How to change engine oil on a Mercedes Benz SLK - It's so easy, you won't even get your hands dirty!

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So are you fed up with paying $125 for an oil change at Mercedes dealerships? Can't stand paying $7 a quart for synthetic oil at the local JiffyLube? Well, if you own a Mercedes SLK or other certain MB models, you are in luck beacuse it is very easy to change the engine oil and the oil filter.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Manual oil pump. The best ones are manual oil pumps for boats. They can be bought for ~$30.
Oil filter. They are ~$6 for Fram and ~$8 for OEM MB filter.
Oil filter wrench (optional)

Step1

Run car for about 2~3 minutes to warm up the car. Shut off engine when the temp needle starts going up.

Step2

Open hood and locate oil filter as the filter is located on the top of the engine. Simply unscrew the filter cap and replace the filter element. Easy!

Step3

Insert the oil pump hose into the dipstick tube. Pump the oil out. FYI, this is how dealerships change oil on most Mercedes.

Step4

Fill engine with synthetic oil of your choice. FYI, Costco has Mobile1 and Castrol Syntech synthetic oils. Screw back on oil cap.

Step5

Close hood. You just saved $100 by doing the easiest oil change of your life!

Tips & Warnings

Mercedes Benz recommends changing the engine oil every 10,000 miles. However, I would consider changing the oil more frequently at 3000 to 5000 mile intervals. Sythetic engine oils can last for tens of thousands of miles without breaking down, but they do get dirty and it's usually the contaminates that cause engine wear.
Remember to recycle used engine oil. Most car part stores have free used oil and old filter drop-off.

Comments

knarf said

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on 3/25/2008 Greetings all! Just wanted to respond to some of the new comments:

- Yes, MB cars have drain plugs.:)
- Most auto part shops accept used engine oil and coolant which are recycled properly. Most city dumps also accept used oil which are recycled.
- Please feel free to drain engine oil if you believe it removes more oil than evac through the dipstick tube. I have experiemented doing it both ways and found no difference for my cars. I even used rapair ramps to tilt the car when removing the oil via drain plug to get as much oil out as possible.

Last food for thought: I worked as a journeyman mechanic in my college days (to pay for books and beer of course.) I have seen plenty of oil pans with 1/2" thick sludge inside. Apparently how oil is removed isn't the real problem. It's not maintaining the engine and changing the oil regualarly that causes the sludge issue.

amliddle said

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on 3/23/2008 Sucking out the oil from the dipstick does not seem a problem, however, where the oil goes from the suction pump IS the problem. It should NOT go straight into the bulk recycle bin with all the other oil UNTIL it has been inspected closely to see what condition it is in and what sludge was in the sump.

kmacd said

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on 2/24/2008 Are you saying there is no drain plug on Mercedes?

knarf said

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on 6/4/2007 Thanks for your responses!

This is a long-running debate and there are "drainers" who can't imagine a simpler way to change oil is better than getting under the hood.

New Mercedes are designed to have oil sucked through the dipstick tube. The evac method will get just as much oil out as getting under the hood.

It would be fair to say when the engine is warm and the oil has been circulating, solids are suspended in the oil and would be "sucked" out with the oil via a pump. Drainers wouldn't do an oil change without warming up the car for the same reason or the sludge will just sit at the bottom.

If you prefer to drain the oil, that's fine. I've had this discussion with many "drainers" and it's like trying to persuade a vegetarian to eat a filet mignon.

Just for fodder, even Car Talk guys agree with me. :)

http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1997/July/09.

mrcrabbit said

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on 2/23/2007 never heard anything so ridiculous in my 74 yrs.why do you think the drain plug is at the lowest point in the sump,to get the sludge drained out, thats why!.draining from the dip stick tube leaves it in ready to mix with the nice clean oil.

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