How long can I stretch it until next oil change?

Hi guys:

I'm normally very very good about oil changes, but somehow, I read the wrong mileage number on the service stickier, and it appears that I'm getting way over my interval.

It's been about 7k since my last change, and I have about 500-600 more miles to go before I can get it to my private indy to do some service work. These have been almost all highway miles.

I looked at the oil, and it appears a light blackish color, which is what it usually looks like - don't notice any weird discoloration or anything.

Can I sneak out another .5k or so, or should I get it in to the stealership? I normally change at 6500 mile intervals. This my first change with the van, and I must have misread what the last change interval was ... time to get the eyes checked! :D

Many thanks,
Michael
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Put half a bottle of red-line 85 plus in a full tank of fuel it will keep everything clean untill you do the oil change, you have in your mamnual three designated oil changes CDD Urban and hi way as a guide depending on use or operating conditions, I ran to almost 24 thousand miles between oil changes, no issues or problems, but used higher quality oils filters and upper cylinder lubricants. In the time frame of 24 thousand miles It used almost 5 litres of oil so it was never the same old oil.
Richard
 

sikwan

06 Tin Can
In the time frame of 24 thousand miles It used almost 5 litres of oil so it was never the same old oil.
You know that's interesting Richard.

At the 6k mile mark after the first oil change, my low oil light comes on, which essentially freaks me out and then it goes out after a few seconds. I went home to check the oil level and it's at the low mark. It took half a quart to fill it to the mid-level running hot. That means it used almost a quart of oil. :thinking:

I've never had that happen to any of my gas vehicles, but then I've only run it up to 5k miles before I would do an oil change and it was never at the low mark.

Is this a normal thing?
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Hi Seek
My opinion of Diesel Mercedes Specific.
Diesel is a H/D engine it woks hard and hot as opposed to gas engines, My vans have always used oil, some folk may freak out on this, but if it's using oil over a period of time then i would feel very concerned that a diesel engine kept on re- cycling the same old oil!. The blacker it gets the better it's working, modern oils keeps particles of oil suspended, and the filters help too.
If the engine using oil! then the engine is working with it, to me after 38 years I expect it, Mercedes says this is the norm , and this is why I use the heavier oils, again my opinion only a light weight oil in a Sprinter that's for a passenger vehicle such as Mobil one is not the right oil for a Sprinter, unless you want to change it on a frequent basis between 5 to 10 thousand miles, Couriers go 44 thousand KS before changing oil they last for a million K's + before the head has to come off, so my opinion only! has validity... as too the longer term use of H/D oils down under.
Richard
 

kendall69

New member
I had a manufacturer buy back ( a "big three" USA vehicle ), so I was determined not to spend a dime on his lemon, and I had already put in a high end synthetic oil.

Long story short I went 45k on a single oil change, because I knew I was turning it in - it took longer than I thought.
Before I turned it in I changed the oil so they couldn't say I didn't take care of it, because it had fresh oil.

I pulled a oil sample and turned it in to have it analyzed for my own amusement, expecting a letter saying " how is this thing still running, but the joke was on me, it came back - "good for continued use"
WHAT!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!.

Needless to say I do not do hat with vehicles I keep, in fact I'm a designer oil freak. I've used them all and my current favorite is Redline 15/40 and my second choice is Mobil 1.

So to answer your question, you can go beyond your required limits without failure, but you certainly will void your warranty by going over my huge amounts.

Also one last tidbit. The manual on an American car I purchased said change the oil every 3k, but because I purchased a maintenance plan that covered oil changes, the plan called for oil changes every 5k miles.
Interesting, when I'm paying the bill it's 3k, when THEY are paying the bill it's 5k. Same vehicle same mfg's plan etc.
Hmmmmmm.
 

unik

New member
What about over-time?
manual say: First 10,000miles or 12month.
I do have my Sprinter 15month and 7,000miles.
I am not driving evry day, use MB as work shop.
Aprox after 6month more will prob get needed 10,000m.:idunno::idunno: Shall I change oil now or wait till spinON 10K?
Thnx
Nik:crazy:
 
Thanks, everyone, for the piece of mine - I feel much better now.

Seek - I noticed when I pulled the dipstick on mine that, while the level is still in the acceptable range, it's getting closer and closer to the "MIN" level. I may put a quart in to tide me over for a few weeks.

I think Richard's analysis is absolutely correct - the few diesel vehicles I've had have all used a bit of oil in normal, day-to-day running, so no worries if you're using some, too.

-Michael
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Great threads Guys varied but honest opinions:clapping:
Never thought of the Red-Line 15 40W and I'm a Red-Line bible basher!! Thinking I must look at the specs on that one:thinking:
BP Vanellus C6 Global
Sure holds the miles as the Old Castrol adds used to say "Oil's anit Oil's" :smilewink: Richard
DSC00739 (Large).JPG
 

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
What about over-time?
manual say: First 10,000miles or 12month.
I do have my Sprinter 15month and 7,000miles.
I am not driving evry day, use MB as work shop.
Aprox after 6month more will prob get needed 10,000m.:idunno::idunno: Shall I change oil now or wait till spinON 10K?
Thnx
Nik:crazy:
Owner's manual says no longer than 1 year (12 months), even if mileage is low.
 

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
You know that's interesting Richard.

At the 6k mile mark after the first oil change, my low oil light comes on, which essentially freaks me out and then it goes out after a few seconds. I went home to check the oil level and it's at the low mark. It took half a quart to fill it to the mid-level running hot. That means it used almost a quart of oil. :thinking:

I've never had that happen to any of my gas vehicles, but then I've only run it up to 5k miles before I would do an oil change and it was never at the low mark.

Is this a normal thing?
My '02 was like that early on, but now at 113k miles, it blows out less than a quart in 15k miles. I'm guessing it's still breaking in and getting less blow-by as time goes on. Probably will start going the other direction in the near future. My owner's manual says max oil consumption is ~1100 miles/qt, so you're well below that. For some perspective, I had a '66 Mustang high performance 289 that the owner's manual said to expect 250 miles/qt on break-in and 500 miles/qt thereafter - they were right.
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
The manual say this in simple English The harder you push it and the higher the temperature's ranges based on loads etc the more you are inclined to use.oil I like the bit about break in periods , What are we trying:smilewink: to break.
Note: it also states oil viscosity on temperatures as well this also relates to oil use Grades of oil depending on operating use. and as too which models light weight 2500 SWB ,through to hi-top LWB dual wheel units each vary slightly between models.
Richard
 

Don Horner

2012 Unity IB
...it appears that I'm getting way over my interval...It's been about 7k since my last change, and I have about 500-600 more miles to go...I normally change at 6500 mile intervals.
So, if I read this correctly, you have gone about 13,500 miles -- your normal interval of 6500 plus about 7000. Since the manufacturer's recommendation is 10,000 miles, and is probably conservatively on the safe side to protect the manufacturer, I'd say you have no problem.
 
So, if I read this correctly, you have gone about 13,500 miles -- your normal interval of 6500 plus about 7000.
Actually, I've gone about 6,800 miles total since the oil was last changed. I'm approaching the 7,000 mile mark, so I'm well below the 10,000 oil change interval, so that makes me feel better.

I've been a Mobil 1 user for several years now, although I know that others use Shell Rotella-T. Do the forum members have a "favorite" oil they like to use, or are there advantages to using one over another?

Many thanks for the replies,
Michael
 

Don Horner

2012 Unity IB
I used to belong to a forum about diesel compact tractors (tractorbynet.com), and one of the sections was devoted to oil. It had more discussions than any other section, and they got quite heated about my oil vs. your oil. I stayed out of that section...:rolleyes:

I used nothing but Redline products in our race cars, and I changed the oil every other race or so -- but that was because a tenth of a second per lap could win a race. I use any old stuff I find in my road vehicles, and I change oil around 15,000 miles or so, whether it needs it or not. :thumbup: I'm a slight bit fussier about the Sprinter, but I was right on the mark at 10,000 and 20,000, and will get back to the dealer again at 30,000. I use whatever they put in. The manufacturer's interval recommendation is good enough for me. I doubt they would stay in business long if they recommended something that might fail.
 

shugrue

New member
Good topic.
I have 16,000 miles on my 118" short low.
Paranoia made me change my oil for the first time at 7,000 using Mobil 1 0w40.
I also installed a Hastings LC530 oil filter which I changed out after 3,000 miles to a Mann filter because I couldn't tell whether the Hastings filter was right for the oil change interval of 10,000+ miles or not.
I'm now watching the miles tick by on my Assyst onboard computer which is telling me that I have another 3200 miles to go for an oil change.
I'll admit that I'm a little nervous because I'm a mechanic and I don't want to damage the engine or even promote early wear.
Everything seems to be going allright and the engine sounds fine.
However the oil is black but thats pretty much the case with all diesels I see in the garage regardless of the mileage.
Anybody else out there using the Assyst computer to manage the oil change interval?
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
guys Please just look to the other side of the pond OK
Oil changes come on, ten thousand miles on a 07 Sprinter. This engine has the capacity and new technology to take the extended approved by Benz 40 thousand Kilometer = 20 thousand miles plus with extender oils
The post below is part of the Mercedes_Benz site information Extended oils are additive and flushes a little secret that Chrysler dealers are keeping back from you.
Think about this one !!!! Why the same oil change as opposed to the older Sprinters??????????????????
Money, money, money, I have already stated 38 thousand K's before I changed the oil in my Sprinter, the on board computer assyst can be altered by your dealer, to reset to a longer period between oil changes, there are three off and an optional beyond 40 thousand K extended oil changes.
Richard
hkn.jpg
 

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
Have used ASSYST since day one on my '02 (114k miles now). Always ~15k miles between changes and now loses <1 qt between changes (getting less as the miles pass).
 

Turtle

New member
I use the ASSYST because it takes into account the readings from the Oil Quality Sensor, among other factors. I also change the oil filter every 5000 miles and keep it topped off with 4 ounces here or half a quart there when I change the filter. The result is generally around 17,500 miles between oil changes as recommended by the ASSYST. It's more mileage between changes in the winter, less in the summer.

I use Mobile 1 0W-40 because that's what the initial fill was at the plant, and that's the same exact oil that is in the bottle with the Mopar label on it.

Keep in mind that in Europe an engine is designed and then the oils are manufactured to very rigid specifications for that engine. If you use some other oil, just make absolutely that it's on the MB list of approved engine oils. If it's not on the list, don't use it.
 

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