Hopefully this will suffice.