Engine oil overfilled by dealership

[merrymerc]

My E320 has just had a service at a Mercedes dealership and upon return, when driven home it billowed smoke and juddered. The engine light came on and a warning message 'reduce oil level'. I took it back next day and they 'fixed' the problem, but when I took it for a test drive the same thing happened.They now have it back to investigate, but I'm seriously worried about the damage that may have been caused by this.
Can anyone give advise? I've read that the catatlytic converter could be damaged for starters, what else should I be asking them about?
PS the car was running perfectly before it went in for a service.

 

[television]

Yes damage to the CATs can happen when over filled, that is the main reason why they should not be over filled.

 

[merrymerc]

Many thanks for your quick reply, I will be asking the question when my lovely car is ready for me.

 

[rapide]

oil overfill!

Hi, dont let them fob you off with any other fault! oil overfill to a very high level will have the crankshaft dipping in it chucking it up the bores causing high oil consumption and temperature very quickly and as malcolm says saturating the cat with oil ruining that , some have tried to wash it out with solvents god knows what that does! find out exactly what they have done get it in writing or it may come back to haunt you at the next vosa test! all the best Rap.

 

[47p2]

Happened to me with a Porsche. The dealer collected the car from my work and gave it a full service, about 2 weeks later I notices a few drops of oil on my garage floor, so checked the level on the dipstick. It was over ¾" above the full level. I called the dealer and said I had a leak which I suspected was the crankshaft real oil seal, I asked if overfilling would have caused this and was told that it most certainly would as it puts extra pressure on the seal, he then went on to tell me that it was a gearbox out job and it would cost over £300. I would have loved to have seen his face when I told him the oil level was ¾" over the mark on the dipstick and was serviced by them two weeks earlier.
Give them their due they did replace the seal and supplied me with a nice 911 whilst doing so

 

[merrymerc]

Thanks to all for you help, I will let you how I get on.

 

[mattuk]

Can you please say which dealer did u go? I want to make sure to avoid in future.

 

[markg14]

Can you please say which dealer did u go? I want to make sure to avoid in future.

Had this problem with a W202 CDI 220 - MB York overfilled it and I had the same warning light.

The manual warns that it is more harmful to run with high level that it is with low level oil.

 

[MechPhil]

This is but one of the many problems with "progress". Some time ago, oil was poured from cans, and the technician had to know how much oil each vehicle would take. Later on, oil was purchased in large (44 gallon) drums and oil was pumped to the vehicle manually, pneumatically or electrically, but the quantity was still determined by the technician.

Currently, the job number is punched into a wall-mounted control unit. This control unit decides how much oil to pump into your car, and the technician has no clue. He simply gets the nozzle into the filler cap and presses a couple of buttons. The reliability of the system allow the techy to trust it to the point where levels are not even checked after filling.

Progress... Bah-humbug!

Phil

 

[anyweb]

i was under the impression that they suck the oil out of your car (at a mb dealership) using a vacuum method, then once empty replace it with new oil, of course i don't know how they 'replace it', could be the method you describe, would be nice to know for sure though,

 

[Cole@MBS]

At the dealers where i was, you would set the amount on the gun, i,e, 7 ltrs and hold the trigger untill it cut off, that should have then been the correct amount, pretty hard to get it wrong!!

 

[television]

At the dealers where i was, you would set the amount on the gun, i,e, 7 ltrs and hold the trigger untill it cut off, that should have then been the correct amount, pretty hard to get it wrong!!

Maybe they forgot to empty the old oil out first

 

[Dosco]

My own method is the simple way and cheaper than MB doing it

I purchase a new oil filter and 7 litres of the appropriate oil.

Remove the oil filter then the oil from the engine with the PELA and when complete I add 6 litres from the, in my case Mobil plastic bottles.

Given that there will always be some residual oil left in the engine I pour just under .5 litre into a plastic measuring jug then add that to the engine.

After about 5 mins I check the level electronically hey presto 6.5 ltrs of oil is where it should be - simples

 

[merrymerc]

The official word from the dealership is that the sensor is faulty. They have ordered a replacement to be fitted tomorrow (Tuesday). Then they will run some further checks before handing the car back. They also assured me the car is running ok.
But a sensor does not cause smoke to billow from the exhaust, or the car to vibrate when idle. I know my car and that was not normal.
My thoughts are to request a mechanic accompany me while I test drive it and to request an emissions test as well. What do you guys think? Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[television]

Very hard to know what to say or do as long as the car is running properly, the odd thing was the sensor was OK while you were driving it before.

I think that you could put in writing that should another problem that could associated with this comes to light you will hold them responsible.

 

[merrymerc]

Very hard to know what to say or do as long as the car is running properly, the odd thing was the sensor was OK while you were driving it before.

I think that you could put in writing that should another problem that could associated with this comes to light you will hold them responsible.

thanks Malcolm, that's a good idea. Will definitely do that

 

[MechPhil]

i was under the impression that they suck the oil out of your car (at a mb dealership) using a vacuum method, then once empty replace it with new oil, of course i don't know how they 'replace it', could be the method you describe, would be nice to know for sure though,

The old oil is indeed usually vac'ed out (in our case using a pneumatically operated pump with the outlet attached to a pot with a measuring tube, so the amount can be checked to be sure you get "all" the oil out) after removing the filter, the filter housing needs to be vac'ed depending on the design.

But replacing the oil is where the problem arises. Cole point out above that the amount needed is controlled from the hand held nozzle on the pump. At the dealership I worked at in Rustenburg, we had the same system, and this was a little more fool proof, but the entire system was replaced by a company called "Oil Pro" with a system that was linked with the computer network. The techy simply entered the jobcard number, and the computer retrieved the spec for the amount of oil using the VIN number. The handheld nozzle was then hooked into the appropriate filling orifice, and the trigger squeezed and set. The oil was automatically charged to the correct job.

It sounds perfect. But if the receptionist made a mistake with one digit of the VIN, you could end up adding the wrong amount of oil. I always checked using the dash display, but many of the other blokes thought I was just silly, because the system is completely fool proof. Until they came across a 2831 Actros tipper. The computer got an amount of 40 litres from the VIN, but for some reason these only take 32. All the tech's knew that they only take 32, and we knew to only put in 32 with the old system, but for some reason the specs say 40, so the machine added 40. As luck would have it, the oil level sensor in the sump did not register the overfill, and the truck was taken for a test drive. The splash from the crank made the oil foam up and the foam was fed to the intake through the breathers. The engine started running on its own oil, but the driver got it stopped, and we towed it back to the workshop without much damage.

And that's just one of the thousand and thousands of reasons I don't really like "computer controlled" technology...

Or maybe I'm just a proper old fart stuck in a sexy young body!

 

[television]

Interesting that MB are going back to the good old dip stick on many models.

I have one on my CL216 so I no longer feel like one trying to check the level

 

[MechPhil]

I simply don't get what was wrong with the simple old dipstick... It was cheap, accurate, lasted forever and was simple to operate. The sump sensors are reeeaaaalllly expensive when the go wrong.

 

[television]

I simply don't get what was wrong with the simple old dipstick... It was cheap, accurate, lasted forever and was simple to operate. The sump sensors are reeeaaaalllly expensive when the go wrong.

And you could always go and buy a longer one when the old one would not reach the oil