Warning* oil level too high

[fuelofsatan]

Hello

I recently bought a C220 CDI, really like it, its everything I hoped it would be.

My only concern is that I get a message stating that the "oil level is too high"

Is this something I should worry about or ignore? How do I reduce the oil level!?!?!?

I did the oil level test using the steering wheel yesterday and it also said level is too high.

Is there also a oil dipstick in the engine bay?

Really sorry for the stupid questions, never had a merc before. I've also heard that newer Mercs have really bad electrical issues so wasn't sure if this is a common fault with the C220 CDI or whether I should try and reduce the oil level.

Thanks in advance, apologies for unedited mind dump

 

[Myros]

if it's true, it's serious

park the car on the level, wait the relevant amount of time ( about 5 mins if fully warm) and do the steering wheel test.
You should also have a manual dipstick, it's got a red handle and will be to wards the front of the engine. Repeat the test with that.
If you are over the max mark, you'll need to drain some off or suck some out via the dipstick tube.

 

[rf065]

You may not have a dipstick, depending on model year.

Russ

 

[Aussie Nick]

Hello Satan.
Some of these models did not have a dipstick.You Have to wonder who the bright spark was at Benz who decided to leave this invaluable bit of equipment out. It couldn't have been anybody with engineering qualifications. Must have been the Accountant who snuck in through the back door.
I am informed that you can buy the dipstick as an accessory. Mind you , you still have to find the dipstick hole.
The computer sometimes speaks with forked tongue.
This happened to me recently but my 430 is equipped with a dipstick as well and I measured the fill to a nano litre, wherein it was showing full on the dipstick virtually dead on the max. fill line . The computer was saying OVERFILL! OVERFILL!
Within a few days it was registering "oil OK".
The danger with an overfill is that it dosent hurt any of the major components but can damage the catalytic converter and possibly the MAF.
I think that you had better order a dipstick, as soon as possible and take a reading on dead level ground.
I dont think there is any damage yet or you would have received some symptoms by now. Further, hopefully, there would be some degree of tolerance built into the system.

 

[fuelofsatan]

thanks for your help.

its an "02" plate, I had a quick look around but couldn't see a dipstick, will have a proper look later today.

The warning only comes on after about 45-1hr driving, so perhaps this means its just about right but the CPU thinks its too much at times? If it were REALLY over the max would the warning come up straight away?

I might just call the RAC tonight and get them to look at it, they will drain it if needs be, no point getting my hands dirty, thats what I pay them for!

By the way, i'm an accountant and even I can see the need for a dipstick!

 

[Myros]

you must be one of those certifiable ones then

Nice to see the bean-counters can still pick a nice car. Welcome aboard and good luck with the oily bits

 

[britnordic]

It may or not be a problem

Hi
I had the same problem with my last 220cdi and now with my 270cdi. I find the electronic measuring (if that's what it is) to be be very sensitive. This happened after a local indie serviced the 220cdi. After only taking out 15ml all was ok. If you are able to fit a dipstick, I would do so, at least for your own peace of mind.

 

[Rory]

I can only think this is some kind of fault in the level detection. Either the oil if too full or it isn't - I can't imagine what it should suddenly come on after an hour? With the engine running there's much less oil in the sump anyway.

I have a C270CDI (no dipstick). I believe the oil capacity is the same as the 220 at 6.5L. After a service where I supplied my own oil, and, as near as I could tell, 6.5L of it had gone, the display still only showed 6.2L. I gingerly filled it, 100ml at a time to 6.5L and that's the level it displayed, stone cold.

It has gone as low as 5.4L between services without ever asking for more oil. It's never showed high oil level.

 

[fuelofsatan]

This is why I thought it was an electrical fault.

Am i right in saying that if you guys had too much oil, then the warning would come up as you start the car, presumably part of the cars start-up procedures it checks the oil?

which dipstick decided not have a dipstick!

 

[alec2]

If it is an 02 plate it will be a W203 model and there is no dipstick.

This problem is a common one after a service if the car is slightly overfilled.

When the oil warms up it expands and rises.

If it only happens after 1 hours running I suspect that the overfill is minor.

Look through oil filler cap hole when the engine is warm to make sure the oil looks clean and there is no white creamieness.

Alec

 

[Guy20]

What kind of oil are you using? Do you have a diesel particulate filter that you know of?

 

[rf065]

What kind of oil are you using? Do you have a diesel particulate filter that you know of?

On an 02 plate? Hardly any 07's have them.

Russ

 

[Guy20]

Have seen a couple on 02 plates

 

[rf065]

Have seen a couple on 02 plates

I'm surprised at that, the following is an excerpt from a MB report........

"In the fall of 2003 DaimlerChrysler became the only manufacturer
in the world to offer EURO 4 diesel vehicles fitted with a
particulate filter that works without an additive. From summer 2005
in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland we will be
equipping our diesel cars with particulate filters as standard. And
from autumn 2005 it will also be possible to retrofit this eco-friendly
technology."

As far as I know, they are still not fitted as standard in the UK.

Russ

 

[Lulu01]

I have an 04 C220 CDI with the same problem. It was serviced before Xmas 2008 and has just started with the reduce oil message over the last few days.

Can someone give me a complete idiots guide re how to do the mysterious 'oil level test using the steering wheel', along with another idiots guide on how to find the oil filler cap and whether I have a dipstick?!

(

 

[Cole@MBS]

I have an 04 C220 CDI with the same problem. It was serviced before Xmas 2008 and has just started with the reduce oil message over the last few days.

Can someone give me a complete idiots guide re how to do the mysterious 'oil level test using the steering wheel', along with another idiots guide on how to find the oil filler cap and whether I have a dipstick?!

(

You need to have half a ltr sucked out or drained out!

You dont have a dip stick on your model!

Turn ign on to 1, get to the milage screen, arrow up until check oil is shown, turn idn on and wait for a few seconds!

 

[Rory]

Can someone give me a complete idiots guide re how to do the mysterious 'oil level test using the steering wheel', along with another idiots guide on how to find the oil filler cap and whether I have a dipstick?!

(

If it's a facelift model (mine is Oct 04) - I don't know if the earlier ones would be the same - as well as the OK / add oil guide above you can see the "exact" oil level:

Turn ign key to Pos1
make sure cluster display is showing total mileage
press trip reset button 3 times in quick succession
It will beep, and cluster display changes to an engineering menu
Scroll through pages until you see the one with ol (oil in German) at the bottom
Turn ign to pos 2 and after a few seconds it will show actual oil level.

Turn ign off to reset.

It sounds a palava but quite easy once you've done it a few time.

One (unhelpful) caveat is that I've no idea how accurate that measurement is! Certainly my C270CDi should be 6.5L but it's never shown more than 6.2, even after service where I supplied my own oil and the used 6.5L of it.

 

[television]

In earlier wis documents there were lots of mods for when the oil starts to read too high, these have been deleted now.

MB do say on the diesel cars that diesel can find its way into the sump


we had many post on this back in 2005-6 and only the odd one comes up now

 

[Lulu01]

Thanks for the replies. I think mine is a facelift version, but I will try out S-A-M and Rory's tests.

Lulu

 

[mercmadjim]

I am informed that you can buy the dipstick as an accessory

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