Warning* oil level too high

[television]

Is this true? does anybody know if I can buy a dipstick for my C180k? and if so, how much?

£36 for the stick, some dealers will sell them others will not£25 on Ebay from time to time.

If challenged in court MB would lose over the right to sell you one

 

[survey]

Rory - Have tried the steering wheel check but des not seem to work for me. When I get the total mileage screen up I do not have a trip reset button to press unless I go ito the trip menus. My car is a new C220cdi.

The reason I wanted to chek is because at after the A service I checked the dipstick after 30minutes of engine off and could not see any oil. The dealer checked in the workshop said it was indeed OK. To my mind I should be able to see oil on the dipstick between min and max.

 

[television]

Rory - Have tried the steering wheel check but des not seem to work for me. When I get the total mileage screen up I do not have a trip reset button to press unless I go ito the trip menus. My car is a new C220cdi.

The reason I wanted to chek is because at after the A service I checked the dipstick after 30minutes of engine off and could not see any oil. The dealer checked in the workshop said it was indeed OK. To my mind I should be able to see oil on the dipstick between min and max.

You are dead right that you should see the oil

 

[Cole@MBS]

The 204 is 100% different than the 203, real pain in the backside!! you have a dip stick now so dash level check has now gone!

 

[merc07]

I have a 2007 C220 cdi. I got the message about the oil level right after the 1st service - MB took some oil out. It happend again after the 2nd service, this time it would only show the message after about 5 miles of flat steady motorway driving.

Once cancelled from the menu it wouldn't come back during normal driving, just on that little section of motorway I use.

After about 2 weeks it never displayed it again.

Cheers
Adam

 

[Rory]

Rory - Have tried the steering wheel check but des not seem to work for me. When I get the total mileage screen up I do not have a trip reset button to press unless I go ito the trip menus. My car is a new C220cdi.

The reason I wanted to chek is because at after the A service I checked the dipstick after 30minutes of engine off and could not see any oil. The dealer checked in the workshop said it was indeed OK. To my mind I should be able to see oil on the dipstick between min and max.

As others have said W204 is different than W203 so my oil check procedure won't work.

The dipstick not showing oil is odd - the level should be correct a few mins after stopping. Perhaps you could ask the dealer to check it infront of you? I apologise if this is obvious to you, but you need to withdraw the dipstick, then stick it back in and withdraw it again to check the level.

 

[survey]

S-A-M and Rory - Thanks for your responses. I now understand that having a dipstick the dash oil level info has gone. Rory, yes I did check the level in the time honoured manner.

 

[Rory]

S-A-M and Rory - Thanks for your responses. I now understand that having a dipstick the dash oil level info has gone. Rory, yes I did check the level in the time honoured manner.

Well in that case I would be most alarmed by oil not even showing on the bottom of the dipstick.

 

[survey]

Rory - I guess it is remotely possible that the oil was new and had not yet blackened as happens with a diesel and just was not visible (although I am sure I placed the dipstick on a tissue paper to check). The car has now travelled 2750 miles since the 'A' service and I have re-checked this morning after the car has stood overnight and the dipstick level shows oil up to halfway between max and min. Being wary of overfilling, should I top-up to max or leave as is?

 

[television]

For my two pence. worth I would leave it where it is, and check again 1000 miles down the line, you will then know if the car is using a little oil or not and nothing wrong with using a little with high speed motorway miles the car will always use a little owing to oil splash.

 

[Lulu01]

Hello again

I have done both tests with the car cold, on a flat service.

The simpler version said that the oil levels were ok. The more involved one gave me a reading of 6.41 which sounds ok.

Should I have done the tests on a warm car?

Does this suggest a dodgy sensor, or do I remove some? Last time I tried sucking out (petrol) stuff, I mistimed it and ended up drinking the stuff ... YUK!

If I have to manually suck it out, as there isn't a dipstick to help locate the oil, urm ... where is it?

Thanks.

 

[television]

You could lose a touch by unscrewing the oil filter and emptying that a couple of times

 

[Rory]

For my two pence. worth I would leave it where it is, and check again 1000 miles down the line,

I agree with that.

The W203 has 3 levels of low oil warning - add oil (in 1, 1.5 or 2L amounts), visit workshop, and stop, so no danger of failing to notice the oil is too low. I wonder if those levels of warnings have been carried over to W204, or if the re-introduction of the dipstick hands some onus back on the owner to keep a check?

 

[Rory]

Hello again

I have done both tests with the car cold, on a flat service.

The simpler version said that the oil levels were ok. The more involved one gave me a reading of 6.41 which sounds ok.

Should I have done the tests on a warm car?

Does this suggest a dodgy sensor, or do I remove some? Last time I tried sucking out (petrol) stuff, I mistimed it and ended up drinking the stuff ... YUK!

If I have to manually suck it out, as there isn't a dipstick to help locate the oil, urm ... where is it?

Thanks.

Hmm - mine only reports the actual oil level to 1 decimal place (that's all the display is capable of).

ETA: Doh! I guess you mean it's 6.4 litres.

I think that if it continues to display the high level warning I would pop it back to the servicing dealer to have a look.

 

[television]

I agree with that.

The W203 has 3 levels of low oil warning - add oil (in 1, 1.5 or 2L amounts), visit workshop, and stop, so no danger of failing to notice the oil is too low. I wonder if those levels of warnings have been carried over to W204, or if the re-introduction of the dipstick hands some onus back on the owner to keep a check?

Thinking on this Rory, 2 years back we got no end of post over the oil level warnings, all across the range, and WIS was full of remedies and ways to fix it, often with no real answer.

MB vowed to make the 204 more simple, and indeed this is one step in the right direction

 

[BillN_33]

I would not buy a car without a dipstick

Another good reason to stick to a W124

 

[Lulu01]

You could lose a touch by unscrewing the oil filter and emptying that a couple of times

Thanks, Television. Will try that.

 

[Lulu01]

ETA: Doh! I guess you mean it's 6.4 litres.

I think that if it continues to display the high level warning I would pop it back to the servicing dealer to have a look.

:Oops: Thought it meant 4.61, makes sense it would be 4.6 litres. :Oops:

I will try and remove a little bit. If it keeps coming up, I'll take it back to a dealer. I can see the £££ signs coming up in their beady little eyes already.

Thanks for getting back to me.

 

[HERBIEMERCMAN]

hi everyone, this post makes you realise how basic common sense engineering can be compromised by some "star wars" mb engineers who think they can design out the engine's dip stick.

the technology is expensive, unreliable, and again allowing the "tail to wag the dog" eg: if 5% of car owners cannot check their oil level , then they deserve the consequences. it is beyond me to read about car owners who would try to take oil out of their engine.

tyre pressures are more important, coolant levels, screen wash, ( it's an offence, 3 points). heaven forbid the day that will surely come when the dash read out tells you when to take a sh--t.

the powers that be are allready working on cars that drive themselves, ideal for the people who do not know how to see if their engine oil level is correct.

i am an engineer, so forgive me, i may be biased, but i do know that the pleasure of down to earth, common sense motoring is nearing it's end. one thing i have always noticed, is that when people get rich, they buy vintage cars which need knowledge and attention to operate, including a dipstick.

i can see a day where some motorists will be sat at the side of the road, shaking and lost, because their SATNAV has stopped working.

technology is great but if you rely on it 100% and you loose your basic common sense knowledge then you deserve to suffer the consequences.

many merc experts have the computer star diagnostics that tell them a fault code, but they then have to know where the fault is and how to fix it ! herbiemercman.

 

[survey]

For my two pence. worth I would leave it where it is, and check again 1000 miles down the line, you will then know if the car is using a little oil or not and nothing wrong with using a little with high speed motorway miles the car will always use a little owing to oil splash.

Television I have just returned from a 2300mile trip to South France. The oil level remains at the halfway point on the dipstick beween Max and Min so the car is not using any oil. The dealer still insists that the level should be 'Somewhere between max and halfway, if its right on the maximum the oil level sensors tend to be oversensitive and report “oil level to high” on the display as the oil heats up'